Does Professional Photography Matter when Leasing Properties?

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Is there value in professional photography when marketing your rental property? 

We get this question all the time. From a gut level, when you look at a home with a nice photo vs. a home with an ugly photo – you will be drawn toward the home with a nicer photo. But what does the data show when it comes to leasing a rental property? That’s where it gets fun.

Measuring the Impact of Quality Photography

Our PlanOlabs research team conducted an analysis on 500 properties in Marion County, IN. In the analysis, we graded the photo quality for each listed home, and we tracked the home over time to document the lease signed date. We then looked at how the homes with higher quality photos performed compared to the homes with “poor” quality photography. Here is what we found:

• Homes with professional photography leased almost 11% faster compared with homes that had poor-quality photography
• Homes with professional photography rented for 10% higher price/sqft compared with homes that had poor quality photography

Additionally, we looked at this data across common Bedroom counts to ensure consistency in the findings. The below charts show the Days On Market and Price / Sqft comparison for both 2 BR and 3 BR SFR homes:

Even when adding the dimension of bedroom count the findings stayed consistent – about a 10% impact on both days on market and rent price per square foot when professional photography was used to market the property.

Now You Try

Now that you have seen the data, put your “searching for a rental home” hat on. These are all 3 BR homes in Marion County, IN, Zip Code: 46231, on the market for a rent rate between $1,600-$1,800… when you look at these homes, which property management company would you be most likely to trust that you will have a great rental experience?

If you are like me, you cringe a little bit when looking at low-quality cell phone photos. While the homes themselves might be great, the first impression that the prospective renter gets while shopping online is that of a below-average property management company – because the quality of photography is very much below average. 

So now you have the qualitative, along with the quantitative.

Summary For Your Investor

If your investor has not yet agreed to professional photography as part of your leasing and marketing fee, review the following with them:

• The data shows that SFR homes using professional photography leased 11% faster compared with rental homes that had low-quality photography
• The data shows that SFR homes using professional photography leased for a 10% higher price per square foot compared with rental homes that had low-quality photography
• Your instincts tell you that the resident will trust the brand of a property management company that has nice photos compared with the companies that use low-quality cell phone photos

And it is worth noting that simply using professional photography on your vacant properties is still a significant differentiator against your competition – rental home photography quality is still surprisingly terrible.