When the Picture is NOT Worth a Thousand Words

As real estate agents, we are thrust into the world of photography with the very first home we list.  Whether we are taking the pictures ourselves or proofing the pictures of a hired photographer, real estate agents must have an eye for detail because our photos tell a story about our listings that our voices may never share.

For those of us that are taking pictures ourselves, the quintessential website to bookmark is iPiccy.com.  This fantastic find was featured on ActiveRain (which is a site every real estate agent should blog to if you are blogging but that is another topic, another day).  I was hesitant to even click on the article because I was enamored with PicMonkey.com, another photo editing site, but the reviews on ActiveRain were so good that I had to be nosy.  I am glad I was!

 iPiccy.com has a simpler design than PicMonkey.com but do not underestimate all that iPiccy.com can do especially since every feature on iPiccy.com is free unlike PicMonkey.com, which charges fees for many of the more in-demand features.  Here is a list of the photo editing features you can do online for FREE with iPiccy.com:

• Create a photo collage
• Clone portions of the photo
• Sketch photos to make them appear as drawings
• Remove red eye
• Airbrush
• Remove wrinkles
• Thinify - their term for taking a few pounds off :-)
• Whiten teeth
• Posterize
• Create Pop Art
• Pixelate
• Liquify
• Emboss
• Invert
• Switch to Sepia or Black & White for a classic look
• Create a focal point in the picture
• Use vintage tinting and effects
• Rotate and flip photos
• Change the color hue
• Sharpen
• Resize images
• Crop photos
• And more

Of course you will not want to use all of these features for your listing flyers but the whole gamut of these effects can be used for your other marketing materials such as flyers for local marketing mixers and events you sponsor (i.e. the subdivision's BBQ), postcards, thinking of you notes, and especially your blog.  All things being equal, pictures can lead to a home selling the same day the listing appears online or can be the reason that a home is ignored.  If your pictures have a tendency to be lackluster and unmemorable, do not post another listing without visiting iPiccy.com.

Have more questions about photo editing and marketing your listings?  Contact us at info@agentsaroundatlanta.com.  Happy selling!