Virtual Twilight: The First Hook on Your Listing
If you ask house hunters to list the things they consider important when visiting real estate listings, you’ll notice that the area surrounding the house is among their top priorities. That is to say; it matters to them how the property looks from the outside. Sadly, this is usually underestimated or, simply ignored, by many agents. Checking any real estate listing, you’ll notice lots of listed properties with uninviting photos of poorly maintained exteriors, cluttered yards, or messy streetscapes. One way to compensate for the mess around the house is to apply the so-called virtual twilight effect, which we will discuss today.
What Is the Virtual Twilight Effect?
As the name suggests, virtual twilight is a photo editing technique that recreates twilight’s atmospheric effect, adding a dreamy soft glow to the image. Such an effect evokes viewers’ emotions to your benefit making them want to see the property and take a closer look.
Before proceeding any further, we should mention that adding virtual twilight to your real estate photos is a legal practice as it doesn’t manipulate the property’s physical structure or features. No buyer can complain that the sky over your property doesn’t look the same as in the photo for that is something out of your control! With that being said, let’s take a look at the advantages of virtual twilight for real estate listings.
Conceals the mess around the house!
Before shooting the property, you should do your best to improve your house’s curb appeal. But that comes with a cost that many can’t, or don’t want to incur. Also, you can’t do anything about the mess around your neighbors’ houses that spoil the look of your place. Giving that virtual twilight touch to your photo makes viewers overlook pity details such as cluttered yards or unkempt surroundings.
Your listing will get more clicks
The front door shot with the twilight effect will be the first pic that house hunters see in your listing. Because of that magical touch, your listing will attract more attention than other properties. Though this does not mean that your property will sell faster, as there are other factors involved, your click-through rates will definitely be higher than other listings. What’s the implication? A higher number of house hunters will go through your listing and, most probably, book a visit.
How to Add a Virtual Twilight Effect to Your Photos
DIY virtual twilight
To add virtual twilight to your photos you can use Luminar or similar software. Of course, you need to spend some time learning how to work with the app. Plus, your few first attempts may not be that satisfactory! But, for selling your property, you don’t need to learn how to edit your photos. There are other two options that you can opt for.
Hiring a professional editor
Another way to give that magical touch to your photo is to find an experienced real estate photo editor and ask them to do the job. But, keep in mind that not many professionals are willing to edit only one photo, and if they do, you’d probably have to wait for a day and pay $5-$15.
Add the virtual twilight effect with AI
Here’s the good news: the sky is no longer the limit! To save time and costs, you can add the virtual twilight effect to your photos with the help of AI. Platforms such as AI HomeDesign give that magical touch to your photos in a few seconds for a measly $0.30! Contrary to other AI real estate photo editing tools that don’t leave any room for customization, AI HomeDesign enables you to choose between the following options:
- Twilight with clouds
- Twilight without clouds
- Dusk with clouds
- Dusk without clouds
Also, you can remove the shadows in the original photo or let them be. Keep in mind that, as long as you’re editing the same photo, you don’t need to pay any extra amount. In other words, regenerations on our platform are completely free.
In Conclusion
There are lots of factors affecting how a property is perceived and appreciated by a potential buyer. Strong online representation is a pivotal factor. As the first picture of your property, the front door shot with a virtual twilight effect will indeed draw viewers’ attention making them willing to visit the place. However, if you don’t edit the other photos, they might change their thoughts and move on to the next listing. If you notice that some of the photos need enhancement, in terms of light improvement or noise removal, make sure to edit them to leave a lasting first impression. It’s also, important to declutter and clean up to give your space a more pleasing vibe!
FAQ
No. Giving a touch of twilight to your real estate photo is completely legal. In fact, any type of photo editing practice that doesn’t involve adding or removing ‘fixtures” is legal.
Depends on how you do it. Freelance photo editors usually charge $10-$15 to add this effect to your photos. You might find certain AI-powered tools that give this effect to your photos for $3-$5. If you use AI HomeDesign’s day-to-dusk service, you don’t have to pay more than $0.30 to add the virtual twilight effect to your photo. Plus, you will be able to regenerate results as many times as you wish, completely free!
Not exactly. Twilight is the time when the sun has sat but there is still light in the sky. Dusk, on the other hand, is the time when the sky is not completely dark but there is no more light in the sky.
