There are plenty of features important to potential clients in every community where you have listings.  However, all home buyers want a good look at the neighborhoods where they might find a house.  You have submitted thousands of photos from towns across the country showcasing all kinds of homes.  There are many way of photographing a neighborhood.  Let’s take a look at a range of these.

The Big Picture

You get a good sense of the neighborhood from the two photos shown above. The curving street on the left has appeal, as does the canopy of trees on the right. The pictures illustrate the architectural style of the neighborhood. (However, beware of shooting your pictures straight down the middle of the street – this tends to fill much of the frame with pavement and sky instead of the homes.)

Showcasing the Houses

The next two pictures are framed well and their colors are very clear and bright.  A photo of a single home from a neighborhood can give a good representation of what the whole development looks like.  And, if the Agent Insight page shows plenty of pictures of that neighbor-hood, these create a fine set to show off an area.

Hitting All the Bases

Both of the photos above are blue ribbon quality. They show a row of homes characteristic of the neighborhood. The agents who shot the pictures took them when the sun was casting beautiful shadows, making the lawns lush and bringing out the detailing on the houses. These are definitely pictures that will make potential buyers look twice.

Photos by Mike Nielsen, RE/MAX Best Associates, Lansing, MI; Sandy Cona, RE/MAX Plus, Rochester, NY; Barbara McDaniel, RE/MAX of Orange Beach, AL; Aurelia Isidoro, RE/MAX Homeland Realtors, Freehold, NJ; Joe DeLorenzo, RE/MAX in Town, Lawrenceville, NJ;  Scott D. Shaker, RE/MAX Grand, Grand Blanc, MI.

Take advantage of all the summer activities in your area for shooting great photos and writing about the events.  Of course, your clients want to know about real estate, but they also want information about the special events that give a town character and build community.  This season is full of festivals, parades, outdoor theater and musical performances, farmers markets…the calendar is brimming every week.

Keep in mind, your main purpose is not to get people to come to these events.  You want to capitalize on them to interest clients in exploring the area.  Show them how rich and varied the offerings are in your community with your words and pictures.

Here is an excellent example submitted by Thomas “Chopper” Russo from RE/MAX Traditions Real Estate in Oakland,  NJ.  He is highlighting a July 4th event and includes a link to its website.

A Historical Independence Day at Ringwood Manor
Many of us celebrate the 4th of July with BBQs and fireworks. At the historic Ringwood Manor, you can celebrate Independence Day by flashing back to July of 1776. There will be games, crafts and foods, all from the 18th century, as well as dancing and a reading of the Declaration of Independence. The event is taking place from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., so you’ll have time to celebrate the historical way and then end the day with fireworks. For more information and for a schedule of events, please visit the Manor’s website, linked below.

You’ll find opportunities to promote your market areas every week this summer.  Join your friends, take your family and snap some photos for Agent Insight.  You’ll have a great time and your prospects will appreciate learning about what’s happening in your community.  Need further inspiration?  Take a look at these excellent submissions:

Photos by Ron Zupko, RE/MAX Platinum, Brighton, MI; Sue Edwards, Heartland Realtors, Lee’s Summit, MO ; Bob Shallow, RE/MAX Paradise, Orange Beach, AL; Marie B. Henry, RE/MAX Masters, Fayetteville, NY

EDITOR’S NOTE;  We’re looking for the best of the best Independence Day celebration photos! Send us your finest red, white and blue shots  — we’ll feature the winners in a July edition of the newsletter.

The spring and summer sales season is rocking along. You are busy meeting new clients, showing homes and completing closing paperwork. We understand your calendar is crowded and we trust you have plenty of clients demanding your attention.

However, there is no better time for shooting photos and sending submissions to Agent Insight than RIGHT NOW. Trees are full, flowers are blooming and the sky is blue making this the prime time to supplement Agent Insight’s pages, especially those that have an abundance of pictures filled with winter gray.

Our website needs to look appealing to web browsers who want homes in your area. The goal is to make every community look its best through your photos and written words – now is the time! Prospects visit Agent Insight community pages and agent profiles every day and the leads those web visitors generate are sent on to participating agents. Let’s keep this engine chugging along!

Make It Routine

Remember to gather material for your submissions whenever you are out with clients. Just take a minute to photograph the neighborhood amenities when you drive through for showings. Grab some shots when you are out with your family at the lake, shopping, dining, playing…all the summer routine and fun times.  It just takes a few seconds to line up a good shot and a few more minutes to write a short caption and send it. Written submissions are a quick task, too – just schedule a short time to put together your words and get them posted.

Here’s a great reinforcement from the field:  Peg Eisenhauer, RE/MAX North in Amherst, NY, is one of the agents currently building the New York sites to launch to the public soon. She sent the following email to her local colleagues.

“My instincts are telling me that this [Agent Insight] is going to be an extremely lucrative venue for those of us who enthusiastically participate.  It is new, it is different. And I believe RE/MAX is onto something incredible. So get your posts in.  Many, many, many posts.  I did one last night on my iPhone just before nodding off.   Non-photo posts are great!!  You don’t have to go anywhere, you just need five minutes….and an interesting post or extremely popular point of interest with a twist…Photos are great too, but they can enter as it works for you given the fact that we are smack dab in the middle of our busy season.  Have some fun with this….we’ve certainly earned it!”

Photos by Randy Brooks, REMAX Advantage, Spanish Fort, AL; Pat Wattam, RE/MAX First, Baton Rouge, LA; and Al Ryer, RE/MAX North, Amherst, NY.

“A rising tide lifts all boats.”

Or maybe “one for all and all for one.”

Both phrases illustrate the benefits of Agent Insight.  Through the collective work of every RE/MAX sales associate, all agents reap the benefits.  List the ways a lead may come to you as a RE/MAX agent:  television ads, billboards, yard signs, word-of-mouth, direct mail, etc.  Agent Insight is a powerful new tool in your local branding arsenal.  It is unique on the internet because there is no other real estate website with such a  wealth of information provided directly by agents describing places to live.  Google and other search engines move Agent Insight quickly up the rankings due to this quality alone.

Remember:  every time a consumer sees a local RE/MAX site outranking the competition on Google, we all win.  So when your work appears on the computer of a potential client, you ARE RE/MAX.  You are #1.  You are the local expert on that community – and Google proves it.

Editor’s Note:  Although the phrase “a rising tide lifts all boats” didn’t originate with President John F. Kennedy, he used it often in his speeches.  He used it as an illustration that when an economy is performing well, all people will benefit from it. And do you remember where “one for all and all for one” came from? If you answered The Three Musketeers, you are right!

Photo  by Marcia Major, RE/MAX of Higgins Lake, Houghton Lake, MI.