Let’s get your home sold! This article will help you get your home ready before we come to take pictures or shoot a video. You can think of this as your pre-photo/ pre-video checklist.
You know how a wedding photographer will fluff a bride’s dress or adjust her veil just before he takes that glam shot of her? Well, when you have your home photographed or shot for video the same principle applies. Having your home staged or “set up” will ensure that its best features are captured. Following these 6 suggestions will set your home apart from others when it’s featured online.
These ideas are also very useful if you are having an open house or when you, or your agent, are showing your property to a potential buyer.
{1. Prioritize First}
Kitchens, master bedrooms, master bathrooms, and living rooms are major areas homebuyers look at. Use this checklist especially for these spaces.
{2. Light!}
Light is one of the most important things that a camera needs to produce an amazing picture. Light your home up:
Pull the blinds and open the draperies.
Make sure all light sockets (ceiling lights, ceiling fans, lamps, etc.) have a working light bulb.
{3. Eye Sore to Eye Candy}
When you are expecting to have family or friends over to your house, you usually tidy up, even if just a little bit, before they come. This is a no-brainer when you have strangers (buyers and agents) coming by!
Photos and video are a preview to what buyers will see when they come to tour your home, so dress up your house for pictures, video, and the people that might be buying it. You want buyers to automatically be drawn to your home instead of somebody else’s down the street. Use accessories that make it look like a model home.
Place fresh flowers throughout the house and fruit in the kitchen or on the dining room table.
Make bathrooms feel like a spa with fresh flowers, towels, or candles.
Something as simple as new throw pillows on the couch will dress up a living room.
During the winter season, add warmth to the living room by lighting the fireplace or placing large, multi-height candles inside of it.
Depersonalize your home of family photographs, trinkets, and collectables.
TIP: When you go to a hotel it would be gross to see someone else’s soap, shampoo, razors, or used towels in the bathroom. Potential homebuyers don’t want to see your things either. Remove all personal toiletry items from the sink vanity, shower, and tub.
TIP: Let’s use the hotel example again. If you stepped into a hotel room and saw another family’s pictures, mementos, or tchotchkes lying around, you wouldn’t feel welcome or that the space was ready for you to use.
{4. Clean, Clean, Clean}
Cleaning is the BIGGEST thing you can do to make or break your photos or video. You know that saying “the camera adds 10 lbs?” The same seems to be true in interior photography and video. Toys, pet beds/ litter boxes, office clutter, excessive picture frames, piled up mail, etc., etc., etc. all seem to be multiplied and magnified on film. A couple stacks of magazines in the living room can look like 5 or 6 in a picture.
Clear off all surfaces (counter tops, tables, bathroom vanities) of any unnecessary and personal items.
Tip: Remove clutter items like electronics and electronic cords from nightstands
No-brainer…Make Your Bed! (you would be surprised at how many people’s beds we make when we are on location.)
Vacuum, or at least clear away objects on the floor that don’t belong on the floor.
Get toys, tools, garbage / recycling bins out of the front and back yards or driveway.
{5. Cut the Clutter}
Have we mentioned clutter already? Clutter is a HUGE problem in most homes. Your property should look as close as possible to a model home, so get rid of your clutter.
Where can most clutter be found?
Bathroom vanities (toothbrushes, razors, facial products, perfume bottles, soap/ lotion bottles, etc.)
Bookshelves
Childrens’ rooms (toys, books, games, play structures, etc.)
Fireplace mantles (picture frames, tchotchkes, collectables, etc.)
Kitchen countertops (stacks of mail, multiple appliances, etc.)
Offices (out of control electronic cords, stacks of paper, picture frames, and excessive amounts of office suppplies)
{6. Create Curb Appeal}
When you are looking for a date or a mate, whether some want to believe it or not, one of the first things you notice about the person is the way they look and their various features. After that first attraction you are interested to get to know them better. The same thing goes for the front of your house when you are having it photographed or recorded on video. The front of the property gives a potential buyer an idea of what the inside will look like.
As far as photo and video go, homebuyers will be more attracted to your property if…
vehicles aren’t visible directly in the driveway. Put them inside the garage or parked on the street
the front door and porch are swept clean and spider webs are dusted away. A fresh doormat looks great too.
the garbage and recycling bins are away from the curb or front of the house.
toys, bicycles, garden hoses, and tools are out of sight, or at least arranged neatly on the side, or in the back, of the house.
you put fresh hanging or potted plants near the doorway. If your home already has flower or plant beds, make sure you clean out the weeds. Planting fresh flowers or greenery really makes things pop.
This pre-shoot checklist is a great first step in preparing your home to be photographed.
In addition to this checklist, read our article 4 Props that Pop. This blog post discusses how four simple props can transform the way your home appears on film.