Selling your home? A picture is worth more than a thousand words. Photography is one of the most important, if not the most important, aspect of selling your home. Today’s home buyer scrolls the internet for homes and looks at images first. While every listing on the MLS is joined by text, this is just for supporting details that a photo can’t show. In our opinion, many home buyers don’t even read the text but become interested solely on pictures. Therefore, in our opinion, the only route to go is to have a professional real estate photographer do the job.
Realizing the importance of good real estate photos, the photos need to display the entire home, every room, in tip-top shape. So, taking some time to stage the home is well worth it. Here is a checklist to photographing your home.
Photography of kitchen and dining
- Clear countertops of almost everything, like appliances, containers, kitchen tools, bottles, etc. You can leave the coffee maker. Also, remove tissue boxes, floor fans, calendars and fridge magnets.
- Remove dog and/or cat dishes during photo time and consider removing these also during showings.
- Ensure sinks are clean and empty.
- Remove children’s toys, high-chairs or seat risers.
- To create some ambience, consider adding a centerpiece of fresh fruit or flowers to the table.
- Avoid, and preferably remove, busy tablecloths on tables in kitchen and dining areas.
Photography of living room, bonus room or family room
- Remove toys, magazines, floor fans, tissue boxes, and the likes.
- Also, consider removing nick-knacks, small ornaments, etc, if there are too many.
- Turn off the TV and store remotes and headphones out of sight.
- Remove as many personal pictures as possible.
- Remove a piece of furniture if the removal helps create space in the living room.
- Stage and fluff pillows on couches and chairs and remove pillows if there are too many.
- Make sure to remove any dust, so furniture can shine in full glory.
De-clutter and light!
Good photography makes a difference
Photography of bedrooms
- Clear bedside tables of anything such as books, pills, tissue boxes and water bottles.
- Remove the clothes hamper, floor fans, humidifiers, and any floor clutter.
- Ensure beds are neatly made, and stage and fluff pillows nicely.
- Tidy up the walk-in closet. Create nicely folded stacks of clothing and even reorganize hanging clothes.
- Also, remove personal items such as family photos.
Tip: Ask your realtor to add a short descriptive text underneath every photo. It is a small act that really helps a buyer understand the layout better. It also gives the realtor the opportunity to promote certain aspects of your home.
Photography of bathrooms
- Clear everything from the sink area, including non-decorative soap dispensers, toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, hair dryers, makeup, etc.
- Ensure tub and/or shower enclosures are clean and are free of any clutter. Remove shampoo bottles and other bathroom items.
- Remove grime from shower doors and make them shine.
- Neatly fold the towels and hang up only one or two clean and unused towels, if needed.
- Remove bathmats as much as possible for both photography and during showings.
- Close the toilet seats.
- Remove dust, including around light fixtures, and clean the sink.
- Keep jewellery and medication out of sight, for both the photography and showings.
Don’t leave money on the table when selling. Often, poor photos are those that are too dark, taken from the wrong angles, or taken with a cell phone. Without a doubt, bad photos negatively affect the sale of a house.
Photography outside the house
- Tidy up the garden, store all children’s toys and pet toys, hoses, gardening tools, etc.
- Remove doggie doo-doo from yard.
- Remove trash cans and keep the front driveway clear.
- Remove cars, boats, motor homes, or anything parked in front of your home while the photographer is on site.
- If the weather is nice, open up the patio umbrella.
- Tune up the garden by mowing the grass, cuting hedges and trimming bushes, etc.
- In wintertime, clear the sidewalks of snow for the picture. (And keep sidewalks clear for showings)
- If possible, provide the realtor with summer photos of the garden.
In general, create light and more light!
Light is very important during photography and showings! So, at all times, keep curtains and blinds open in the entire house. Also, at time of photography, turn on all the lights in every room, including floor lamps and bedside lamps. This also means replacing every burnt-out light bulb in the house.
About photography of basements, cabinets and closets
Basement windows are most often an important feature to the average buyer. (find photo) So, take that Canadian flag off the basement window for a buyer to see the potential of an unfinished (or finished) basement.
Usually, we don’t photograph an unfinished basement or the inside of a garage. Feel free to consider using these areas for storage. But remember, potential buyers will be seeing every area of your home, so it’s necessary to keep all areas as neat as possible during the marketing period.
Photos will not show the inside of your closets and cabinets, other than the walk-in closet. Still, keep in mind that the buyer sees everything when visiting your home. Get more tips and tricks to get your home ready to sell with our home seller’s checklist.
Once your home is listed, your door is open to viewings
Get some important tips about showings; from sticky keys to the use of cameras and listening devices