Why do we love listings with lifestyle photos?

Buying a home is as much about feeling as it is about finances.

Perfectly placed cushions, a poolside bottle of champagne and fresh blooms on the coffee table have a part to play, but real life is proving to be as powerful as polish and perfection.

Putting people in listing photos can be a persuasive component of a real estate campaign. Add a cute family dog snoozing on a rug, and a buyer can truly imagine life there with loved ones.

Marketing gurus say that in, a filtered world, a dose of reality creates a meaningful connection, and the trend is taking off.

Agent Dee Gibson of agency Compton Green says gone are the days when a property listing represented just rooms and dimensions.

“It is more about the space and how it feels, so we aim to spark that emotional connection,” she says. “It brings the best aspects of a space to life – the warmth, flow and natural light.”

Gibson occasionally jumps into the listing photos – a case in point being 13 Clark Street in Williamstown – and her golden retriever is available for campaign shoots.

$4,100,000 - $4,500,000

13 Clark Street, Williamstown VIC 3016

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Vendors are happy to be in the images, Gibson says. They know what it feels like to live in the home and want to share that experience.

In the listing for the charming 1925-built weatherboard at 26 Adelaide Street, Footscray, one of the owners is shown reading a book in the sun-drenched living room.

Canberra agent Catherine Halloran owns a photogenic French bulldog named Rollo who frequently features in her listings, including a deal done last year in Ngunnawal.

SOLD - $766,000

9 Odern Place, Ngunnawal ACT 2913

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O’Halloran says prospective buyers have turned up at inspections in the hope of seeing him.

“Not every owner is okay with the approach, but most are pretty happy to do it,” Halloran says. “It gives buyers a much more personable platform to start talking about the property.

“Initially I started doing it as a ‘Where’s Wally?’ to encourage buyers to look at the photos for longer and more carefully, and I noticed it had an impact.”

BresicWhitney chief executive Thomas McGlynn says real life in listings tells a compelling tale.

Humans are an eye-catching component of the agency’s campaigns for a swish new residence in Ryde and a townhouse designed by revered architect Harry Seidler in Darlinghurst.

Contact agent

10 Jennifer Street, Ryde NSW 2112

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The technique is suited to a range of properties, McGlynn says, and enables a buyer to feel an affinity for the true nature of a home before they walk through it.

“Being able to present a property as its authentic self is important,” he says. “We want to show there is beauty in all real estate, and buyers really appreciate that.”

Agent Sam Rigopoulous is selling the Hütt 01 PassivHaus in Coburg via a campaign that includes depictions of the family chatting in the living room and meandering in the lush garden.

$4,300,000 - $4,700,000

146R Bell Street, Coburg VIC 3058

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He says this was important to convey how the spaces can be used and enjoyed.

“People relate to people, and in a world inundated with static, isolated images, we are finding the presence of people or pets provide a real and lived experience for the viewer,” Rigopoulous says.

“The image suddenly comes to life and we are capturing an experience.

“We are finding on our social channels that people in images also translates to increased engagement with the property.”

Professor Gary Mortimer, a retail marketing and consumer behaviour expert from the Queensland University of Technology, says the technique lends “liveability” to images.

“Essentially, what these ads are trying to do is drive more authenticity around the product itself,” he says.

Mortimer says that showing life’s minutiae can “cultivate a deeper emotional connection” than glossy, impeccable styling.

The future of marketing will lean even deeper into these realistic representations.

“I was in New York in January, and I was watching a presentation about TikTok Shop, which is the next thing we’ll see in Australia and makes Instagram look like an advert,” Mortimer says.

“What we are seeing on TikTok Shop is real people, in real locations, consuming or engaging in products or services, and the perspective we see may not be the perfect camera angle or the perfect lighting, but it adds a level of authenticity that breeds trust.”

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