IN THIS POST
– Home Staging Tips
– Real Estate Photography Tips
Did you know that well-photographed homes tend to sell faster than the ones with blurry listing photos? Before you pick up your phone to take a few random shots of your house, please know that they won’t be enough to cut it. Since beautiful pictures of strategically staged homes can have a major effect on their sale, we have put together some tips on how to take real estate photos that will ensure a quick sale.
You don’t really need to buy an expensive DSLR to take jaw-dropping shots of your space. All you need to do is pick the right time of the day, know the correct angles and most importantly, stage your home the right way. In addition to that, you must also be honest about the size and layout of your home and avoid uploading deceptive photos. At the same time, you should also highlight the positive and unique features of your home.
Feeling intrigued? We don’t blame you. However, before we discuss real estate photography tips, let’s go over how to stage your home for a quick sale.
How to Stage Your Home for Quick Sale
Here are a few things you need to know about staging your place to take better real estate photos.
Deep Clean Your Home
First and foremost, thoroughly clean each and every room in your home. Depending on your budget and the condition of your space, you can either hire someone to help you out or put on some rubber gloves and get started on your own. If you choose to go with the second option, we recommend dedicating an entire weekend to do some major cleaning tasks such as washing your windows from both sides, remove fingerprints and stains from your stainless steel appliances, get rid of cobwebs and dust in far-reaching corners of your home, sweep and mop the floors, make the beds, and more.
For more useful tips, check out this ultimate deep cleaning checklist for home.
Depersonalize Your Space
The whole idea behind taking real estate listing photos is to help prospective buyers envision themselves living in your home without visiting it. If the property seekers can’t picture themselves in your space, there is a good chance they won’t consider coming over for a tour.
One of the top tips for taking photos to sell a house is to depersonalize your home by making sure your personal belongings are not displayed in any of the photographs. Of course, this may be a difficult feat for those living in smaller homes, but it is highly recommended to move your family photos, children’s toys, pet accessories and other personal items to a different spot while snapping photos for online listing photos.
Declutter Each Room
No one likes a cluttered home. If you really want to learn how to take interior photos for real estate listing, start by decluttering your home.
You can start by getting rid of expired toiletries arranged on your bathroom sink and throwing away all the expired medication that’s taking up space in your medicine cabinet. Then, move on to broken appliances and gadgets that cannot be fixed, give away worn-out cookware and dishes, remove old clothes that don’t fit anymore, and donate the books you haven’t touched in a long time. You must also tuck away unsightly furniture and accessories to make your home appear cleaner and larger.
If you need some inspiration, make sure to take a look at our guide on how to declutter your home in a weekend – or less.
Light Up Your Home
A well-lit home can create the illusion of a bigger space. So, if you want to learn how to take real estate photos that will draw more attention to your house, make sure to open the curtains, turn on the lights, and make small tweaks to make each room look brighter, bigger and free of any visual clutter. Always analyze the scene with a critical eye before snapping a shot. Also, if you don’t have access to reflectors or base lights to enhance your photos, you can always rely on natural light to capture extravagant views.
On a side note, here is a complete guide detailing the best type of lighting for each room in your house that you might find interesting.
Add a Splash of Color
There are quite a lot of ways you can add colour to your home without picking up a paintbrush. For instance, if you have a bold colourful couch in your living room, make sure to include it in the listing photo. In case you have a neutral colour couch, consider draping a vibrant throw over it or decorate it with mismatched cushions for a more chic look. Similarly, adding houseplants, adding colourful curtains, investing in patterned table runners and hanging multi-colour wall art can add a splash of colour to your space and help you take better real estate photos.
Now that we’ve got this out of the way, let’s check out how to take pictures of your house to sell it faster.
How to Take Real Estate Photos for Listings
Here are some tips on how to take property photos when selling your house.
Be Honest
One of the top photography tips for home sellers is to be honest about the layout of their space. Do not misguide prospective buyers with deceptive photos of your home and never edit the listing images to make your rooms look larger than they are.
While it’s important to learn how to take real estate photos to quickly sell your home, it is just as important to ensure your listing photos deliver an accurate presentation of your space.
Take a Lot of Photos
Always take a lot of photos of your home so you have several options to choose from. On an average, you must take around 40-55 photos of your entire house, including every room, bathrooms, kitchen, living room, drawing room, hallway, view from the balcony or terrace, backyard or garden, and of course, the exterior view of the house among others.
Make sure to pick the best images to upload for your online listing.
Know Your Angles
Another tip in our list of ideas on how to take real estate photos is knowing your angles.
If you are planning to take pictures to sell your house faster, make sure to capture them at chest-height to make the prospective buyers appear as if they are standing in your home. It is suggested to use a wide-angle lens for this purpose as it will capture the entire room in all its glory without exaggerating or downplaying its actual size.
On the other hands, if you are taking exterior shots of your house, you must ideally position your camera at an angle to add more depth to the façade of the structure.
Highlight the Layout
Another tip for how to take pictures for a house listing is to showcase its layout to the best of your abilities. It is one of the most important things that immediately grab the buyer’s attention. Therefore, make sure your photos highlight the flow of the layout. This will also help them envision how they will be able to place their furniture inside your space.
Select Landscape Orientation
To capture the perfect listing photos, opt for landscape orientation. Most real estate portals also recommend uploading horizontal listing photos that showcase the entire room instead of vertical shots that focus on a smaller area.
Schedule Photos for Mid-Day
Avoiding shadows is also one of the top real estate photography tips, especially when you are taking photos of the exterior of your house. Opt for capturing images when the sun is behind your back, illuminating the façade of your property.
Taking listing photos during mid-day will also help showcase your home’s natural light, which is always a plus.
Keep Spaces Wide Open
Last but not least, remove ugly and bulky pieces of furniture from the foreground while taking photos of each room. This includes things such as bookcases, couches, shelves, dividers and various electronic appliances. Keeping your space clean and wide open will not only make your home look more appealing and clutter-free in the photos but also create the illusion of a bigger space both on-screen and in real life.
There you have it – tips on how to take listing photos and stage your home for a quick sale. If you have any questions or suggestions regarding the topic, feel free to share them with us by dropping an email at blog@zameen.com.
Moreover, don’t forget to take a look at our list of things to mention when you’re listing your rental property online. On the other hand, if you are looking to buy or rent a home in Pakistan, here is a comprehensive guide on how to effectively use Zameen.com in your property hunt that will definitely help you out.
For more tips on how to refresh your outdoors to increase property value and ways to increase the rental worth of your home, stay connected to Zameen Blog – the leading home improvement and property blog in Pakistan. You can also subscribe to our email newsletter and Facebook page to stay up-to-date about the latest real estate and construction trends in the country.
