It’s time to sell your home and get on with your life. Instead of heeding your agents advice of investing in great photography, you take photos using whatever device is available to you—probably an iPhone or inexpensive point and shoot.
In today’s article – Listing Photos: The 8 Do’s and Don’ts – we will provide you with a few examples of “what to do” and “what not to do” when taking photos for your property listing, along with reasons why you should budget for professional photography. So without further adieu, here is what you should DO and NOT DO:
1.People will make split-reaction decisions whether they want to look at a home or not, just by glancing at the curb shot. When taking the curb shot photo, find the best possible line of sight and be sure to keep the baseline of the house parallel with the bottom edge of the camera frame – avoid obstacles at all cost:
DO: Illustrate curb appeal
DON’T: Take photos with objects blocking the home
2.What is more appealing than a photo inviting potential buyers to explore? Open the house up – the windows, doors, shutters, and all other pathways. This creates a sense of space and puts the viewers’ mind at ease:
DO: Take and use welcoming shots
DON’T: Take and use crime scene shots
3.For those of you who have large properties (e.g. ranch, beach front, country manor), consider doing aerial shots. Google Maps is great, but there are plenty of aerial photographers out there willing to snap a few shots of your property on the cheap:
DO: Take photos of the ENTIRE property
DON’T: Use zoom lenses or other crazy attachments
4. Capturing the homes selling points with a camera can be tricky, which is why hiring a professional photographer is all the more important. They have wide-angle lenses, know the rules of lighting, and can turn an otherwise boring room, into luxury. If the home is absolutely empty, we recommend hiring a professional stager:
DO: Focus on the homes’ key features
DON’T: Take zoomed in photos of empty space
5. Staging a room is essential when taking listing photos. A staged room illustrates how the space can be used, and gives viewers an idea of what they can expect. Even if you have to find secondhand furniture on CraigsList and stage each room yourself, just remember, the effort will pay off in the form of a potential lead, or even, sale:
DO: Stage every room if possible
DON’T: Forget to clean and tidy each room
6. When the seasons start rolling in, tchotchke in images can be immediate grounds for not considering the rest of the gallery. When Halloween and Thanksgiving come, keep décor to a minimum and only snap photos with spaces that are without clutter:
DO: Allow the home to reflect the season
DON’T: Allow the home to reflect the decorators’ choices
7. Whether you think it or not, almost every home has a view. So when capturing images of that view, be sure the scene is well lit and there are not distractions such as pets or children in the composition. People just aren’t that interested in your puppy or kitty:
DO: Take well balanced scenic photos
DO NOT: Put animals or children in photos
8. The most important tip of all is to be sure to take shots with proper lighting. Again, another reason to hire a professional photographer. Lighting a room isn’t as easy as you’d think – it takes knowledge of both space and surface:
DO: Take photos at sunset
DON’T: Take photos of dark / dimly lit rooms!
There you have it. The top reasons we suggest hiring a professional are because (1) it his TRULY hard to light and capture the essence of a room, and (2) basic photography skills and equipment just wont cut it. If you are serious about selling your home, make the wise investment – you’ll learn a lot along the way!
