Table of Contents
- Why Is Curb Appeal Important for Real Estate Sales?
- 8 Ways to Improve Curb Appeal With Photo Editing
- Professional Photo Editing Boosts Curb Appeal
- How PhotoUp Can Help Improve Digital Curb Appeal
Curb appeal plays a crucial role in real estate sales. As the saying goes, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” In real estate, this couldn’t be more true. Buyers often form an opinion within seconds of viewing a property—whether in person or online.
In fact, 92% of Realtors® suggested sellers improve curb appeal prior to listing a home for sale. The exterior appearance of a property can attract potential buyers or turn them away, making curb appeal a top priority for real estate professionals.
Luckily, you can easily improve the digital curb appeal in your real estate photos with some powerful editing techniques we will take a look at in this blog post.
Let’s begin by discussing why curb appeal is so important for real estate sales.
Why Is Curb Appeal Important for Real Estate Sales?
Research shows that homes with high curb appeal sell for 7% more on average than similar homes without it, according to the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics. For higher-priced markets, this premium can rise to as much as 14%.
Furthermore, 76% of homebuyers reported that curb appeal is the most important aspect when deciding on a property, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
In this digital age, 99% of buyers start their home search online, where listing photos are the first point of contact.
High-quality images showcasing impeccable curb appeal can drive more clicks, increase interest, and lead to quicker sales.
This is where professional real estate photo editing comes in, helping transform ordinary exteriors into irresistible visual masterpieces.
Let’s take a closer look at how to make your exterior real estate photos stand out and capture buyers’ attention.
8 Ways to Improve Curb Appeal With Photo Editing
Here are 8 powerful techniques to improve curb appeal using real estate photo editing:
1. Advanced Object Removal
Unattractive elements like trash bins, utility poles, parked cars, or dead plants can detract from a property’s beauty.
Using advanced object removal techniques, photo editors can eliminate these distractions to create a clean and polished appearance.
For example, removing a car from the driveway or trimming overgrown bushes digitally can make the property look well-maintained, encouraging potential buyers to envision themselves living there.
In this video, we show you how to remove a car from a driveway in Photoshop to create a cleaner, more polished look:
2. Grass Greening
A lush, green lawn is synonymous with a well-cared-for home. In fact, 73% of surveyed homeowners thought a well-kept lawn was an important part of good curb appeal.
However, not all lawns are picture-perfect year-round.
Fortunately, grass greening techniques in photo editing can revitalize brown, patchy lawns, turning them into verdant, inviting spaces.
This technique not only enhances curb appeal but also saves homeowners and real estate agents time and money by avoiding the need for immediate landscaping.
To learn how to create a green beautiful lawn, check out our video tutorial on how to make grass green in Photoshop:
3. Virtual Landscaping
Sometimes, a property’s exterior needs more than just a touch-up.
Virtual landscaping can add or enhance features like flower beds, shrubs, and trees, creating a more visually appealing outdoor space.
It can even add an inviting pool in the backyard to show the property’s full potential. Potential buyers can imagine themselves enjoying a refreshing morning swim to get their day started.
Additionally, editors can also add blooming flowers along the walkway or mature trees for added charm. This approach is especially useful for new builds or homes with sparse landscaping.
For more information, check out our blog post on how to do virtual home staging online.
Have You Ever Thought To
Outsource Photo Editing?
Try it today with 10 free edits from three professional photo editors.
4. Twilight Editing
Twilight photos evoke a sense of warmth and luxury, making them highly effective in real estate marketing.
Day-to-dusk conversions transform daytime photos into stunning dusk images, complete with glowing interior lights and a serene sunset sky.
Properties presented in twilight photos often stand out in listings, creating an emotional connection with buyers and increasing their perceived value.
To learn how to do this, check out our video tutorial on how to edit a day to dusk image:
5. Sky Replacements
A dull, overcast sky can make even the most attractive property look uninspiring.
Sky replacement is a quick and effective way to enhance curb appeal by replacing cloudy skies with vibrant blue ones or adding dramatic sunsets.
This technique brightens the entire image, creating a cheerful and inviting atmosphere that attracts potential buyers.
To learn how to transform dull winter skies into bright and inviting ones, check out our video tutorial on how to do a sky replacement in Photoshop:
6. Ghosting Removal
Light flares and ghosting are common challenges in real estate photography, particularly when shooting bracketed images for HDR.
Ghosting occurs when elements like trees or leaves move between exposures due to wind, resulting in a blurred or “ghosted” effect in the final blended image.
While artistic ghosting or light flares might enhance the mood in other photography genres, in real estate, these effects can detract from the image’s professionalism.
Instead of presenting a polished and inviting exterior, ghosting can make photos appear unrefined and even distract buyers from the property’s features.
For real estate marketing, clarity and precision are key to showcasing a property’s curb appeal.
Eliminating ghosting ensures the image conveys a crisp, well-maintained look that resonates with buyers and builds trust in the listing.
To learn this technique, have a look at our demo video on how to remove ghosting using Photoshop:
7. Drone Editing
Drone photography offers a unique perspective, capturing the property and its surroundings in one shot.
Enhancing drone images with editing techniques like object removal, grass greening, and sky replacements can significantly improve curb appeal.
This approach is particularly effective for showcasing large properties, outdoor amenities, or scenic views that add value to the home.
Learn more about aerial photography and the best drones and accessories to use in the ultimate guide to real estate drone photography.
8. Shadow Removal
When shooting real estate exteriors, you may encounter problems with shadows and uneven lighting.
While shadows can add contrast and dimension to an image, they can also be distracting and make your real estate photography look less professional, and therefore, diminish curb appeal.
You can use Lightroom or Photoshop to adjust shadows, highlights, whites, and blacks.
To see how this is done, check out our video tutorial on how to remove shadows in Lightroom:
And there you have it – 8 super effective and powerful real estate photo editing techniques to boost curb appeal.
Before you go, let’s recap why these techniques matter to get more views and sell listings faster.
Have You Ever Thought To
Outsource Photo Editing?
Try it today with 10 free edits from three professional photo editors.
Professional Photo Editing Boosts Curb Appeal
Improving curb appeal through professional real estate photo editing is an investment that pays off.
Techniques like advanced object removal, grass greening, virtual landscaping, twilight editing, sky replacements, and drone editing can transform ordinary photos into captivating visuals that attract buyers.
Given that listings with high-quality images receive 118% more views than those without, leveraging these editing techniques is essential for staying competitive in today’s real estate market.
Ultimately, stunning exteriors that evoke emotions in potential buyers can help real estate agents sell listings faster and at a higher price.
How PhotoUp Can Help Improve Digital Curb Appeal
If you’re a real estate photographer or agent looking to elevate your listings, PhotoUp offers expert editing services tailored to your needs.
With affordable pricing and a fast turnaround, PhotoUp helps you create stunning images that maximize curb appeal and boost sales.
Our expert editors can perform all the above techniques, as well as:
- Brightness and exposure adjustments
- Perspective correction
- Noise reduction
- Image sharpening
- Color correction
- HDR editing
- Flambient editing
- Panoramic stitching
- And much more!
Starting at the low cost of $1.50 per image for on-demand editing, we can handle any editing project – big, small, or complex with a turnaround time of 12-24 hours.
Dedicated Editing
Furthermore, one of our standout offerings is our dedicated photo editing service.
A dedicated photo editor is a professional who works exclusively with your business, becoming deeply familiar with your unique style. This personalized approach ensures a cohesive and consistent visual identity for your brand.
By choosing dedicated photo editing, you not only guarantee consistency but also benefit from tailored solutions that set your brand apart.
Beyond editing, your dedicated editor can assist with a range of visual marketing tasks, including:
- Photo culling and organization
- Account management
- Photo delivery and placement
Browse Top Dedicated
Real Estate Photo Editors
Ready-to-hire editors for real estate photo editing, and more.
They can also help with advanced services like:
- Virtual staging
- Virtual house tours
- Video editing
- And more!
With a dedicated editor, you’ll grow your business and secure more clients at record speed.
How to Get Started
Wondering how to begin collaborating with a dedicated photo editor? It’s a breeze with just two straightforward steps:
Step 1. Reach out to the sales team via email at support@photoup.net to express your interest in trying out a dedicated editor.
Step 2. Upload a Dedicated Editor Trial, enabling you to submit one set of images to three dedicated editor candidates.
PhotoUp Dedicated Editing – Real Estate Photo Editing
To see how easy it is to get started with a dedicated editor, check out our dedicated editing demo:
As simple as that!
During the free trial period, PhotoUp remains committed to collaborating with you until you are completely satisfied with the results and service.
Start improving your curb appeal with professional real estate photo editing. Sign up for a free PhotoUp account today!
A picture-perfect property is just a few edits away!
Plus, when you sign up for an account, you’ll get 10 free credits you can use on any of our services.
We hope this blog post helped you learn some effective editing techniques on how to improve curb appeal. Before you go, you may also want to check out the following resources:
