"The day on which one starts is not the time to commence one's preparation." ~ Anonymous
Getting the best shots of your home or listing takes preparation, and requires some forethought about what it is you want to present and how it should look in the final picture. To help you with this preparation, here's some tips that I always give homeowners and real-estate agents before I arrive to take pictures for a listing:
- Clean and Simplify - The most effective real-estate photos highlight the most attractive or unique aspect of a room. You help to reveal these aspects by thoroughly cleaning and de-cluttering every room that will be shot - especially the kitchen! (Dirty dishes in the sink are a REAL turn-off!) You should also hide any personal belongings so they're out of sight during the photo shoot. If you have trouble with this, consult a home stager - the results are definitely worth the investment!
- Lighten up! - Dark furniture + dark room = depressing picture! You can lighten up dark rooms with bright (65 watt) daylight bulbs and floor lamps. Adding light-colored throw pillows and blankets helps offset dark furniture, while a neutral area rug really brightens up any room!
- Need to hide the view? If some rooms face a brick wall (or your neighbor's bathroom), use semi-sheer curtains to hide the view. These types of curtains let some light in while obscuring the view outside.
- Don't forget to look outside! The front exterior shot sells your home's ‘curb appeal' to prospective buyers. To get the best exterior shots, you need to first pay attention to what's happening in front of your home by removing garbage cans and collecting dead branches or fallen leaves. An even better strategy is to schedule your gardener so to come by and cut the grass as close as possible to the date of the photo shoot.
Implementing these tips will help you make sure a property is ready to put its ‘best face forward' for the camera! In a future article, I'll provide some real-estate photography tips to help you get the most during the photo shoot and make sure you get best shots! See you soon!
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