.. do the images need to be to help sell a home ???
That was the big Question-of-the-day, during the shoot yesterday …

.. where there was much discussion, about whether or not the owners of this particular home…

.. in the university area of Belfast, should perhaps invest in better images than these:


.. which are being used by the estate agency – to at least help get more people through the door – which after all, is a big part of what ‘advertising’ is all about.
It’s a difficult one to answer – because if someone is looking for a certain type of home in a particular area, will they find it regardless?
Is it really therefore all about: Location, Location, Location ?
Or will better images…

.. perhaps widen the net ?
For the most part, we know there really isn’t the budget set aside for Estate Agent photography, to be more than a series of quick shots – so that does need to be taken into account – even though their actual Usage requirements are often a lot.
(Which usually is the thing that will determine the importance of the images to the client – and therefore their budget).
With Estate Agents – because of their pricing structure – which is more based on the final sale value – it’s very different e.g.
1% of 300,000 = 3,000
1% of 275,000 = 2,750
So as you can see, the difference between them is relatively small – and therefore it’s not worth their while worrying too much about this.
By comparison, shooting an editorial feature for magazines, will usually mean the photographer will have a much larger budget to play with – even though the client’s actual Usage requirements are often less – so the photographer can afford to spend more time on the job – light, style, hire others to help, and even re-arrange the furniture, etc, if need be.
Naturally, the Editors of the magazines will be more demanding as a result – and will want their Readers to be “drawn into” the home, rather than simply show them the space…

Make it look real…

.. but complete the dream as well.
Having said that, the features are usually more about the decor, the homeowner’s style, what they did, and even the homeowners themselves in some cases.
So a different set of images is required – all be it the same subject matter and even the same framing (as seen here) – for these two different clients – who are actually targeting very similar markets, in a different way.
Still, back to the original question: How good do the images need to be to help sell a home ?
.. and where does one draw the line between: Good, Very good and Good enough ?
Do you simply just need to show the ‘Steak’ …

.. or should you be actually trying to sell a bit of the ‘Sizzle’ too …

.. more inline with what you expect to see in the magazines you buy & read each month.
It’s a huge market – and for many, it will be the single biggest ‘thing’ they will ever sell – which means there is often a lot of money on the line.
So should they invest more money in this .. and if so, how much?
Note: In the world of Advertising, the rule of thumb is up to 5% of your media spend.
We don’t have the answers – but we often hear of the homeowner’s disappointment, as to how their home looks – at a time when it’s important to them. So we kept coming back to these questions – to see if we can find the answers.
Any suggestions or comments are most welcome.
(Added note on the 18th January 2011: Ideal Home – Britain’s best-selling homes magazine – said ‘Yes’ to this home, so you will be able to see the full set of images we produced in their magazine later on this year.)