Why should you pay for professional real estate photography when you can take photos of your home for free using a cell phone camera? Better yet, why can’t you just reuse photos from other listings? What are the benefits of professional HDR real estate photography when selling in NYC?
These are common questions asked by For Sale By Owner (“FSBO”) sellers in New York City. We’ll explain in this article why a small investment of a few hundred dollars will prevent headaches, dramatically improve your listing’s marketing and ultimately result in a better outcome.
Using photos from the internet is a common mistake by FSBO sellers who are trying to save every last penny. Just because a photograph is online without a watermark or clear copyright marking does not mean you can just freely use them. This is especially true in the case of photos from other listings.
Professional photographs from another listing are typically owned by the listing agent. This means that neither you nor the seller who hired the listing agent may use them without permission.
Agents are notorious for ‘policing’ listings from other agents and catching instances of copyright infringement. After all, if a listing goes up in a building they’ve done business in before, don’t you think they’d notice your new listing?
Here is an example of a seller who sent their listing broker photographs to use which the seller had simply downloaded from the internet. This is a very dangerous mistake to make, as the seller typically warrants in a listing agreement that any materials submitted to use are free from copyright infringement. Furthermore, an owner is liable if the broker is sued or fined as a result of the owner’s deception!
The following is a series of email exchanges from an angry neighbor in the building who believes her photos have been infringed upon, the seller and the listing agent.
The seller’s broker responded in a very professional manner despite having been harassed constantly:
The seller behaved like an adult and quickly wrote an apology letter to his neighbor:
We truly cannot understand why some FSBO sellers want to save a few hundred dollars so badly that they’d sacrifice their marketing potential which inevitably costs them significantly more through a lower sale price or failure to sell altogether.
The average home in New York City sells for $2 million. Professional photographs cost approximately $300. If you have terrible, blurry photos from your flip phone camera, why do you think buyers will even bother to inquire or stop by your open house?
Every 1% less you receive on your typical sale is equivalent to $20,000 on average. Is saving an $300 really worth it in the long run?
A Full Service Listing for 1%
Sell your home with a traditional full service listing for just one percent commission.
Here are some before and after photos from Hauseit Agent Assisted FSBO sellers who started with amateur photos and ultimately opted for professional HDR photography.
Before vs. After: 3BR Condo in Upper East Side, Manhattan
Before vs. After: Co-op Studio in Turtle Bay, Manhattan
Before vs. After: 2BR Pre-War Co-op in Upper West Side, Manhattan
Before vs. After: 2BR Co-op in Flushing, Queens
Before vs. After: Townhouse in Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Before vs. After: Townhouse in Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Before vs. After: 1BR Co-op in Jackson Heights
Before vs. After: 1BR Co-op in Jackson Heights
Before vs. After: 1BR Co-op in Kips Bay, Manhattan
Before vs. After: 2BR Co-op in Rego Park, Queens
Before vs. After: House in Irvington, NY
Before vs. After: 2BR Condo in Yorkville, Manhattan
Before vs. After: Studio in Brooklyn Heights
Disclosure: Commissions are not set by law or any Realtor® association or MLS and are fully negotiable. No representation, guarantee or warranty of any kind is made regarding the completeness or accuracy of information provided. Square footage numbers are only estimates and should be independently verified. No legal, tax, financial or accounting advice provided.
I like how you talked about how valuable nice, professional photos are when selling a home. I would want my home to be presented well to get the best amount of buyers interested. Thank you for the information about how using a phone camera will take lower quality pictures and not attract any buyers.
I totally agree
I think that one of the most effective techniques to quickly sell a home is to let the buyer imagine how their new home will look like once they are all moved in. This can be harder than it seems, especially when looking through an empty home. However, there is a way to make this vision a reality, and it’s called virtual staging.
Virtual staging is the process of staging a home virtually, wherein graphics editors design the interior of a property based on the aesthetics and personality of the home. This is done by creating highly realistic furniture, decor and accent pieces then integrating them into an image of a vacant interior.
It’s critically important to only use photos that you own and/or have paid for. Simply grabbing photos off the internet, from Zillow, or from the previous listing agent of your property is unacceptable and will likely lead to you being sued for copyright infringement. For example, here’s what a friend recently got in the mail from a law firm:
Copyright infringement
Use of images without a valid license is in direct violation of Title 17 U.S.C.S., the Copyright Act of 1976. Keep in mind that copyright is a strict liability offense, and you are liable for the infringement regardless of your knowledge of the infringement or your intent. Penalties and damages can range up to $150,000 not including expenses and costs.
Is it all good if I just remove the image after being warned?
No. We appreciate your prompt removal of the image. Removal of the image from your website does not resolve the period of unlicensed use, and it remains that the photographer be fairly compensated for use of his or her work. Keep in mind that a copyright infringement is a strict liability offense, and that use of any imagery found online almost always and with few exceptions must be licensed prior to use.
I found the image on Google or social media, isn’t it free?
No. Google and other free image sites display very clear notices that “images may be subject to copyright.”
Keep in mind that a copyright infringement is a strict liability offense, and that use of any imagery found online almost always and with very few exceptions must be licensed prior to use.
But the photos are not watermarked
Copyright is established at the moment of a work’s creation. To avoid copyright infringement in future, we recommend you take necessary steps to establish ownership of the copyrighted work and reach out to the creator to license the image prior to use.