There’s a lot of stress to selling your home. Which means preparing your home for a photoshoot can be exhausting. The day the photographer arrives is one of the most anxious times of the entire home selling process. Everything must be completely ready by the appointment time. We're often on a tight schedule, and time spent doing your job, is time we can't spend doing ours.
As a photographer, it's common to show up on the day of a photo shoot to find the sellers frantically trying to finish the last steps. Realtors work hard, to help their clients get to this point of the selling process, without much chaos. They use checklists and coaching visits from stagers to make the home look outstanding before the photographer shows up.
When the photographer shows up, we will walk the house and spend some time searching out the most important aspects to feature for potential buyers. We have developed a unique ability to identify the home's pros and cons. We know how to showcase the property's best qualities. Our experience and trade tools allow us to manipulate light and space to make your home look as big and bright as possible.
Since the photographer is an artist, you will get significantly more out of our services if your house is entirely ready when they arrive. The photographer can get distracted if they must rearrange and tidy rooms before a shoot. After all, that's not part of our job description. We are experts in photography, not necessarily cleaning and staging.
To get the most out of your professional real estate photographer, follow the pre-shoot checklist below. It will help ensure that your house is photo-ready and welcoming before you list your home for sale.
We don't always photograph laundry rooms, but when we do, they should be like the image on the right!
Bathrooms need all items removed from countertops, toilet tank, and shelves unless it is a decorative piece used to "stage". (see image on the right)
The yard should be clean and clear of any debris, as well as grass mowed and weeds removed. Depending on the time of year, we can't always control the condition of the brown grass or snowy lawns, but making the effort to do what you can is key!
The photographer doesn't like walking into houses in this condition. And since we can't make the seller clean up better, we just have to go with the flow. Unfortunately, it can make us look bad and give us a bad reputation.
This is the kind of houses we like to photograph!! Clean. Similar lighting throughout. Minimal staging. Crisp looking. There was no moving, hiding, cleaning, or fixing anything prior to the photo shoot. Turned the key, and immediately was able to start taking pictures!