By far one of the most important affecting variable especially for the exterior pictures is the WEATHER.
And this is true with other photography types as well such as landscape, wild life, etc...actually some photographers only go out to shoot only during their preferred weather conditions.  etc...
In general, a nice sunny day will bring up colors, depth with shadows and vibrancy. A cloudy day will kill colors and make a home really look that less appealing. Also think about the sky in an exterior picture of a home that can take 25% or more of the photo. A blue sky will almost always be much more pleasing than a white cloudy sky...
Rain is another challenge. While it is ok in some instances to shoot interior pictures if it is raining outside, the exterior pictures, not that much- A little rain may be workable but not a torrential rain.
So in general, a nice sunny day is preferable to create enticing real estate pictures.
Real estate photography is a challenging type of photography so there are exceptions (of course...:). Like what?Â
1- Well, sometimes I may want to go for a slightly different feel and look and different weather condition can help bringing up different emotions. But that's rare.
2- Another more common reason has to do with the orientation of the home I am shooting like North/South facing and the time of the shoot. When shooting against the sun then a cloudy day might be preferable...
3- It also depends what the pictures are primarily meant for- For example if creating a day to dusk picture that will be the money shot of the listing then a cloudy day will be preferable to create a virtual dusk in Photoshop.Â
Another big challenge in real estate photography (and this one brings a lot more challenges) is that most of the time the real estate agent does not have the luxury of time. Meaning once a listing contract is signed and entered in the local MLS (Multiple Listing system) then the agent has just a few hours to upload the pictures (24-72 hours).
So being in such tight timeline, it means that the photo-shoot might need to be scheduled on a specific day no matter what the weather is on that day...and this can bring a lot of interesting challenges...Dealing with those challenges is what makes real estate photography both exciting and rewarding...at least for me...:)
So to sum-up, like with other types of photography, weather conditions will have a direct effect on the quality and the overall look & feel of the exterior pictures.Â
Below are 2 examples-
First Example:
The sun is illuminating the front of this house in such a gracious and beautiful way. Colors are just so vibrant and full of life...shadows are bringing depth, The sky is gorgeous...
Second example: I had to dig out a home I had to shoot unfortunately in a not that optimum weather day. Sure I improved it with Lightroom and Photoshop but despite the data improvement, is it still not as exciting as if the sun would have been present that day. Colors are very monotone, no shadows and no play of light...