Charlie's Chatter

September 23, 2022

As part of our new marketing campaign, Kaitlin asked me if I would start a monthly chat about our industry and its trends. That question in itself brings up many interesting questions about what industry we are in. We say that we are Real Estate Photographers, but is that the best term?

History tells us an interesting tale.

Before the Internet, MLS postings were published monthly in booklets, which did not include photos of the exterior or interior of the home. The birth of the Internet changed this, but not until technology moved beyond dial-up connections to higher speed connections with DSL rolling out in 2000.

 

 

In 2005, the magic of the internet and companies such as Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia and others opened many tools allowing homebuyers the unique opportunity to view MLS listings from their homes.

This single point in time radically changed how the real estate industry worked. Homebuyers found a new freedom with home searches from the privacy of their own homes. Of course this changed the procedure of how agents listed homes on the MLS. Simple text descriptions were no longer sufficient. Now they needed to add photos to their listings. This marked the beginning of the Real Estate Photography Industry.

The term Real Estate Photography has been prominent ever since. However, changing times may suggest that we explore another term.

Let me explain why.

In early 2010, we truly began to see the launch of higher speed Internet, and by 2020 many locations could receive download speeds of close to 1 gigabit per second. This breakthrough in Internet speed allowed real estate photographers to explore other visual media formats to help their clients market listings.

The first breakthrough was video, as outlets such as YouTube allowed efficient playback of high quality High Definition (HD) or 4K videos. (Sample) Hmmm, do you think the term Real Estate Photography & Videography is a bit long?

The next evolution was three-dimensional tours. While Matterport is probably the only true 3D Tour, the term 3D Tour has been widely used by many companies offering linked 360° panoramic photos together. In the United States, Matterport and Zillow pretty much own this market.

So now we have Real Estate Photographers, Videographers & 3D Tour Creators.

But wait, now floor plans have become the 2nd most popular visual feature that homebuyers want to see. Thank you CubiCasa!!

So now our industry is Real Estate Photography, Videography, 3D Tours and Floor Plans. Oops, I left out that we provide single property websites as well!

So the question we ask ourselves today is whether we are a real estate photography company or a real estate media company???

Since our business cards and new brochures say we are a real estate photography company then we will ride that industry term for now. However, I am betting that you will soon see the new real estate media term picking up speed. Please feel free to share your thoughts by emailing Charlie at Charlie@Snap2Close.com