Boost rental listing performance with high quality photos

​Have you ever listed a property for rent at a great price but just haven’t got the response you expected? More often than not, response rates are directly related to the quality of the ad copy, and especially the quantity and quality of photos accompanying the ad. So if you’re getting a low response rate, don’t assume it has something to do with the property itself. Try tweaking your photos to encourage prospects to view your listing and maximize conversion rates. 

​Here are a few tips for getting the most out of your listing photos:

1. Unfurnished units photograph much better than furnished units. Furniture can make rooms look smaller than they actually are, and some prospects may be turned off if they don’t share your taste in furniture. So, unless you’re a professional stager or interior decorator, try to take photos when your rental is completely empty. Also, remember to remove things like keys, business cards, and coffee cups from countertops before taking photos. 
 
2. Make sure the unit is clean. No one wants to live in a dirty apartment, so if you don’t want to clean the apartment yourself, consider hiring a professional cleaning company. Check for nicks or dirty smudges in the paint, and touch up as necessary. Glossy paint is easier to clean than flat or satin paint, so consider going with a gloss finish when it comes time to repaint.
 
3. Maximize natural lighting. Take photos on a sunny day and open all the blinds to make the apartment feel bright and airy. Natural light is better than artificial light, but some rooms don’t have windows and others will photograph better with artificial light to supplement the natural light. As a general rule of thumb, the brighter the room, the better the photos will look.

4.Take lots of photos and think about composition. Take duplicate photos and take shots of the same room/feature from various angles. Also take photos from unusual angles, such as kneeling on the flooring looking up, or looking down from kitchen counters. Use corners, angles, and distances to achieve symmetry and balance in your photos. 

Maximize natural lighting and think about symmetry and composition.

Bring out deep blues and capture more sky than ground in outdoor photos.

​5. Prioritize the kitchen and bathrooms. Take photos of every room, but make sure to capture the kitchen and bathrooms in the best light possible. Photograph features that sell, such as walk-in closets, porches, balconies, and in-unit washers and dryers.
 
6. Take advantage of the panoramic setting on your phone/camera. Use the panoramic setting to capture full rooms that are a little tight for space, such as bathrooms. In addition to enabling you to capture the full room in a single photo, panoramic photos can make the room feel bigger.
 
7. Take photos of the outside of the building. These photos should include more sky than ground. Capture a small amount of ground in front of the building, but try to keep the sky to ground ratio to roughly 2:1.
 
8. Enhance photos using a basic photo editing application. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! With today’s technology, you don’t need to know how to use Adobe Photoshop to produce professional quality images. The preset filters in an application like Google Photos will work just fine. Try to make indoor spaces feel modern by toning down colors and saturation. Try to make outdoor spaces feel bright and vibrant by bringing out deep blues and emphasizing color contrasts.