Pictures don't lie. The eye of the camera is a truth tool.

Photos online need to be of Staged houses in order to get a second glance.

It is amazing that in this day and age of digital photography with all the enhanced devices and services available there are still poor quality photos (or no photos) online to promote and market a house for sale.

Photos need to be Staged too. Presentation matters.

Over 90% of buyers in most markets are searching online FIRST before even deciding which houses are candidates for purchase. Gone are the days where all houses are previewed via open houses or showings with an agent. Virtual Showings are the new buzz phrase - and in a virtual showing, the photos are king.

Staged houses show better in photos and in virtual tours online.

It's not just about clicking the camera and posting any photo to promote a house. Today, the savvy seller better make sure that the photos of their house - their product - are good ones that really showcase the space and selling features of their house.

Consider the scenario with a large framed painting found in the dining room of a very high-end $2M house that has a nude woman reclining on a bed. Do you think Buyers would find this appealing? Is this something they would expect to find in a dining room? No. And the buyers touring this house online or in person would remember this house as "The Naked Lady House."

Or how about another photo found online of a Formal Living Room that shows only a cluttered room with ugly exercise equipment and random pieces of furniture lining the walls, and the "focal point" of the photo is the bare wall with an unattractive picture on the ground. What are these people thinking? The agent marketing the house needs to take a hard look at the photos and ask, "Is this photo going to help or hinder the sale?"

Or lastly, how about a photo found of an exterior of a house that shows more trees than house, and the lighting is so bright, the part of the house that you do see is totally washed out. And worse than that, this is the ONLY photo for the house - there are no interior photos posted online. A buyer is going to pass right over the washed out photo with trees that block the house and move on to a better presented, buyer-friendly product.

The amazing part of this is these photos were found when searching online on a prominent website where over 400 houses fell within the criteria of $500,000 or higher for a particular city search. More than half of them were featured with no photos other than the exterior photo posted. Of the ones that had additional photos, 75% of them had photos that were poor quality or did not showcase the house. Even a short-sale or REO needs to have a best-foot forward in order to attract an audience of buyers.

Here are some Tips for getting the most out of what is shown online

Staging Works and is a key marketing and presentation tool for Houses.

Stage your Houses BEFORE they come on the market - and take photos of Staged rooms to promote the house to the public!

1. Get a good digital camera that can capture the entire room in a photo. If you have to, pay to have a professional take the photos as this is the first image a potential buyer will see online.

2. Make sure the lighting in the photo is an enhancement to the picture. If the lighting is too harsh, it will wash out part of the photo and the viewer cannot get a good perspective of what they are looking at in the picture. If the lighting coming from a window is too bright, it will wash out the photo and become the undesirable focal point. You are better off waiting for better lighting - either in the morning or later in the afternoon.

3. Take some photos at night. Exterior photos of a house lit up at night can be a fabulous way to showcase a house. Pools or other water features can reflect the light at night and create and artsy and attractive image.

4. LOOK at the pictures as you take them. The eye of the camera shows everything - the dog bowl, the cat toy, the shoe by the stairs, the random umbrella leaning against the house, the trash can, the old car, the weeds by the door, the person sitting in a chair, etc. These things we "filter out" with our minds, show up with evident clarity in photos. Remove the eye-sore and re-take the pictures!

Remember: You only have ONE CHANCE to make a FIRST IMPRESSION - make it a good one!

Where to get Help: Work with a trained Accredited Staging Professional (ASP).

They are the only nationally recognized designation for Home Staging. They have been trained to specifically prepare a house for sale and their goal is to help that house SELL.

On average a Staging Report Plan that provides specific detailed information on preparing a house for sale averages about $200.00 in most markets. When the seller implements this Staging Plan, the house is ready to show. If the house is vacant, a trained ASP Stager can come out at no charge to preview the property and then provide a Staging Proposal for the investment to Stage the house for sale.

Whether Occupied Home or Vacant Home Staging - statistics prove that: The investment in Staging is always less than a Price Reduction.

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