An expert photographer can make the homes you represent look as appealing as possible to buyers and, ultimately, improve your real estate lead generation efforts.
But the process of finding and eventually hiring the right real estate photographer means taking several factors into consideration, and price, experience, reviews, and licensing are chief among them.
Continue reading to learn not only how to hire a photographer, but also how to get the best results from their shoots and build a long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationship with them.
Regarding price, professional photographers (real estate and other) have various expenses associated with their work.
Licensing fees, for instance, are implemented by just about every pro photographer.
Though your photographer may give you digital files and print versions of your listings, they typically still own the copyright to the work, so speak with anyone you’re interested in hiring about their licensing agreement and what you are permitted to do with the photos they take.
Similarly, make sure you’re crystal clear on both the final price of a photo shoot and the post-production process.
Photographers may charge for travel or extra time spent on shoots, so get all of the pricing details out in the open before signing them on to take your real estate photos.
Additionally, make sure any photographer you work with takes care of the photo editing after the fact. You’re paying them for more than just snapping pictures: They need to take care of adjusting and cleaning up your listing photos to make them look perfect.
Tell your photographer exactly what you want for your photos.
When you finally hire a real estate photographer, make a comprehensive list of everything you want them to shoot at your listings. For example, if there are specific areas of the interior and exterior, or amenities in and around the property you want highlighted, provide those details to your photographer.
This will prevent you from getting a final product you’re unhappy with and give your photographer a clear notion of what you want for your photos’ style.
Evaluate whether it’s worth hiring the photographer again.
As you’ll learn over the years working as a real estate agent, not every business relationship will work out. Ask yourself these questions to gauge if you should hire your photographer again:
Were the photos they took appealing to your core audience?
Did they abide by your photography preferences?
Did they complete their assignment in a timely fashion?
Were they easy to work with?
Did they edit the photos to your satisfaction?
Was their pricing model everything you expected?
Examine every aspect of your relationship with the real estate photography professional you hired and weigh the pros and cons. The good news is, if you weren’t sold on their performance, you can go back to the well and bring in other candidates from the aforementioned resources until you find the right one.
“The camera sees more than the eye, so why not make use of it?”
— Edward Weston