It’s an easy decision. You get an ‘investor-friendly’ listing and you decide just to take cell phone photos because your margins won’t be good anyway. It’s a valid argument.
However, what if I told you that you’re leaving money on the table by taking cell phone photos of your rundown listing? Real estate photos for fixer-uppers don’t seem helpful since the place is a mess. But, you need all the help you can get to sell this property!
Here are seven reasons why you should use a photographer instead of that pocket rectangle you carry around.
Investor Buyers Are Visual, Too
Investors need great photos to make a decision based on the listing’s potential. Those visuals help them evaluate if a listing is worth it.
Take these two houses for example:
They’ve both been on the market for about the same time. But one has been shot with professional photos and the other has not. Can you guess which?
What if I showed you more photos:
Here’s House 1:
Here’s House 2:
If you guessed that House 2 was professionally photographed, you’d be correct.
To spare you further curiosity, here are the Zillow view counts and saves for the two houses:
House 1: 41 days on Zillow| 228 views| 12 saves (as of September 1, 2025)
House 2: 44 days on Zillow| 3,638 views| 193 saves (as of September 1, 2025)
More eyeballs means that at least one of those is a potential buyer for your house. Maybe an investor? Wouldn’t you want to make the listing look its best even if it’s in terrible shape?
Photos Should Sell Listing’s Potential
Your photos should accurately reflect the listing. Many who take cell phone photos forget to turn on lights, close toilet seats, and move cars out of the driveway.
On the other hand, a listing shot by a professional photographer will open the blinds/drapes, turn on lights, and make the house shine the best it can. And, they’ll remind owners that vehicles aren’t included in the house sale so they’re not in any photos.
Those little details like toilet lids and opened blinds bring out the best in the house, which will pave the way for higher offers. On the other hand, houses shot with unedited cell phone photos make the house look dingy and dark. Even the most ambitious investor would turn away from a project that looks more like a money drain than a potential flip.
Essentially, professional photos help investors look for opportunity. Cell phone photos don’t provide that level of clarity, especially if the photo makes the bad parts of the house look terrible.
Even if there are several repairs needed for the house, a professional photographer can accurately capture those issues so investors or potential buyers can assess whether the listing is a good investment or not.
Professional Photos Attract More Offers
According to PhotoUp, a real estate photography site that specializes in editing, listings with professional photos generate 61% more views than those with lower quality images.
Refer back to the housing comparison from earlier in this post. How many more views did House 2 get than House 1? And House 2 had a lot more clutter in it compared to House 1, which was vacant.
You want buyers and investors to send offers on the house because the more offers you get the more choices you have. It’s a more competitive process that can improve the seller’s return on investment.
Even though the property doesn’t look great, a professional photographer can drive more traffic to the listing, which can generate a buyer. All you need is one!
Time Is Money for Investors
Clear photos reduce the amount of time you spend showing potential buyers and investors the property. Imagine spending dozens of hours showing the house in open houses and walkthroughs where no one buys?
That’s frustrating.
Instead, put great photos on MLS, Zillow, and Redfin. You may see a spike in interest but a decrease in requests to visit the house. The potential buyers already see what it looks like so visiting the house would be for seeing the area, getting familiar with the house’s quirks, and seeing if the potential buyers enjoys the house’s ambiance.
Conclusion
So, professional photography isn’t a luxury—it’s a smart investment even for “investor special” properties.
Don’t skimp on photos because you don’t think the house will sell. Do everything you can to get the house to sell.
Your bottom line might thank you for hiring a photographer!
What do you think? Should you hire a photographer to take professional photos of your investor specials? Let me know in the comments below!
Thank you for reading!