An experiment by an online agency and an interiors firm suggests professionally shot pictures of a furnished flat will generate six times more enquiries than an unfurnished flat shot on a mobile phone.
Upad and David Phillips chose an apartment in south west London and advertised on Rightmove and Zoopla.
They did this four times with the same rent and description. The only changes concerned whether the property was furnished or not, and whether images were shot professionally or on an iPhone.
In total, the property received 53 enquiries.
Some 25 enquiries came to the ad which was furnished and professionally shot, but only 13 came when the ad showed the property furnished but with images from an iPhone.
Some 11 enquiries came when the flat was unfurnished and professionally shot, but only four when it was unfurnished and shot with an iPhone.
The companies say that this suggests the professionally shot and furnished ad generated more than six times the number of enquiries than the unfurnished amateur-shot ad.
“Looking at the portals, you quickly see the most common form of presentation is poorly furnished, with photos from a smart phone. Hopefully this research will help convince landlords that presentation really does matter” says Ed Grant, director of David Phillips.
