Table of Contents
- Why Photo Editing Matters in Real Estate
- 10 Key Real Estate Photo Editing Techniques
- How Realtors Can Leverage Photo Editing for Success
- Outsource Your Photo Editing to the Experts at PhotoUp!
With 100% of home buyers beginning their search online, high-quality images can be the difference between a listing that attracts multiple offers and one that lingers unsold. This is where professional photo editing becomes invaluable.
By enhancing property photos, Realtors can maximize appeal, highlight key selling points, and ultimately sell homes faster and at better prices.
This guide explores the importance of real estate photo editing, key techniques to enhance images (with video tutorials), and how Realtors can leverage these services to achieve success.
Let’s begin by taking a look at why photo editing matters in real estate.
Why Photo Editing Matters in Real Estate
83% of buyers said pictures were very important in helping them choose which homes they would visit.
Captivating real estate photos are crucial to drawing in buyers and selling listings faster. Here are 4 compelling reasons why photo editing matters in real estate.
1. Capturing Buyer Attention
Online listings with professionally edited images receive significantly more clicks than those with unedited photos. In fact, professionally edited photos receive 118% more views.
Buyers are drawn to bright, crisp, and well-composed images that showcase a home’s best features.
2. Highlighting Property Strengths
61.3% of brokers believe high-quality photography is crucial for selling homes.
Photo editing allows Realtors to adjust lighting, correct colors, and remove distractions, ensuring that each property is presented in its best light.
Additionally, enhancements like virtual staging where CAD designers add digital furniture and decor to an image can also help buyers visualize the potential of an empty or outdated space.
3. Creating a Consistent Brand
Surprisingly enough only 35% of agents and Realtors employ professional photographers and half of over $1 million properties use poor-quality photographs.
They don’t realize that professional, high-quality images attract more views and establish credibility and a consistent brand image for Realtors.
This leads to increased trust and better engagement from potential buyers.
With a Dedicated Editor who learns your unique style and is 100% dedicated to your business, you can boost your brand awareness in no time.
4. Faster Sales and Higher Offers
Homes with professional photos sell 32% faster than those without, and listings with high-quality images can command prices up to 47% higher per square foot.
Additionally, listings with professional photos spend 89 days on market compared to 123 days for other homes.
With professionally edited real estate photos, Realtors can sell listings faster and for more money, which will be beneficial for both sellers and agents.
With this in mind, let’s show you some simple yet effective photo editing techniques to create impressive listing photos.
10 Key Real Estate Photo Editing Techniques (Video Tutorials)
Here are 10 key real estate photo editing techniques that will help transform your listing photos from dull to captivating.
1. Brightness and Exposure Adjustments
To get started, brightness and exposure adjustments are the backbone of all image enhancement. Real estate photos should be well-lit to make spaces appear open and inviting.
Adjusting brightness and exposure ensures rooms are evenly illuminated without overexposure or dark shadows.
Altogether, these basic retouching techniques can turn a mediocre photo into a captivating one that will capture buyers’ attention and help your clients sell their listings.
In this video tutorial, we walk you through how to brighten a photo in Photoshop:
2. Color Correction
Camera settings, lighting conditions, and reflections can cause color inconsistencies.
Experimenting with different white balance settings can bring a realistic touch to your photos and enhance the overall impact.
In other words, correcting white balance and enhancing colors make the home look more natural and visually appealing.
Here are 2 simple techniques on how to adjust white balance in Photoshop:
3. Perspective and Lens Correction
Wide-angle lenses are commonly used in real estate photography, but they can sometimes cause distortions.
Fortunately, you can fix this issue in post-processing with a simple retouch called perspective correction.
Correcting perspectives ensures that vertical and horizontal lines remain straight and true to life.
To see how to do this photo edit, you can check out our video tutorial on how to straighten verticals in Photoshop:
4. HDR Blending
High Dynamic Range (HDR) blending involves merging multiple exposures of the same shot to balance shadows and highlights.
Combining images taken at different exposures (often 3 or more) into a single HDR image can ensure that every part of your photo is properly illuminated, from the natural light coming through the windows to the nooks and crannies of a room.
With the use of photo editing software, these bracketed images are then blended together to create a final image that shows all details in perfect exposure.
To learn how to blend these exposures, see our video tutorial on how to edit HDR photos in Lightroom:
5. Sky Replacement
A dull or overcast sky can make an exterior photo look unappealing.
Sky replacement transforms gloomy backgrounds into bright, blue skies, making properties appear more inviting and attractive.
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:
The Real Estate Photography
Business Systems You Need
PhotoUp is the ultimate real estate photographer business platform.
6. Virtual Staging
Empty rooms can feel cold and uninspiring. Virtual staging adds digital furniture and decor, helping buyers envision the space’s potential while avoiding the cost of physical staging.
Virtual staging services like PhotoUp provide several design options to help Relators cater to any market. They offer a professional library, including 11 interior design styles:
- Mid-Century Modern
- Scandinavian
- Coastal
- Farmhouse
- Modern
- American
- Industrial
- Hamptons
- Luxury
- Southwestern
- And Commercial
PhotoUp offers a design style to stage any empty or outdated space!
Best of all, their virtual staging service is affordable and only costs $20 to $30 per image. For more information, check out our blog post on how to do virtual home staging online.
7. Object Removal and Decluttering
Unwanted objects like cars, garbage bins, or personal items can detract from the property’s appeal.
Using 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’ll show you how to remove a car from a driveway in Photoshop to create a cleaner, more polished look:
To learn how to remove smaller objects like cords and wires, this video tutorial walks you through how to remove cords in Photoshop:
8. Day-to-Dusk Conversion
Twilight photos add warmth and charm to a listing. Recent studies show that using a twilight image as the listing’s main photo averaged 76% more views than listings without the use of twilight images.
Converting a daytime photo to a sunset or dusk scene enhances curb appeal and gives a home a sophisticated look.
To learn how to do this powerful edit, check out our video tutorial on how to edit a day to dusk image:
9. Lawn and Exterior Enhancements
73% of surveyed homeowners thought a well-kept lawn was an important part of good curb appeal.
Patching up dry grass, adding greenery, and enhancing the exterior can make a property look well-maintained and more attractive to buyers.
Simple grass greening techniques in photo editing can revitalize brown, patchy lawns, turning them into verdant, inviting spaces.
To learn how to create a green beautiful lawn, check out our video tutorial on how to make grass green in Photoshop:
10. Drone Photo 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.
And there you have 10 key photo editing techniques that will help you create impressive listing photos and turn viewers into buyers!
How Realtors Can Leverage Photo Editing for Success
Before we leave this topic, let’s discuss how Realtors can leverage photo editing for their success.
1. Hire a Professional Real Estate Photographer
While modern smartphones have improved in camera quality, professional photographers have the expertise and equipment to capture properties at their best.
Realtors should invest in professional photography for high-end listings.
2. Use Professional Photo Editing Services
Outsourcing photo editing to companies like PhotoUp, BoxBrownie, or Smart Photo Editors can save time and ensure professional-quality results.
These services offer fast turnaround times of 12-24 hours and affordable pricing of around $1.50 – $9 per image depending on the type of edit. Virtual staging typically costs from $20-35 per image.
3. DIY Editing With Software
For Realtors who prefer hands-on control, software like Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop provide powerful tools for editing real estate images.
Online platforms like Canva and Luminar Neo also offer user-friendly editing features.
4. Maintain a Consistent Aesthetic
Consistency is key in branding. Ensuring that all listing photos have a uniform look—in terms of lighting, color, and composition—helps create a professional portfolio that attracts more clients.
The best way to ensure image consistency is to work with a Dedicated Editor who learns your style. 99% of PhotoUp’s dedicated editing orders are client-rated as either “Good” or “Amazing.” This will help you boost your brand recognition and grow your business rapidly.
5. Enhance Social Media Marketing
High-quality images are essential for effective marketing on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.
Statistics show that listings with professional photos earn a 1,200% increase in social media shares. And if you add video marketing, it even gets 403% more views.
Realtors can use edited photos to create engaging posts, reels, and virtual tours to capture audience interest.
6. Optimize for Listing Platforms
Each real estate listing platform has specific image size and resolution requirements.
Ensuring that photos are optimized for MLS, Zillow, and Realtor.com enhances their display quality and visibility.
Wrapping Up
High-quality images are a Realtor’s most powerful tool for attracting buyers and closing deals faster.
By leveraging professional photo editing techniques, real estate professionals can enhance listings, create a strong brand presence, and increase sales success.
Whether hiring professionals, outsourcing editing, or using DIY software, investing in photo editing is a proven strategy that delivers impressive returns.
In the fast-paced real estate market, visually stunning images can make all the difference between an overlooked listing and a sold property.
However, editing takes time…
If you don’t have time to learn editing software and spend hours in post-processing, we have the perfect solution for you – outsourcing your editing to PhotoUp.
Have You Ever Thought To
Outsource Photo Editing?
Try it today with 10 free edits from three professional photo editors.
Outsource Your Photo Editing to the Experts at PhotoUp!
With over a decade of experience in the industry and an excellent reputation as a trusted brand, PhotoUp is our #1 recommendation for real estate photo editing services for Realtors and photographers.
Here are 4 reasons why PhotoUp stands out as the best real estate photo editing company:
1. Capacity & Expertise
Since its humble beginnings in 2011 with a team of just four, PhotoUp has grown into a global powerhouse with hundreds of highly skilled real estate photo editors.
Over a decade later, their diverse and experienced team has the technical know-how to handle any editing project—whether it’s a small touch-up or a complex, large-scale job.
2. US-Based Sales & Support
While PhotoUp’s editing team spans the globe, their sales and support are anchored in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
This US-based presence ensures top-tier service, providing clients with knowledgeable support and a smooth customer experience.
3. Cutting-Edge Technology
PhotoUp has heavily invested in state-of-the-art photo editing software, delivering a platform that is fast, intuitive, and dependable.
Their user-friendly system allows you to effortlessly manage everything from photo editing tasks to providing feedback, tracking deliveries, archiving photos, and even handling marketing needs.
4. PhotoUp’s Commitment to Social Impact Initiatives
Beyond delivering top-notch photo editing services, PhotoUp is driven by the belief that businesses should be a force for positive change, benefiting not only clients and employees but also stakeholders and the communities they serve.
As part of this mission, PhotoUp actively supports a wide range of impactful initiatives, including:
- Efforts to promote environmental sustainability
- Enhance employee education
- Advance gender equality
- Improve healthcare access
- And foster economic development within local communities
Their dedication to social responsibility sets them apart, reflecting a business model that prioritizes both excellence and making a meaningful difference.
A Complete Real Estate Marketing Partner
On top of that, PhotoUp is a complete real estate marketing partner and also offers other powerful services like:
- Virtual staging
- Virtual house tours
- Real Estate Photographer Websites
- Single property websites
- House portraits
- Property flyers
- Floor plans
- Virtual Assistants
- And more!
We have everything you need to enhance and market real estate photography in one user-friendly software!
How to Get Started With PhotoUP
Getting started using PhotoUp’s real estate photo editing service is super easy. This is how to do it:
Step 1. Sign up for a free PhotoUp account.
Step 2. Upload your photos to our easy-to-use software.
Step 3. Choose the level of editing that you need and provide instructions (optional).
Step 4. Wait for PhotoUp professional editors to edit and return the photos in less than 24 hours (48 hours for virtual staging).
Step 5. Download and start using your beautifully edited photos.
PhotoUp Real Estate Photo Editing Uploader Demo
Have a look at the real estate photo editing uploader demo to see how easy it is to get started with PhotoUp:
As simple as that!
So, what are you waiting for? Get started with PhotoUp today. It’s completely free!
For a limited time, you even get 10 free credits you can use on any of our services when signing up for an account.
We hope this post helped you learn how to transform listings with photo editing. If you found this post useful, you may also want to check out the following resources:
