Preparing Your Home for Listing Photos

Preparing Your Home for Listing Photos

It’s 2020! That means we’re living in the digital age, and selling your home involves presenting it in the best possible ways both online and in person. Here’s our advice for getting your home prepared to be listed.

Minimize Distractions

For listing photos, the goal is to highlight the home itself. This means removing anything that distracts from the room. Items such as trashcans, dish towels, pet’s food dishes, refrigerator magnets etc. should be hidden. This will help potential buyers better imagine themselves in the space.

Highlight a Room’s Features

One simple thing you can do before listing your home that can make a huge difference is changing the light bulbs throughout the house in order to make the home seem brighter. Pulling back curtains and showcasing the home’s windows can also have a complimentary effect. If there are focal points in a room, find a way to draw the eye to those in some way.

Pay Attention to Curb Appeal

There’s a reason people are constantly talking about curb appeal in real estate. It’s the first impression someone can have of your house, so it’s always a good idea to spruce up the outside of your home before listing it. Another great idea is to highlight the entrance of your home in a tasteful and simple way.

Clean

At the end of the day, the cleaner the home looks, the better. Sometimes people even have their homes professionally cleaned before putting them on the market. Preparing a home for listing goes deeper than surface level cleaning. It means cleaning areas of your house you sometimes gloss over. Many people forget about closets when they’re preparing their homes, but buyers are usually interested in how much closet space a house offers. The best practice is to organize all of the closets in your home, and to keep in mind people will likely see inside them.

Keep Decor Simple

Depersonalizing a house while selling it is an asset. This goes back to helping buyers envision themselves living in the house. Removing photographs and large decorations can sometimes make a huge difference. Not everyone has the same taste in home decor, so it’s best to keep things simple. 

Check Your Work

Once you’ve done all of the hard work of preparing your home, it’s a good idea to double check your work. Walk outside, and envision yourself seeing your home for the first time. Ask yourself what a buyer might notice, and make changes based on your answer. Check the inside of your home too, and make sure everything is where you want it to be. 

Click here for great examples of listing photos!

Below is a cheat sheet provided by some of our awesome photographers!