Real Estate Photos Statistically DO increase final sale price!

Real Estate

FROM DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013

Adding at least one photo of your residential listing online can boost the final sales price by 3.9 percent, according to a new study of more than 4,000 homes.Adding interior photos were found to be more effective than exterior photos in increasing the sales price. For example, adding interior photos netted buyers a 3.9 percent increase versus a 1.9 percent increase from exterior photos, the study found.Each additional photo you add of the listing could potentially pay off too, adding about $150 to $200 to the final sales price, found researcher Ken H. Johnson, an associate professor of finance at Florida International University’s Hollo School of Real Estate.“If I was selling, I would put every picture I could on the listing, at a ratio of four to five interior vs. one exterior,” Johnson told The Wall Street Journal.

But the photos may at a slight cost: It can take longer to sell your home. Adding photos of your listings can raise the time to sell the home by 20.6 percent or 16.5 extra days, according to the study. Johnson says that photos provide buyers with more information.


real estate interior of living room

“You’re getting an information overload. It’s like offering kids a bunch of candy, and they can’t decide which one to take,” Johnson told The Wall Street Journal. He
“We’re talking about a few extra weeks in marketing time to get that 3 percent to 5 percent increase on a home. That’s a good trade,” he says.adds that photos, however, give buyers a clear idea of what they’re purchasing.

The study did not differentiate between professional photos versus amateur photos.

Source: “What a Picture’s Worth,” The Wall Street Journal (Jan. 10, 2013)