I follow a more-than-fantastic Real Estate Photography, photographyforrealestate.net, which has given me my crash-course studies in anything and everything dealing with Real Estate Photography.  This blog has everything you need to know, including e-books written by the publisher himself, tips and tricks, news, articles, etc.  It was in fact this site that led me to my huge interest in the subject.

An article they recently posted is from the Wall Street Journal, written by someone who was actively looking to buy.  She talks about how many terrible photos she has seen, and what a turn-off they were.  If your house looks bad on the Internet, chances of it being shown become slim.  She makes a great point about Realtors breezing through the house, taking a few pictures without much thought, and slapping them on the Internet.  If you are thinking about selling, ask your potential Realtor if they think photography is important for the marketing of your home.  You don’t need a million dollar Real Estate Photographer (unless you have a million dollar home!)  For our market, a decent DSLR camera and some basic Photoshop work are more than enough. 

At the same time, we can not, as Realtors, clean your home and get it “picture ready.”  I have no problem putting off a shoot to give the seller time to clean up.  Seller’s have just as much duty to help the home sell as the Realtors do.  If your agent suggest this or that, take their advice!  Read the WSJ article (check out the helpful tips also) and then read the blog I mentioned.  You would be surprised how much work the professional Real Estate Photographers do, and how valuable they can be.