{"id":6926,"date":"2013-06-04T05:00:38","date_gmt":"2013-06-04T12:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/?p=6926"},"modified":"2020-12-24T01:41:52","modified_gmt":"2020-12-24T09:41:52","slug":"picture-perfect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/picture-perfect\/","title":{"rendered":"Picture Perfect"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here at Point2, we help real estate agents market themselves and their properties. That means we spend a lot of time looking at listing photos. We\u2019ve seen them all \u2013 the good, the bad and the truly incomprehensible<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While we all know that evocative listing photos can promote a property by encouraging viewers to picture themselves living in the space, we can\u2019t help but wonder: what if these millions of images that are being traded across the Internet by agents, owners and real estate portals could do even more?<\/i><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry, this is not an article about the future of smell-o-vision<\/a>. Instead we take a look at today\u2019s smart photos to show you how a curbside snapshot can be so much more than just a pretty picture. Here are three new real estate marketing applications brought to you by advances in imaging technology.<\/p>\n

Share Locations<\/b><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the first rule in real estate? Location, location, location. This is reason enough to geotag your listing photos. Geotagging is the practice of associating your images with a geographical location. Geotags tell your audience, and search engines, where a photo was taken.<\/p>\n

Geo-data makes it easy to add another layer of \u2018searchability\u2019 to your photos so consumers can find you based on a desirable location rather just than a desirable set of search criteria. With so many people using their mobile devices to find properties, geotags help them search for nearby homes more easily.<\/p>\n

Although most of today\u2019s smartphones and digital cameras can add geotags to your photos automatically, real estate agents and brokers might want to check out RealtorCam<\/a>, an iOS app that adds location and date information to your photos, plus easy custom captions. Viewers can see how great a house looks, where it\u2019s located and read more about a hard-to-spot feature \u2013 like built-in surround sound \u2013 all in one photograph that you upload to your website or share via email, Twitter and more.<\/p>\n

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Images via RealtorCam<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pad Your Resum<\/b>\u00e9<\/b><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re anything like us, you probably have a growing collection of real estate-related photos on your smartphone. Aside from starring in the occasional text message to an interested party, they\u2019re probably just taking up space.\u00a0 Today\u2019s new photo apps aim to give these camera phone pics new life by using them to create your visual resum\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Show potential clients what an expert you are in the field, literally, by using apps like Instagram<\/a> or Abodograph<\/a> to share the photos you take when you\u2019re out looking at properties. Instagram is a free photo-sharing service that allows you to use filters to turn almost any photo into a work of art. With over 100 million monthly users, this is a clever place to showcase your listings to a younger audience, like today\u2019s Gen Y<\/a> buyers. \u00a0For seven easy tips that will put Instagram to work for your real estate business, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Abodograph is another free app that compels you to \u201cprove you\u2019re a real estate expert\u201d by using your photos to create an attractive real estate photo resum\u00e9 that appears on the web. Online leads can see your photos and your actions \u2013 for example, you can post photos while you\u2019re showing a home or holding an open house \u2013 and message you directly. Abodograph delivers real-time push notifications straight to your iPhone so you can respond to prospects instantly.<\/p>\n

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Image via Abodograph<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These attractive, shareable images create differentiation by speaking volumes about you and your work ethic. How many of your competitors go the extra mile to network with great real estate photos?<\/p>\n

Talk the Talk <\/b><\/p>\n

What if your photo of an updated kitchen didn\u2019t just show the kitchen but also identified the renovations? Here\u2019s the new Italian marble counter, this is an all-glass backsplash and over here is the sub-zero fridge that comes with the house etc… What if your photo of a music room played music when viewers hovered over the piano? Or linked to a page on your website about the best music venues in your neighborhood? What if site visitors could discover where to buy the curtains shown in your listing photos and your link earned the resulting referral revenue?<\/p>\n

New photo embedding tools make it possible to put all of this and more directly in your photos, enabling your images to do the talking (and selling) for you. Free services like Stipple<\/a> and ThingLink<\/a> allow users to create interactive images with engaging links that let you tell a story, share a video, present your contact information and more. Interact with the Stippled version of the image below on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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