By the Book: Benefits of professional real estate photography

PHUKET: Professional real estate photography is more essential than ever before, when marketing any type of property for sale. Between 2008 and 2012 real estate searches on Google grew over 253 per cent, with 90 per cent of buyers beginning their searches online (nearly 30 per cent of those using mobile devices). Listings with professional photos generated an average of 139 per cent more clicks than those without.

These figures explain why it is so important to have great quality photos when selling a property. Most people today have less spare time and greater access to the internet, therefore prospective buyers will spend hours poring over real estate listings online (rather than physical visits), and they are always going to be most attracted to the properties with the best photos. As the saying goes: ‘a picture speaks a thousand words’.

Professional real estate photography now covers virtual 360-degree property tours, aerial photography, aerial video productions as well as interior/exterior photography. These are ideal for villas and condos for sale; holiday rental properties; new property developments; real estate agents; land owners; businesses; architects; hotels; schools; marine industry and many more.

Most people are now familiar with the 360-degree virtual tours, but this is still greatly under-utilized by sellers. A 360-degree tour will boost your online marketing to a higher level. Potential buyers can view a 360-degree virtual walk-through anytime and anywhere in the world from their computer or mobile device.

Virtual Tours help your property achieve more exposure, with listings receiving substantially more views than listings without a tour. They also allow you to have a 24/7 Open House, without the presence of a real estate agent or home seller to show the property. This is even more useful in a market such as Phuket, where the majority of buyers are not here all year round.

360-degree virtual tours are attracting buyers unable to view and they set a property apart from others, especially for holiday rental and long-term bookings, giving the tenant confidence in villa quality, facilities and location.

Aerial photography – sell without viewing, see topography, access, neighbors, local utilities, exact land construction heights. It also allows owners and buyers to view from any height and can show distances to beaches.

For hotels/resorts – a combination of 360 virtual tour and photography can turn website visitors into real bookings and is also perfect for your sales team showing aerial overview, facilities, and walk-through. A video that includes aerial/interiors/lifestyle and sound track makes a powerful sales tool.

With access to drones, high quality cameras and editing software now widely available, the cost of having high quality professional photos or video is no longer prohibitive and is an essential tool in generating maximum interest in the property you are trying to sell.

We always strongly recommend to all owners that they should get high quality photos that often can be arranged through their real estate broker.

For more information about this article, contact Kevin Hodges, Siam Air Cam (SAC) quoting Professional Property Photos. Call him on 076-324 042 or email: info@siamaircam.com; www.siamrealestate.com/services/siam-air-cam/

— Kevin Hodges