Making the decision to sell your home can be exciting and overwhelming...we're here to help make the experience as fluid and effortless as possible. Photography is a very important element of selling your home. With the technology we have today, people are purchasing homes much more differently than they used to with 89% of buyers doing their research online. In fact, there have been many cases where buyers have written an offer based strictly on the photos they viewed. More importantly, studies performed by Realtor.com have shown that homes with professional photography not only sell more quickly, but also sell for more money...thus, the importance of quality photos. Below we've put together a list of recommendations to prepare your home for a photo shoot. Some are obvious, however most are often overlooked. When we arrive for a photo shoot, it's best to have the home as close to 'camera ready' as possible. If we need to move an object or piece of furniture for the sake of a specific angle, we'll do that and move it back once we've got the shot. We want to show your property in its best light to ensure a successful, swift sale! With these recommendations it should take us no longer than an hour to capture the shots we need.

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EXTERIOR

 

• Move vehicles into garage, or onto the street away from the front of the home.

• Ensure gardening has been completed with any leaves/debris discarded.

• Arrange patio furniture and any outdoor dining furniture.

• Remove grill cover and ensure grill exterior is clean.

• Remove any excess clutter and place in garage or around the side of the home (pool floats, children's toys, bikes, hoses, etc).

• Upon arrival we'll decide if patio umbrellas would be better up or down.

• Remove any pool hoses/vacuum hoses from pool.

• When confirming the appointment with the agent, try to be conscious of if the time conflicts with the schedule of the gardener or pool cleaner.

• Try to schedule the photo shoot at a time your sprinklers aren't scheduled to water your lawn...or override and temporarily disable sprinkler systems.

• (for evening shoots only) Ensure all exterior lighting is working and replace bulbs where necessary. This includes landscape lighting, exterior sconce lighting and most importantly...pool/spa lights.

 

 

INTERIOR

 

• Replace any burned out light bulbs in fixtures or lamps.

• Remove all excess from kitchen countertops. Small appliances are okay, but we want to remove any cooking items such as oils, spices, towels, cutting boards, sponges, dish soap, paper towels, etc. to showcase the space. The more 'stuff' there is, the smaller the kitchen looks.

• Remove all magnets from refrigerators.

• Remove all personal items from bathroom countertops such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, perfume bottles, lotions, razors, etc.

• Place all toilet seats down.

• Hide all tissue boxes and paper towels

• Ensure beds are made.

• Please have all lights and lamps turned on throughout the home...this can wait until our arrival, but really helps the space become alive.

• Please have any ceiling fans turned off, as they'll create a blur if they're left on.

• Tidy up all areas and remove/store any excess throughout the home that might look like clutter in the photos (boxes, excess toys, exercise equipment, etc). The less 'stuff' we have in a room, the larger the room will appear.

• Though this is a difficult one, try to depersonalize as much as you can by removing any type of sports memorabilia, personal photos/frames and anything that might pull focus from the photo or space we're trying to sell. We know this is still your home and space, but we want to 'generalize' as much as possible. Buyers like to envision themselves in the space and are many times easily distracted.

• It's recommended that any pets be contained for the duration of the photo shoot.

We truly adore pets of all kinds, but in our experience it's less stressful on the pet if they aren't exposed to a stranger with a big camera, strange equipment taking over their space...it also prevents them from walking into shots, and allows us to work as quickly as possible.

• We will take the time to adjust any blinds, shutters or window coverings based on the desired lighting we'll need for the shot.

 

With these simple recommendations we'll be able to make your home show as beautifully as possible. These photos will be used in all types of marketing materials and first impressions are extremely important... if the photos don't properly interpret the story of the home to a buyer or agent, losing a sale could be as easy as the click of a mouse. Thank you for helping us prepare your home for its close-up!!