
9 tips on how to professionally photograph and get your home ready in order to sell it
- Vangie Mendez
- Mar 20, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 7, 2020
1. Tour your own house like a buyer
Before grabbing your camera and tripod, walk around your house and imagine how it looks to people who don’t live there.
2. Choose the best day and time to shoot
Yes, photographing your home’s exterior on a partly cloudy day will minimize shadows in your shots. But Small believes a bright blue sky packs a substantially bigger punch, especially if you live in a location where you're trying to sell the weather as well as the home.
3. Make a clean sweep outside
Before snapping a single frame outside, clear away anything that detracts from your curb appeal.
4. Undo that ‘lived-in’ look
Sure, your busy family lives in the house. But it doesn’t have to look that way in your photos. Excess furniture and knickknacks distract from your home’s features, Small says—plus, they don’t photograph well. So lose the magazine piles, remote controls, framed photos, books, and stray shoes. Clean off the front of your fridge so your images don’t capture every school note, magnet, and shopping list.
5. Don’t let home-staging tricks backfire
Yes, home stagers rely on visual tricks topoint to a room's best attributes. Think: a large plant near a window with a view, or a cluster of pillar candles next to a gorgeous stone fireplace.
6. Let in the light
Got great views? Highlight them in your images. Wash your windows, and leave curtains and blinds open so natural light can flow in. (If you've got heavy drapes, go a step further: Take them down and replace with sheer linen curtains—or just leave your windows bare.)
7. Shoot from the right spot
You want to showcase as much of every room as possible. But that doesn't mean lots of close-up photos of every corner (or any corner, for that matter). Instead, aim to include three walls in your image, to give each room depth. Often, that means shooting from the doorway or a corner.
8. Avoid odd angles
Everyone knows that the key to taking a good selfie is to shoot from above (goodbye, double chin!) But the rules are different when it comes to getting your home's good side: In real estate, Mountcastle says, you want to keep your camera at about chest height and shoot straight on (no fish eye, no aerial shots, etc.).
9. Don’t count on editing to improve your photos
The key to a clean-looking photo is a clean house. “There’s a huge misconception about Photoshop—it’s an amazing tool, but it’s not a magic wand,” Small cautions. “Yes, you can Photoshop out weeds and maybe some dangling cords, but to do more takes a lot of work.”
As a Professional Realtor, I will be with you in every step of the way to guide you and make the transaction as smooth as possible.
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