Last week I wrote a blog and included a video on how good outdoor lighting can really help when it comes to selling a home. A real estate agent made a video explaining why she takes evening photos of all of her listings. She turns on some lighting, and if there is nice landscape or hardscape lighting, that is even better. This is a great marketing tool because outdoor lighting is dramatic at night and it can really evoke emotion; and we all know that sales, almost all sales, are emotional decisions, especially when it comes to home sales.
Can the opposite be said for bad outdoor lighting? Maybe so. While it’s probably true that some lighting may look better than no lighting at all, poorly designed outdoor lighting could easily have a negative effect on a potential buyer’s feeling and perception about the house and property.
The human eye will always go to the brightest thing in the field of vision. This is not something that can be controlled; it is simply instinct. So when a light is shining in a photo, that is what the eye will see first and it will be hard to not focus on that bright area. If this is the first thing they see, and not the focal point you want to be noticed first … Well, you know the saying, ”You can never make a second first impression.”
The photo seen here is a home in my local area. It has been on the market for quite some time and it is in a very upscale neighborhood in the Texas Hill Country. It has lots of appealing amenities and might just be someone’s dream home. The photos of the inside and back living area are wonderful, but the choice to use this photo to advertise the home was not the wisest option in my opinion.
This beautiful home deserves a spectacular lighting design to feature its abundant stone work and highlight the majestic entry. The unnatural sharp lines of the V lighting and the uneven spread of illumination add no warmth or softness and actually detract from the façade. The landscaping is lovely, but the poorly selected fixtures and their visual beams drive the eyes away from the flower beds. Did you even notice the second story? That’s an important feature that a well-designed lighting plan would have highlighted to maximize the impression this home (and photo) could make to a potential buyer. While some builders and real estate agents appreciate that good outdoor lighting can take an average home to an exciting new level by increasing the perceived value by up to 20%, it’s important also to see that an exceptional home can lose value if not competently shown at night. Just as interior staging helps make the sale, so can the exterior presentation have the same impact at night with skillfully designed outdoor lighting.
Now, a good lighting designer may be able to take the fixtures that are in use here and place them so they are not so obtrusive. They could make the lighting work FOR the builder and agent – instead of against them. Of course, a lighting design for a home like this really needs more fixtures, as well, because the specimen trees are being left in the dark and the stone can become overpowering. This home would look truly amazing with the right lighting!
The point to be made here is that while good outdoor lighting can actually help to sell a home, bad outdoor lighting will probably help keep that home on the market much longer than it should be. Instead of dropping the price to entice a buyer, a smart seller may want to spend a little more to improve the lighting and get that full asking price – or MORE.
We are experts at taking projects like this and turning them around. If you have a home that has ineffective or inferior lighting, maybe we can fix that for you. If you are in Spicewood, Austin, Kingsland, Horseshoe Bay or any of our wonderful central Texas cities or towns, contact us here and we’ll shine a better light on your home.
