Why you should use professional photos for your rental property

When looking to rent out your property, you will almost certainly be listing it online for prospective tenants to view. Besides factors such as locations and key information regarding the property itself, one of the most important elements of a rental property listing are the photographs used to depict it. 

Unfortunately, it is rather common practice to see property advertisements with questionable and unflattering photos, which would make you think whether the pictures really are a part of an advertisement for a home potentially worth millions, or a blurry and shaky picture taken off a smartphone. 

As you will know, the property rental market is extremely competitive and fast-paced, which means that any changes or positivises that you can bring about to your listing will most likely increase the chances of a let happening. This will often be rooted in good-quality, professional photos of your property that will stand out and catch the eye of a prospective tenant as they scroll through tens, if not hundreds of online property listings. 

What’s the benefit of professional photos for my property?

Investing in good quality photos will most likely result in quality tenants. By setting a high standard for your property listing, from the outset there will be a higher degree of expectation and professionalism on your behalf. 

Furthermore, once you do have a set of photos for your property, unless it undergoes any substantial renovation or changes, you are free to reuse the pictures numerous times. If you were to change your mind further down the line and instead of renting out your property, you were to sell it, having professional photos from the start will save you from going through the process of hiring a photographer in the future.

Hire a professional

You should consider hiring a professional photographer to take photos of your home as this will exhibit your property’s best features. 

You may yourself own a decent camera and have some instincts and basic understanding of what constitutes a good photo; however, a trained eye will be able to capture the most important parts of the property, taking into account lighting and spacing of the various elements of the property, to produce a beautiful portfolio. 

Better photos get more enquiries

It isn’t simply an assumption that properties listed with professional photos get rented faster and are inquired about more frequently. The clear, high-quality pictures will increase the rates of inquiry, which by default will mean that your property gets rented out faster. 

Renting out your property as quickly as possible is essential to limiting the void periods between tenancies – a small investment for a professional photoshoot can save you thousands of pounds in overheads as money will not be coming in when the property is on the rental market and thus vacant. Furthermore, having professional photos of your property gives you as the landlord more credibility and contributes to a greater sense of trust between you and the tenant.

What if I don’t have high quality photos?

On the other hand, and rather obviously, poor-quality photos of a property will push away any prospective tenants, whilst a property listed without any photos at all (which somehow does still happen) will not even be considered by most tenants. 

When trying to rent a property out, it is in the landlord’s interest to generate a high volume of enquiries, and having professional photos, which is relatively simple to implement, does exactly that. Having the luxury to nitpick your future tenant is often overlooked and underestimated – ultimately it would be able to choose one amazing tenant from a large group of prospective ones, rather than one average one from a small pool of candidates.

All in all, professional photos are most definitely worth getting for your property, if you are trying to rent it out in a timely manner and to quality tenants in addition to a number of other positives discussed above! 

First impressions count. Book professional photos for your property with Mashroom.