RSS

Can Hiring a Professional Photographer For Listing Photos Help Sell Your Home Fast?

A picture is worth a thousand words. We’ve all heard the saying before, and it’s definitely true when it comes to real estate. It would be almost impossible to fully describe a house without pictures. There’s just one problem; too often homeowners forget about picture quality.


Not all images are created equal. Blurry or poor-quality photos can be detrimental when selling your home. The question is, “Does professional photography help sell homes?” The simple answer is yes.


Professional photography can make all the difference when it comes to selling your home more quickly. It’s one reason why professional real estate photography exists.


Don’t just take our word for it. The facts speak for themselves.


Buyers Care About Photos Most


When looking at property, experts revealed that buyers are most interested in real estate photography. In fact, 95.1% of buyers first looked at pictures over everything else on a listing. Only after the pictures caught their attention did buyers move onto the property description section.


Real estate listing photos are particularly important when it comes to using the internet to home shop. According to the National Association of Realtors, 92% of buyers use the internet to shop for a home. Without photos, many homebuyers won’t even bother clicking on an online home listing.


Professional Photos Attract More Buyers


In addition, better quality photos can also increase the number of people clicking on your listing. This means that simply updating your listing with professional photos can potentially double the attention your home gets from potential buyers.


Professional Photos Give You a Competitive Edge


It’s easy to tell the difference between amateur photography and high-quality professional real estate photography. There really is no comparison, and your buyers will immediately recognize the difference and be more attracted to beautiful photography.


What’s the difference?


Art Direction: Professional photographers understand the essential elements that make up quality home images. This means that your bathroom won’t just be a picture of the toilet, but a piece of art that makes your bathroom look the best it’s ever looked.


Staged Rooms: An empty home won’t get you anywhere. Furnished rooms and spectacularly staged photos attract homebuyers by helping them envision their new life in your home.


Perfect Composition: Great real estate photos need the right light, angles, and composition to capture emotion, structure, and beauty. A professional sees all of this and makes it happen.


Editing: Few pictures are automatically perfect. Instead, they require careful post-production editing to enhance the final product.


Better images provide an ideal showcase for the home you love. It’s all of these elements together that help professional photos stand out online and in every listing. So, if you want your home to have a competitive edge in your area, you need the right real estate photographer.


Professional Photos Sell Homes Faster


Studies reveal that professional real estate photos can help a listing sell faster than comparable homes without professional photography. This means that if you have limited time or want to get your home off of your hands quickly, you can’t just point and shoot with your own camera. You need images that are produced professionally in order to have a major impact on potential buyers.


In the end, there’s no doubt that professional home photography is a good idea if you want to sell your home faster and for more money.


Source: Coldwell Banker Blue Matters


Read

4 Ways to Help Make Moving with Kids Easier

Summer is here! For families, it’s the most popular time to move to a new home because school is out. If there is any comfort in togetherness, a lot of us move in the summer. Don’t feel alone, we’re here to guide you! 


It’s no secret, no one likes to move and that includes your kids. Moving is one of the most stressful times in life, and it brings lots of change. For your kids, it means making new friends, and maybe, adjusting to a new school. If you have a little mover in tow, moving your home certainly adds to the baby adventures!


Here’s the good news, if you plan ahead and take simple steps, the trek through the moving process will become a walk in the park (well, maybe not, but it can be a manageable stroll up hill.) Way before you break out those cardboard boxes, use these pointers to help your kids, toddlers, and babies get through the moving process.


Here are four steps to a successful move with a young family. It’s all about: timing, transition, getting the kids involved, and an adjustment period.


Timing:


1. First, consider the timing of your move, this is probably the most important element:


  • What grades are your children in? If your eldest is about to be a senior in high school, it may be best to let them live with a trusted relative to finish up high school with their friends. If your youngest is about to start school or enter high school, this is an ideal time to move since they will be entering a new school either way. Is school on a break? Much better to time a move with kids when school’s out.
  • Babies and kids love and need their routine. Don’t let the moving to-do list and packing get in the way of your regular daily routine. Instead of pulling an all-nighter to pack, try to pack over a long period of time. Use naptime and baby’s early bedtime to get packing done in bits. Baby & parents need their sleep!

Transition:


2. Second, make the transition into the new home as easy as possible for your kids and little ones. Try these tips to make the transition a smooth one:


  • Make the new home the kids’ own. Allow them to walk through the new house before the move. Let them feel that they are part of the decision. Allow them (as much as possible) to choose their own bedroom, paint colors (“Here, let’s pick the paint color for your new room: which do you choose between these two.”), and play the imagination game with them: “Let’s imagine what this room will be like when it’s yours? Where will your stuffed animals go? Where will the bed go?” etc.
  • In the old house, talk about how their favorite toys, games, etc. are going to be in the new house too. This is not the time to clean out the closet and discard unwanted clothes and toys. You don’t want your kids associating loss with the move. If you need to de-clutter your kid’s room, do that way before the subject of the move comes up. De-cluttering is an excellent pre-move activity and really doesn’t have to involve the word “moving” at all.
  • TALK and LISTEN to your kids. Ask them what they are excited about and what things they are going to miss. Address their concerns: “What are we going to do about that? How about…”
  • During the actual moving day, when boxes and furniture are being moved, little ones should be somewhere else. Ask a trusted babysitter, friend or family member to take your kids and bundle of joy for the day. It is also ideal to use childcare for days leading up to your move so you can get more done on your moving calendar.
  • Stay connected to friends, neighbors and family back home. Arrange facetime appointments with the children’s friends before you move to the new home, it will help make the transition easier when they know they can keep in touch with their old friends. And, set up a play date for the old friends to come over for a sleep over.

Involve Your Kids:


3. There is no easier way to keep kids happy than giving them a feeling of control – get them involved!


  • Have them arrange their own room. Draw out a floor plan of the rooms in the new house and let the children make paper doll furniture and arrange what they want in their room.
  • Encourage your kids to pack themselves so they are involved in the moving process. They can have their own boxes and suitcases that they are responsible for. Give them color codes or fun stickers to stick on their boxes that belong in their room. You can oversee this. But, give them one box to pack freely with the stuff they want, it will be the first box they open in their new room.
  • Give each child a backpack to fill with overnight items so you don’t have to dig through boxes. Include their toothbrush, pjs, stuffed animal, favorite bedtime story, remember to put the children’s medications in mommy’s purse or backpack for safe keeping.
  • Pack a baby bag with all of your needs for three days. If you’re moving a long distance, you may want at least one month of supplies with you rather than on the moving truck. Once you move into your new place, you may not have easy access to diapers, baby food, pacifiers, and the all important security blanket, you’ll be happy that you know just where to look for those items.

Adjustment:


4. Last, is the adjustment to the new home and neighborhood. It’s an extremely important phase of a move; it sets the stage for your new life in your new home. Here are suggestions to make the adjustment period a great one:


  • When moving in, set up the nursery first. This will allow you to easily change your baby’s clothes and diapers. You’ll have a nice space for that first bedtime story when you put them to sleep on the first night in your new home. Arrange the nursery as closely as possible to your previous nursery. The familiarity will help you and your baby in the transition.
  • Host a party in your new neighborhood and invite children of the same age as your own kid(s) over so that they can make new friends. It’s as easy as a pool party, pizza party, or cookout. Try to host the party in the first weeks of being in your new home.
  • Take them for a drive by their new school, the local ice cream place, playground, if they have a hobby such as dancing, show them that there is a dance studio here too, so they can see their new neighborhood has all the same things as the old.
  • Set up a tour of the new school and to meet their new teacher before school starts.
  • If you move in the beginning of the summer, sign them up for camp or other local activities where they can meet new kids before school starts. It also keeps them out of the house so you can continue the unpacking!

By taking these four points into consideration, your next chapter in your new home will start out with ease – giving every member of your family time to make the new house home.



Source: Coldwell Banker Blue Matters



Read
The Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association (SRA) IDX Reciprocity listings are displayed in accordance with SRA's MLS® Data Access Agreement and are copyright of the Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association (SRA).
The above information is from sources deemed reliable but should not be relied upon without independent verification. The information presented here is for general interest only, no guarantees apply.
Trademarks are owned and controlled by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). Used under license.
MLS® System data of the Saskatchewan REALTORS® Association (SRA) displayed on this site is refreshed every 2 hours.