Previously, I wrote the first part of a two-part series on how to take better listing photos for your home. With the extreme importance of that first thumbnail on your listing, you can’t afford to gamble your home sale on pictures that show your property in an unfavorable light. You’ve already learned about the “right” time of day to take pictures and how to lose “the lived-in look” that could cause potential buyers to look unfavorably on your home. Here are the rest of the tips for great listing photos.
Access a good camera - not your iPhone.
Yes, it’s true that today’s camera phones (especially the three-camera model of the new iPhone 11) can take gorgeous pictures, but you really should either invest in a good digital camera or get in the good graces of someone who has one. A real camera will produce a more crisp picture with better color grading so that rooms photographed look as close to life as possible. After all, you don’t want anybody saying the dreaded words: “it looked better online.”
Don’t let your staging work against you.
It’s a great idea to stage your home for listing photos! I’ve covered the ins and outs of staging elsewhere on this blog, so I won’t delve into it here, but something to note is that you shouldn’t let over-elaborate decor get in the way of showing off what the buyers really want to see: the shape and size of the room(s) and the fixtures. For example, a showy bouquet of wildflowers on the table will look great at the open house, but it’s going to draw focus in a photograph, and not in the way that you want.
Think curb appeal, to the 10th power.
A front-facing picture of the exterior of your home is likely to be the critical first thumbnail that buyers see when browsing home listings. That means that your exterior photo is the money shot, and you want it to do the trick. To this end, the house should be immaculately clean and welcoming from the street. Pressure-wash the house if necessary, put a new coat of paint on the porch, pour some fluffy new mulch on flower beds, and get rid of all those random pots laying around your yard. Trim all the trees, pull weeds, and make sure the lawn is freshly mowed. This seems like a lot of work for one picture, but it’s equalled by the power that one picture has to sell your home.
Use the right angles.
You know how you have perfected the exact tilt of your head for the most excellent selfie? You’ll want to find your home’s “angles” as well. You want the house to look roomy, airy, and as large as possible. To that end, don’t take shots that are obstructed by furniture or corners, and shoot from eye level - not higher or lower. Don’t do anything crazy like a fish-eye lens or wide-angle shots. You want an accurate picture of your home, albeit one of it at its very best.
