An amazing use of a small micro apartment space to make it functional and complete while not feeling overly cluttered.

A small remodeled micro apartment in Jakarta, Indonesia, that includes a full kitchen and a loft bed.

Source: A Loft Bed With Storage Underneath Makes This Small Micro Apartment More Liveable

Real Estate Photography with a phone doesn't have to be difficult.

Well, option one: If your in South Florida, put your license with us and the professional photography is included! Yes, that was a shameless plug for my brokerage but it's a small price to pay to get some free practical advise. 

Option Two: Learn to use your phones camera to it's best ability. 

Now, keep in mind you would ideally be using a smart phone from the last 2-3 years. I say this because the quality of the lens' and software is such that you can get better than expected results using the automatic settings of the phones camera app.

Some things to consider when doing real estate photography with a phone regardless of the smartphone you are using. 

1: Light and where that light is coming from is the difference between an ok picture and a really good one. Light Should fill the space and to the extent possible, you should try to illuminate dark areas. Don't shoot directly into the light. Let the light source be behind you, above you or beside you. Don't let your phones camera have to struggle to adjust to a powerful light source right in front of it. The result will be a really dark photo.

1A: If you don't have a choice about where the light is coming from, then consider using the HDR function that most newer phones come with. HDR will shoot multiple pictures that will automatically be combined to give the best reproduction of light possible. As you get more experienced with judging the results, you will be more adept at positioning yourself for getting the best exposure. 

2: Shoot the room and the lifestyle and not a piece of furniture. 
How many times do you see the living room picture and all you see is the couch? Well intended as that might be, you need to find the best vantage point that lets a person see the layout of a room with good light. Before you take pictures, scope out a room to see from what vantage point you can capture the space in it's entirety. When Real Estate photography with a phone is your only option, you want to capture as much of the space as possible.

3: Night photography that doesn't capture a whole space is really mood photography and doesn't always translate to a great real estate photograph. 
Owners have very strong experiences and feelings about their homes and that is as it should be. But sometimes capturing that mood via nighttime photography is usually more intimate and may not have much to do with the house. The example would be a dimly lit chair or the setting sun casting shadows in a part of a room, etc. In a perfect world, when you shoot night or evening shots, you want to capture the whole space. An area that may feel intimate should still show the whole space. 

4: Don't fake it!!! Take pictures of what is actually there. Don't hang your phone over a balcony to catch a glimpse of what you would never see otherwise. I can't tell you how many times I have clients complaining about showing them properties where the photos have NOTHING to do with the listing. Even if the view sucks, there are things that can be done to make a property more appealing while being genuine. Remember, someone bought the home for a reason and may have very likely enjoyed their time there so, shoot for capturing that energy if possible. 

5: Tell your clients to have the property ready for photographs. IE: Pick it up and have it clean. Don't be afraid to move things around with the owner to get the best exposure of a properties space. Busy, cluttered, full spaces don't shoot well. There is nothing wrong with lots of pictures on the wall. But boxes, containers, cluttered shelving, cluttered tables are to be avoided when possible. 

6: Drone photography. Though this goes beyond real estate photography with a phone and this articles scope, it comes up a lot. We do it but have learned that it has specific uses. For example. It's great in single family homes to give overhead shots of the property to see how a home sits on its lot. While some photographers will use tripods to shoot the front of a house that can go up to 12 or 15 feet in height, a good quality drone image can capture the same quality with more flexibility. In High-rise photography you can give a potential buyer a great view of a building or area that they would otherwise not get from ground level. 

Getting back to phone photography, it's very important to be shooting with the phone in wide angle (landscape) and not portrait mode. That means a rectangle resting on its long side. It's not easy to take pictures of living spaces in portrait mode unless it's a narrow space with limited access like a closet or pantry or similar. Otherwise, you want as wide of a shot as possible to capture the whole space. 

Once you have taken your photos, you now have the chance to tweak or improve them. In both the IOS and Android, the camera app or the photos app will have the ability to adjust or correct photos for color, shadows, exposure, etc. In most cases if you are new to this, you can simply find the button within the photo editing app that allows for “automatic" or ”auto” corrections. In most cases this will get the job done. 

If your feeling daring, you can use apps (in both Ios and Android) that can also correct things like straightening photos and lens correction. We all have a tendency to lean one direction or another and camera lenses don't always capture things exactly right. This type of software can solve that problem. 

To learn more about how Real Estate Photography with a phone adds value and other tips, check out this article about Bad Real Estate Photos and what they might mean to your clients.

In addition, Here is link to Udemy that shows some phone photography courses you can take. Alternatively, if you're in South Florida, you can always move your license to us and we'll shoot your properties with a lot more than just a phone at no additional cost to you or your client.

Real Estate photography with a phone doesn't need to be hard and with these quick tips and tricks you can present your clients property in a better light.

How important is photography to selling real estate? Well, it's like bread and butter, mac and cheese, ying & yang. I think you get the point. They are intimately tied together. There is tons of research that discusses in great detail how properties with excellent photos get more traffic. They sell quicker. They sell closer to asking price. The same can be said for almost ANY product being presented on the internet when the viewer has to rely on a combination of images, write-up and reviews.

But being that real estate is such a big investment and so important, It's still surprising some of the bad images you see? How do you get excited about a blurry couch or a a view that isn't real? This and sadly much more is being passed off as something that is supposed to motivate you to see a property... I don't think so.

I'm a broker based in Miami, Florida who has been involved in real estate for over 25 years. To this day I marvel at how much faith and patience property owners put in agents that represent them poorly. These owners are sometimes forced to look past not just bad images but poor marketing, due diligence and communication skills. Don't get me wrong. I'm not bad mouthing the industry as a whole. It's more about pointing out something that happens enough times to warrant a rant on my part...

In fairness to property sellers everywhere, there are contracts and financial pitfalls that potentially bind the seller of a property to less than ideal circumstances. Sometimes out of obligation, friendship, cost, contracts, etc., you end up hoping for a miracle versus planning for success. There are also times when people sell you on an idea of value that may have little to do with the reality of your property? You don't see this phenomenon as much when it comes to rentals or buyers but this does occur more frequently when related to sellers of real estate.

So what are the things a property seller can do in these types of situations? You can hire your own photographer to improve those bad real estate photos and potentially someone to writeup the language to describe your home. Review the terms of your contract with the brokerage you signed with to see what your options are to cancel, amend, etc. You could have the broker assign a different agent? Ask to review the due diligence used to arrive at the value of your property. How does it relate to recent comparable sales in your area? What marketing channels are they using and how frequently? Do they understand what makes your place special or different? Good or bad?

In terms of evaluating a properties worth, there are at least three relatively automated pricing systems being used in the industry. Each has its own way to arrive at a range of value for just about any property. That being said, not any one pricing system is an absolute and all should be treated with a grain of salt. The personal experience of the brokerage and agent combined with these analytical systems is always better than trusting the numbers solely.

In our brokerage here in South Florida, these are the minimum items we expect to cover and discuss. There is a lot more that goes on in the background to keep things moving smoothly, but this is a good starting point.

So, if you are thinking of selling or are in the midst of selling, treat this little rant as the basis of a series of questions you want to ask yourself and whoever you are working with or might be working with in the future. Remember, bad real estate photos of your blurry couch or that modern art inspired photo of your refrigerator, might really be a cry for help on a much bigger scale.

So then you might say that you have a great IDX plugin where potential clients can search to their hearts content? Well, ok. but a key component of IDX is how interactive you can get with potential clients and how easily they can share info amongst those they care for. IDX IS important but never make a client feel like they are working for themselves.

What to do?

BLOG!

Maybe that is the solution? Short answer. Again, no. But you're headed in the right direction! You should be writing about things that matter to you and your potential clients in your market. Topics should avoid being overly generic or watered down and have a call to action.

Speaking of calls to action. In some circles, that means culling personal information from people who visit your blog, website or other media. What it should really mean is giving people a compelling reason to contact you versus someone else. What makes you the go to person? What makes you different?

Mail Marketing!

You might say that you'll cover your target market in pamphlets, flyers, cards, brochures and the like. Snail mail has dropped significantly in use over the years. You will see some top brokers using it but again it is a part of a larger scheme or campaign. So, by itself, not enough.

Are you starting to get a sense of where I am headed with this? 🙂

3rd Party Social Media Marketing

So, now you are thinking to yourself. Ah Ha! I'll market myself through companies that target what I am looking for and or a specific demographic. You are headed in the right direction and getting warmer, but you're still not there yet "young grass hopper". Being nuanced and targeting specific parts of a market is great. But, be clear on why you are targeting them. Make sure that your message is clear. Here is where the concept of A/B testing comes into play. That's fancy talk for if one message doesn't resonate, change it and test to see which is getting to your target audience. It's the results that matter.

Social Media Influencer

So then you say, I'll become a social media "influencer" and drive people to me from my amazing videos and still photography! Ok, wonderful thought but that is a percentage of a percentage of the overall social media market. The good news, this is definitely part of the right direction to head in, but you don't need to be a social media star to accomplish your goals.

The abbreviated answer to succeeding with a real estate website is: ALL OF THE ABOVE.

Yup. Look at successful realtors that do not have a specific network or started fresh in a market and you'll find all of the above methods and systems being employed with lots of personal tweaks and flare. And don't forget the old fashioned get to know your neighbors by physically meeting people. I know. Crazy! Meeting people physically in this day and age of digital nirvana is unheard of... At any given moment you will find someone somewhere, phone in hand, walking into a wall, pole or another person also on their electronic device while lost in their text, snapchat, etc. These folks need homes as well in "meatspace".

If this seems like a lot of things to handle or if you are not familiar with all this jargon, don't fret. If you are sincerely interested in being successful, then these are things you need to consider and or become familiar with. For some people, the best route is to team up.

This can take many forms but the main concept is finding a like minded person(s) with whom you can divide up the tasks and delegate those you can't stay ahead of. Ideally, you would want a brokerage that understands these things and can give you assistance. A brokerage firm that understands and can assist you in these endeavors is extremely valuable and important to your success. If you are a realtor in South Florida, contact us we might be your right fit! And there, gentle reader, is a shameless plug of my own real estate brokerage firm. We can make the real estate website process easier!

Combining the skills and knowledge of a proactive real estate brokerage with you and or your teams desire to succeed, and the likelihood of success starts to go up really fast. Remember, even though you are a business unto yourself, you don't need to go it alone.

So take that real estate website of yours and combine it with the above tools and you will have a hub and spoke system geared toward longterm success. Just remember, YOU ARE THE HUB. One tool by itself is usually not enough. Combining them and being flexible and true to your voice is the way to go.

Finally, there is no need to feel overwhelmed. Planning, organization and perseverance are your closest friends and allies. Effectively, you are turning yourself into a walking retail brand that people will recognize as relevant and worth contacting if you do things right. One of the things we as a brokerage do (or any brokerage should be doing), is to help you establish your brand. The end game is for you to become a point of contact that engages interested people looking for the help of a qualified Realtor.

To learn more contact us HERE

You've probably noticed that our blog page has been rather sparse for a number of years now. Where have we been? Well, It's not like we haven't had anything to say.

https://www.instagram.com/emh3_luxury_realestate/

We've been keeping busy posting interesting articles and informative pieces while marketing our clients listings. For the new year, we are planning on adding a few new components. For one, we are considering adding a podcast and maybe even some informative videos. We're also going to be growing! Yup, after many years of being very boutique-"ish", We feel it's time to to grow and invite people to come join us! Learn more about us HERE.

So, yes. We have been posting. We just weren't doing it here... sniffle... So, this coming year, we are going to bring some of that social media love back to the EMH3 website in the form of podcasts, media postings, etc.

Stick around! There's more to come. Happy New Year and Happy Holidays!