Based in Marbella, Gary Edwards is a British born photographer whose career in photography spans over 25 years. His clientele includes a plethora of international companies. When he is not globe-trotting on travel and event assignments, the talented photographer spends his working days shooting luxury villas, hotels, beach clubs, and on assignments for clients such as Engel & Völkers, Elite Estates Marbella, Altavista Properties and Villarroel Architects in the vicinity of Marbella.
While the popular maxim, “Location, location, location” is fundamental, the new mantra of savvy realtors is “Photography, photography, photography” as high quality imagery is a proven factor in encouraging and clinching a sale, and even commanding considerably higher pricing, says Gary Edwards.
Luxury Real Estate Photography Proves Effective
“Good photography is listed as second only to accurate pricing as the top tip when selling a property,” affirms Gary.
Effectively, according to studies in the US, high quality real estate imagery is proven to generate more interest among buyers – attracting 60% more viewers to the property.
Studies have shown that good images also help vendors clinch better deals for their properties, and importantly, can help up the price of properties by hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“High quality photography is also known to sell property more swiftly too,” says Edwards.
“With dozens of agents in competition for the best listings, good photography lets your clients know that your company goes the extra mile. Whether it’s a multi-million dollar villa, or an apartment for 100,000, you need to market it with TLC,” remarks Edwards.
When it comes to branding your company, you can’t afford to have anything with your name on it that is not top of the range.
“It’s the same for the photographer,” affirms Gary Edwards. “Whether it is a stately home or a simple apartment, for the sake of your reputation, every shoot has to be the best you can do.”
Choosing A Professional Property Photographer – No Substitute for Experience
“An estate agent’s client needs to know that for their primary listings, they are using only the best photography from the best photographers. This works for their credibility,” remarks Gary.
It is advantageous to employ the services of the same photographer in order to create consistency in style and mood in the images on view. Similarly, it is vitally important to send a tried and tested photographer to shoot multi-million pound properties. It is a matter of trust, discretion and confidentiality.
Image Led Property Marketing – One Chance to Make a First Impression
“Even when budgets are limited or reduced, the most professional companies don’t stint on their annual photography requirements, as they realize that good images sell their products and services, and form the key to good marketing,” comments Gary.
With image-led social media platforms such as Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram, businesses simply can’t afford to present substandard photographs to the world. Companies are engaging so much more directly with their customers and need to have appropriate images to convey messages that will set them apart from their competition.
“Not only do the statistics prove that photography sells properties, when looking at your listings, potential new clients can see and “feel” the difference if the photography is quality,” says Edwards.
80 percent of property buyers are known to surf the Internet to browse homes, so the images need to be eye-catching and tell the story of your property in seconds.
Of those potential clients, when viewing online, 60 percent of viewers spend time looking at images, while only 20 percent concentrate on the description, and 20 percent on the remarks of agents.
Photography in listings helps grab more attention, an average of 20 seconds per view as opposed to just 2 seconds for listings with no images.
Only 20 percent of properties listed feature images by professional photographers, which would suggest that by opting for professionally photographed properties, you would have the edge over the remaining 80 percent.
If would like to know more about real estate photography, either in Marbella or internationally, Gary Edwards can be contacted via email at: photographer@garyedwards.es. To view his portfolio please visit: http://www.instagram.com/gary_justgoodphotos.
Statistics: National Association of Realtors/Redfin Corporation