Does hiring a local photographer actually move a rental faster or am I just making the listing look nice for myself

Question

Rented two units last fall in the same building, same price point, $1,150 a month. One I paid $275 for a photographer, wide angles, decent light, posted tuesday. One I shot myself on a pixel 7, posted thursday. Photographer unit sat nine days. Mine went in four. I have been trying to figure out what that means ever since and I genuinely cannot. The buildings here are south tucson, b class, working tenants who are not scrolling zillow like they are shopping for a hotel. My property manager thinks the photographer listing scared people off because it looked too polished, like something was being hidden or the price was about to jump. I don't know if I believe that but I also can't dismiss it. I keep hearing that professional photos are table stakes but I am not sure that's true for every price point and every renter pool. Might be true for $2,400 condos with vaulted ceilings. Might be completely backwards on a $1,150 two bed where the tenant wants to know if the parking is real and if the kitchen has enough counter space to put a toaster.

stephen_ok9 · Answer

Your PM might actually be onto something real there.

hugo_martel · Answer

$275 is steep for south tucson b class. That same scope tends to price at $150 to $175 in comparable submarkets.

monica_tran3 · Answer

Your sample size is two units and they posted on different days, and that is the part worth getting past first. Tuesday against thursday alone can swing four to five days on a b-class listing, because weekend traffic is where those tenants actually browse. The same test in a similar price band, around $1,095, usually shows the photographer unit moving faster when the listing is syndicated to facebook marketplace, where photos compress differently and a proper shot still reads as a real place rather than a phone snapshot that could be a scam. The theory that too polished signals a coming price hike is worth holding, though it would take six or eight data points before it should change your process.

Does hiring a local photographer actually move a rental faster or am I just making the listing look nice for myself

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