Ten Ways to Prep Your Home for Realty Photos
To make your listing photos really shine, look ultra-appealing and stand out above all the others, follow the tips below and you will find yourself heads and tails ahead of the crowd.
1. Clear the clutter. Like all of it.
When prepping for your real estate photos, you will want to eliminate all clutter, and once you’ve finished that, remove it some more. Clutter is distracting and creates a chaotic visual. Clearing the clutter means tucking away anything that you don’t need to access on a daily basis: the blender, toaster, and cookbook on your kitchen countertop, the extra shoes, and coats in the entryway and the dehumidifier in the corner. You’ll need to take out not just “most” of it, but every last fridge magnet and cooking utensil should be gone from sight.
2. Remove window coverings.
We want each room to look as bright and spacious as possible. To accomplish this, window coverings should be removed. Not only do they reduce light from coming into the space, they are also something of personal taste. You want your potential buyers to have a clean slate to envision their own window dressings.
3. When in doubt, keep colors neutral.
When possible, keep your interiors looking as neutral as possible. Remove worn out or overly decorative throw pillows, blankets, towels and if you’re feeling super ambitious, paint your walls a neutral (or white!).
4. Bring in some greenery.
Greenery always offers a nice touch of life into your home. Plants are a subtle way to remind viewers that the home is capable of preserving life.
5. Go minimalist.
Extra furniture can create “blocks” in the room and prevent the eye from traveling through or block the line of sight to important fixtures. Keep in mind when it comes to furniture that less is definitely more. And, less furniture makes rooms look larger.
6. Keep it clean.
I know, I know. This one is so super obvious it hurts. But having a clean house is of the utmost importance. To avoid photo blunders, make sure that the toilet seat lids are closed in your bathroom shots, turn the TV off and move any vehicles in the front driveway out of the way prior to any photographs being taken.
7. Get furniture away from the walls.
Most people have a tendency to push large pieces of furniture right up against the walls. This actually makes spaces look smaller, so, consider pulling your furniture into the room a foot or so, if possible.
8. Edit out personal items.
A potential buyer wants to see a clean slate, an empty canvas of sorts to envision their own decorative tastes, and their own belongings in your home. Remove all personal items to declutter and depersonalize your space. Also, for the sake of your own confidentiality, you will want to remove family photos from your realty images.
9. Freshen your bulbs.
Burned out and mismatched bulbs can create a distraction in photos and present an illusion of disrepair inside your home. Make sure your bulbs are fresh and working and that they match!
10. Bake cookies.
You’ve likely already heard this does well for showing houses, but also if you feed your realtor/photographer freshly baked cookies, everyone will feel a little extra happy.
