Dogs Playing Poker – What do you do with great property photos?

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

Author website

Greg had asked me to follow up on some particulars of the twilight photos we recently commissioned for one of our seller’s homes and, specifically, how these shots translated into our brochures. Here goes.

As a foreword, I just love this whole conversation because it debunks the argument that all agents hold the tools in their marketing box as safely guarded secrets lest “the competition” figure it out. This is transparency at its best. The reality is, and my position has always been, that nothing I do is secret. If other agents don’t know what Steve and I are doing for our clients today, then they will tomorrow. None of us has a copyright on good ideas; we only own them to the extent that others are unwilling to invest the time and money to see our efforts and raise us one.

Many agents, of course, and many of them in my market will “borrow” my ideas over time, which will inspire me to do better yet,  keeping our little poker game going. In the end, everyone wins.

First, it took me awhile to admit that, while my better-than-most camera with wide-angle capability is pretty nifty, and while I consider myself having a keen eye for the shot, having produced about 4 gazillion flyers and brochures over the years, the professionals can do it better. Perhaps the biggest benefit to me, and Mr. Shaw will appreciate my newfound appreciation for delegation, is the time savings that I am realizing, which more than offsets any cost of privatizing the photography.

While I still have to be physically present during the shoot (and, in the case of twilight photography, this is a two to three hour event), the photos are delivered to me within 24 hours. I receive two zipped files, one containing the full-resolution photos and the other the photos resized for the web. Now I do not have to spend an afternoon throwing out the bad and adjusting the lighting on the good, nor do I have to resize the ones I will be using on the Internet. And, the photos are mine to do with as I please at this point. In other words, it is a one-time cost. As an added bonus, the service I use creates the virtual tour for me, which is again delivered within 24-hours.

The photos are worthless unless you know what to do with them afterwards. Clearly, they are used on all of our online advertising for the home and in the MLS. About a year ago, we also starting producing bifold brochures as a matter of routine. These brochures are done for every listing (with a few exceptions, since occasionally we will just have a home which cannot fill a brochure, no matter how we might try). From one-bedroom townhome to million-dollar estate, all of our sellers’ homes benefit. They are glossy, full-color, full-bleed card stock which are placed both inside and outside the home.

Inside, I have two pages to not only display photos but practice the Greg Swann art of poetic description. I have had people tell me that the brochures really “put them in the home”, which is the intent.

The big finish is when we have the printer zap our little stand-up photos and tag line from the back cover and insert the mailing labels. These brochures then become our (very expensive) Just Listed notices. We mail them to a sizeable surrounding homes crowd and to our list of clients and past clients. Not only does this generate enthusiasm from the neighbors and keep us in the minds of our past clients, but it generates showings, which is ultimately the goal.

Greg asked me if the flyers in the flyer boxes outside the home “get wet”. I thought this was funny, given that I live in San Diego where our average rainfall could fill shot glass. We do occasionally get the rain, however, and it has never been a problem. We use the cheaper plastic flyer holders which surprisingly do an excellent job of insulating from above. The sprinklers from below tend to be our greatest adversary, so we just hang the pouch a little higher on the sign. And, the reality is that the flyers don’t usually last long enough to get throttled by the elements.

Now, I just showed my hand. Fold or raise me?