Real estate photography in Harrison Hot Springs

Harrison Hot Springs is a village at the south end of its lake, and the market is unlike anywhere else we cover. A high proportion of what sells is a second home, a cabin or a short-term rental, bought by someone who is not moving there — which means the listing is competing with a holiday rather than with another house.

That changes what the set is for. The lake, the beach, the walk into the village and what the property looks like on a good afternoon are not garnish here, they are the argument. A technically correct interior set with no sense of the setting will underperform badly in this market.

The lagoon and the beachfront are the centre of the village and within walking distance of a large share of what sells. Where a property is close to them, that walk belongs in the set as plainly as the house does.

Through the summer the village runs events that fill it — the sand sculpture competition most of all — and the beachfront looks completely different for those weeks. It is worth deciding deliberately whether a listing wants the busy version or the quiet one, because both are true and they market to different buyers.