We all know that photos drive the real estate search experience. In fact, nearly 90% of prospective home buyers surveyed said that photos were more important than any other feature, edging out virtual tours and interactive maps by more than half.

So how can you take advantage of the technology at your fingertips to take better photos? From free apps to robust paid tools, there are so many options in the App Store that it can feel daunting to choose just one.

We polled our tech-savvy team to find out which apps are worth the money and which free products can brighten up even the darkest photo. (Another tip? Wipe off your lens—just like any other camera, the lens on your phone can get grimy.)

Keep the Format in Mind

Every search portal displays images differently. Househappy, for example, crops photos to a square format. So it's worth considering image format when taking photos with your phone so that you don't lose an important element of the property.

Most free photo editing apps, like Litely, include cropping features so that you can frame your image. VSCOcam, another free app, also allows you to save each image as a high resolution file, so that you don't lose any of the details that make your property unique.