She sounds too "real estate" for me

You might want to look at my profile on Active Rain, a real estate blogging community. When I blog, you can hear a pin drop! :)

I live and breathe raising the bar on real estate photography. I chat with realtors over coffee. I answer questions at meetings. We talk about lighting, furniture placement. A few of the things you'll never see in a Dawn Shaffer photo are

• shoes in the entryway
• a disposable diaper wadded up against the wall
• dirty dishes in the sink
• refrigerators covered in "stuff"
• me in the mirror
• bowed walls (using a wide lens is only the beginning. Postproduction editing is required to straighten them out).

This is your most expensive asset. It is up to your real estate professional to ensure that your home sells for the most as quickly as possible.

Don't hold it against me!

Many of my clients are real estate agents. I know what you're thinking. I have heard (and experienced first-hand) all the stories. I'm here with the good news in Portland and Vancouver.

There are real estate professionals out there. I work with them. Feel free to check my page for links, or check out my gallery, or view my profile on www.linkedin.com (sorry for the shameless google plugs!) They are relieved to hand off photography of your most expensive asset to someone they can trust (that would be me) because your home will look better and sell faster. (Yes, our REPs can use our still photos in their marketing.) Virtual tours are an art form, not something to slam out.

When you get ready to sell your home:

Interview people like you would your next employee. They work for you. If you get a bad feeling, act on it. March on to the next one.

Find out which camera will be used to take listing photographs. Is it a wide lens (or will you only see a couch against a wall)? Who takes the photos? If the agent whips out a camera and wants to start snapping, resist. The receptionist, on her way to drop off the dry cleaning and grab a latte (again, pass!)? You want someone who is focused on the work.

This is the busiest time of your life. Your agent should be supplying you with an easy-to-understand set of guidelines to help you prepare for your photo shoot. Most homeowners are anxious to do whatever they can. They just need a list to remind them. After all, keeping the house in this condition is pretty important too.

Go online and compare the marketing they do on current listings with the technology that's available. Ask if they use virtual tours. Not *slide shows* -- interactive virtual tours. That line has become blurred, but you can tell the difference. Again, scope out our gallery.

Dawn Shaffer

Meeting New Resources

One of the most rewarding experiences I can think of is meeting a new resource.

I meet people every day who need help with things I wouldn't pretend to be an authority on, let alone accept money to do. All I can do is listen closely, understand, and keep my ears open for that special person to come along and fill in the gap.

Web site design is one of those gaps. Not long ago, a client had a difficult time linking a virtual tour I had done because the people who designed the web site (and hosted it) went out of business. She was lost before she had a web site, and now she felt totally helpless.

Today I met a graphic artist/web designer at Starbucks (now Starbucks is another rewarding experience!) to talk about whether we can help each other. She and her partner have been working their magic in Portland, Oregon for 20 or 30 years.

Designasylum (www.designasylum.us) is accomplished at logo and branding design as well.

Back to my website I go! I need to add Paula and Jacki (Designasylum) to my Resources page.