Real Estate Marketing Ideas, Real Estate Photography Resources

Do I Need a Professional Photographer For My Listing?

By Lindsay Goebel Last Updated July 30, 2025 3 min read

Your listing photos can make or break a sale. While smartphones can capture decent images, professional real estate photographers are trained to create photos that grab buyer attention and sell homes faster.

Here’s why hiring a professional photographer is one of the best investments you can make.

Why hiring a professional photographer is worth it

Even the most seasoned real estate agent likely doesn’t have the professional photography skills needed to make a property shine. And as buyers’ needs change, so does real estate marketing.

The change in real estate purchasing

While word of mouth, cold calls, and direct mailers are the foundation of real estate marketing, digital marketing connects more with current homebuyers.

By promoting your property online, you’ll ideally gain your next client quickly. However, to attract a potential client and generate leads, you need quality content. Online listing photos can make or break your real estate business, so sleek and professional photos are essential.

The reduced attention span of prospective buyers

In a span of eight seconds or less, a potential buyer will have seen your photos and skimmed your listing. If your listing photos don’t catch their attention, you’ll lose their interest immediately.

While smartphones can produce quality photos, they can’t compete against the work of a professional real estate photographer, who is trained to capture the attention of prospective buyers.

More importantly, after spending time staging your listing, why wouldn’t you want professional photos to match?

Professional real estate photographers nail perfect shots

Since buying a property is a huge decision for most, it’s only right for them to be picky and have keen eyes for detail.

Blurry, grainy, poor lighting, and awkward angles can push most buyers away from your listing. Professional photographers have an eye for what buyers want and ensure your images are crisp and bright with great angles.

Professional photographers position themselves in clients’ shoes

Aside from the technicals, considering a client’s point of view is a real estate photographer’s greatest gift.

Professional real estate photographers know what sellers and buyers want. They also understand who your property is perfect for and will take photos that resonate with them. As an agent who uses professional photos, it can help tie together your listings and attract your ideal client.

How professional real estate photography can optimize and sell your listings faster

While knowing the why behind using a professional real estate photographer is important, results are likely what you’ll want to see when investing in a photographer. Here are some statistics:

  • 86% of buyers say images are the most important factor when searching for a property.

  • 96% of buyers look at homes online first.

  • Professional listing photos hold buyer attention for 20 seconds, compared to just 2 seconds for poor-quality photos.

  • 90% of what the human brain processes is visual.

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Here’s four easy ways to optimize your real estate listing photography

If you aren’t marketing to a buyer with optimized and consistent professional photography, you aren’t promoting your listing in a way that will sell. This, in turn, means you likely won’t win more listings in the future, generate more leads, or close more deals—all important steps in building a solid real estate business.

How to easily find professional real estate photographers

If you’re in search of professional real estate photographers to help you capture your property’s true essence, consider Virtuance! We provide online scheduling, a service team, and HDReal® images shot by professional photographers to ensure your listing shines and attracts 2x more attention. Book your shoot with us now!

Yes! Professional real estate photographers know how to use lighting, composition, and editing to make listings shine. Their images help homes sell faster, generate more online clicks, and attract more qualified buyers—often leading to higher offers.

While smartphones have good cameras, they can’t compete with the quality of professional equipment and techniques. Pros use wide-angle lenses, tripods, and bracketing to create bright, balanced images that stand out online.

Professional companies like Virtuance offer more than just still photography. You can book virtual tours, aerial drone shots, floor plans, and listing marketing tools all in one place.