Real estate photographers, this one included, say professional photos help homes sell faster and for more money. That's an easy claim to make and a hard one to independently verify. Below is what's actually been published, by whom, and what it does and doesn't tell us.
The Redfin study
The most-cited data point in this space comes from a Redfin analysis of home sales, which found that listings shot with a DSLR camera (professional-grade equipment) sold an average of 32% faster than listings shot with a point-and-shoot or phone camera. The gap was largest for mid-priced homes: in the $400,000–$499,999 range, DSLR-photographed homes sold about 21 days faster than point-and-shoot listings, and sold within six months 64% of the time versus 46% for amateur-photographed listings. For homes over $1 million, the speed gap narrowed to about 4 days — likely because higher-end listings are more consistently professionally shot to begin with. Source: Redfin, "Homes Listed with Professional Real Estate Photos Sell Quicker and For More Money" (redfin.com/blog).
The price difference
The same Redfin analysis found homes priced $200,000–$1,000,000 sold for $3,400 to $11,200 more, relative to list price, when photographed professionally — the largest gap ($11,200) was in the $400,000–$499,999 range. Separately, industry-cited data from VHT Studios (a national real estate photography company, cited via NAR channels) found listings with professional photos got 118% more online views than listings with lower-quality images — more eyes on a listing generally means more competition among buyers, which supports price.
What buyers themselves say
NAR's own buyer research has repeatedly found photography rated as one of the single most useful features of an online listing, with survey data putting the share of buyers who call photos "very important" or "extremely important" in the 80s-percent range across recent NAR generational buyer studies. Source: National Association of REALTORS®, buyer/seller generational trends research (nar.realtor).
The honest caveats
None of this data is Boston-specific — it's national, and Redfin's own MLS footprint skews toward certain markets. Correlation isn't fully separable from cause here either: agents who invest in professional photography may also invest more broadly in staging, pricing strategy, and marketing, all of which independently affect speed and price. And the studies compare professional photography broadly to amateur photography broadly — they don't isolate "37 Visuals specifically" or "same-day delivery specifically." Treat the numbers as a directionally strong, multiply-replicated signal, not a guaranteed outcome for any individual listing.
What this means practically
If a $450,000 listing sells even a few thousand dollars higher and several weeks faster on average with professional photography, the cost of a shoot is a rounding error against that upside — which is likely why professional photography has become close to standard practice among serious agents rather than an optional extra. Pair it with fast turnaround so the listing captures peak attention in its first days live.