Have you used your own photos for listing?

[Loadsalies]

I've taken my own photos for the estate agent as they're valuing our house this week. They will use them won't they? I never like the ones I see on listings. Plus it's been easier doing it over a few days ( hiding stuff 😅)

The last couple of times we've moved (2018 and 2024) our EA has used a professional photographer, but on both occasions they were happy for us to supply additional photos taken by us.

Eg, one EA had a crazy arrangement that they'd only use eight of the pro's photos, regardless of the house size/number of rooms. They were willing to accept our pics of rooms he'd not included. As the house was fully renovated with a huge, landscaped garden it would have been ridiculous not to show photos of everything.

I've never suggested using all our own pics though (have bought/sold eight/nine times).

It does beg the question, why did you choose an EA who's photos on other listings aren't up to scratch?

@LibertyLily Oh I rarely like them from any agent. I'm fussy about photography.

Ok I'll give them a ring as may need a rethink?

I wasn’t impressed by the photos my agent took. He came back and reshot some better angles, and I provided some photos of the attic/office as the sloped roof looked awful with his wide angle lens. However I do have a proper DSLR camera and photography experience.

i ended up changing agents for a couple of reasons, the second time I looked through Rightmove listings in my area and noticed that one agent had consistently good photos, so went with them. I was much happier with their pics.

so I guess my advice is discuss it with your agent before they come out and waste their time, as they may agree that your shots are suitable. But don’t be surprised if they’d prefer to lead with their own - after all they have many years of experience photographing and selling houses which may be worth taking on board rather than following your ‘I don’t like any EA photos’ feeling

I agree, many EA pics are absolutely awful which, with all the technology they should have at their fingertips, is inexcusable really.

There are a few good ones (Inigo spring to mind - we looked into using them for our last move but I seem to recall their fees were ridiculous!), but often it's very much location dependant. The houses we've sold tend to be very 'curated' with a distinct look which either photographs really well...or doesn't. Our last location (UK, but not England) had some pretty piss poor agents which we weren't used to at all (coming from SE), so finding a good one who did great floor plans and photos felt like searching for a unicorn. We wrote our own description for the listing in the end as theirs wasn't up to scratch.

Good luck with your sale!

Sorry for the typo (who's instead of whose) in my previous post - I left it too late to edit 😉

The EA is coming out to value so I won't be wasting their time even if they use my photos.

We have always used EA photos. Last time the photographer actually dressed the rooms with our own accessories, i.e. cushions, moved small tables and curtains, towels etc. Did a great job including in the garden. House sold overnight.

I see really awful photos from EAs, the shadow of the photographer, curtains hanging off rail, cushions not plumped and placed, dirty/untidy kitchen, full bins etc.

I thought I was being very clever taking the photos for our listing, but the estate agent said they were very dark. They got their pro photographer to come in with an enormous flash gun and I had to admit the photos were brighter and made the rooms look much better.
So I would say you need something with more grunt than the tiny pop up flash you get on most cameras.

Update. EA took the photos . Absolutely amazing. Better than mine 😅 He's a senior EA and was so professional. They're a bit more expensive than other local EAs but they advertise widely.

Pay cheap pay twice.

Our EA took brilliant photos, but on the day they visited (wet day in February) there was no way they could get good outside photos. We supplied some photos of the garden we'd taken the previous summer, and DH took a photo of the front of our house a couple of days later when it was sunny and looked really good. DH is a good photographer and our EA was very happy to use them.