Preparing Your Home For A Professional Photo Shoot

Today’s buyers are online and great photos make all the difference in getting your home sold.  That’s why I use professional photography. Most photo shoots don’t take more than a couple of hours.  Photographs will be taken of the inside and outside of your home including all the rooms.  You can help make this a success by following these guidelines.

General Guidelines

  • Declutter rooms which may have an excessive amount of furniture.  Too much furniture also makes the rooms look smaller.
  • Throw rugs and runners in entryways, kitchens, and bathrooms should be removed.  Let’s see those beautiful floors!
  • Replace any burned out light bulbs in fixtures and lamps.  We don’t want our buyers thinking there is something wrong with the fixtures or electrical service.

Your Home’s Exterior

  • Remove all vehicles from driveways and do not park directly in front of the house.  We’re selling the house, not the cars!
  • Move garbage cans out of sight.
  • Remove all garden tools including hoses and sprinklers and store them neatly in the garage or storage area.
  • Remove all children’s toys, bikes, etc.
  • If you have a pool, remove the pool sweep, pool cleaning equipment and any pool toys.
  • Mow and rake the yard
  • Sweep driveways, sidewalks and patios
  • The Living and Family Room

The Living and Family Room

  • Remove piles of newspaper and magazines
  • Hide all TV/Stereo remotes
  • Conceal all exposed cables as best you can
  • Remove clutter from bookshelves, tables and cabinets
  • Tuck trash cans out of view in a closet or cupboard

Recent Listings

The Bedrooms

  • Make all beds and tidy bedroom
  • Hang all clothes or put them away
  • Remove items from bedside tables like books, magazines, clock radios

The Kitchen

  • Clear off counter tops and remove any appliances, like toasters, coffer pots, knife blocks
  • Remove photos, notes, and papers from the refrigerator
  • Clean the major appliances – refrigerator, oven, range hood, and down all countertops.  Use a little Windex to make the surface shine.

The Dining Room

  • Add a colorful centerpiece on the table such as candles or flowers
  • Conceal any exposed electrical cords

The Bathrooms

  • Clear off the counter tops.  Remove toothbrushes, shavers, soapl dishes, tissue and lotion dispensers, makeup mirrors, etc.
  • Remove shampoo and other products from the shower/tub area
  • All toilet seats should be down and the lid closed
  • Mirrors should be clean

The Final Touches

  • Contain pets in the garage or out of sight
  • Turn on all interior lights
  • Turn cooling fans, ceiling fans, and televisions off