Every real estate agent knows that the days of pulling out an MLS book, finding properties, and faxing a list to a client are over. Technology has made many aspects of selling real estate easier, at least for those who have managed to embrace Technology. But, technology has also made things a bit harder. One thing that has become harder is to please your client. Buyers are now more informed, savvy, and even demanding at times. So things have gotten more difficult for you, the agent to keep up with today’s buyer’s demands and competitors.
Marketing and advertising properties have become so complicated and technologically advanced for the average real estate agent that very soon you will need a college degree just to handle the marketing side of it. Digital presentations now required good quality images, not only of the listing you are selling but you will also need good quality stock photos for your social media posts, promotions, and even for those super chic digital open house invitations you need to send. If you ever needed good quality stock photos in the past you will know they are not cheap, but luckily for you, I can help you with that. So let’s review some of the most common sites offering stock photos paid and free, yes, free.
Shutterstock
Shutterstock is basically an image service provider which offers over 177 million royalty-free images, including video clips, and music tracks Shutterstock allowing customers to search and download content for a subscription fee. Images are available for about $29/month for 10 images with an annual subscription or $49/month if you choose to subscribe to it monthly.
Image by ShutterStock
iStock
This is a subscription-based service where you will have access to millions of royalty-free images but they are not free. They offer two options: you can download any file, anytime using credits or you can get a lower price with their image subscription plan. I find the images on this site very similar in quality to those found in some of the free image sites but you can explore the site yourself and decide if it would make sense to subscribe to one of their plans.
AdobeStock
Adobe stock offers some of the best high-quality, royalty-free images, videos, templates, and 3D assets but it’s a subscription-based service. Even though assets are not free, they do have different plans to that are fairly affordable. Their basic plan starts at $29.99/month for 10 standard assets.
Image by AdobeStock
Unsplash
This is an amazing site where you can download great quality stock photos for free, yes, free. Register and start downloading – that’s it. Unsplash is possible thanks to a community of photographers who upload their photos to the site and shared them with others. These are very generous people. Although this is a no-attribution-required stock image site photographers do gain exposure every time they are given credit for their images, so please do not forget to credit them when using these images. Check out this super cool image from Unsplash.
Photo by Matt Alaniz on Unsplash
Pixabay
Pixabay is also a community that shares copyright free images and videos. What I love the most about it is that they have over a million images and videos available for immediate download, but you can also find illustrations and vector graphics which are excellent for graphic designing or just if you need cute little graphics for a digital brochure or even for your print media, open house flyers, etc. There is no limit to what you can do with all the free images on this site. So next time you need pictures for your real estate blog or your personal website give them a try. The quality is really amazing and it’s free!
Photo by Gregory Butler on Pixabay
Death to the Stock Photo
While with other royalty free image sites you may get images that look like they came out of an Instagram account, the images on this site are better are more crisp and vibrant which makes them great for business use. The only downside to this site is that it’s a subscription-based service and they will require you to register, and after registration, you will receive sets of free images every month. When registering you will be directed to their subscription page, make sure you register for their free subscription. The choice is yours but you should check them out at least once before counting them out.
Photo by Kay Isabedra on Death To The Stock Photo
The list of sites that offer royalty-free photos is growing every day so you will probably know a few of your own or may find the ones we’ve covered useful. Some We are always excited to learn about new resources so if you have a site that’s particularly awesome comment below.
