Vanessa's Complete Guide for Sellers and Agents to Prepare for Real Estate Photography
The Cliff's Notes:
Declutter: If you don't want it immortalized on the Internet, tuck it away!
Lighting: Keep it consistent! Swap out bulbs for "Daylight" (5500k-6500k). Mixing warm and cool lights is like serving ketchup and ice cream together—not a good look.
Uncover Windows: Let the light in! Pull up blinds and shades, remove or pull back curtains, and ditch those damaged screens and window stickers.
Cleanliness: Clean like your in-laws are visiting. Remember to scrub fan blades and baseboards!
Odors: Fresh as a daisy, not eau de mystery meat. Address any smells at the source.
Screens Off: Turn off all TVs and computer monitors. The kids can watch Blippi on their tablets.
Vacate: Sellers, pets, and kids should make like a tree and get out of there!
Intro:
As you are intimately aware, selling a home is a stressful event. Your Sellers can easily be overwhelmed by packing, cleaning, paperwork, repairs, scheduling showings, and shuffling around pets and kids. Preparing for listing photos is just one extra stressor. I am here to help you cover everything they need to know, simplifying the process and ensuring they feel supported.
A good agent knows that professional real estate photography is not just an option but a necessity for their clients to maximize the quality of service you provide and your ROI. According to the National Association of Realtors 2024 Home Buyers and Sellers Trends, nearly 90% of buyers aged 58 and under said photos were their search's most helpful website feature. A 2013 Redfin study found that homes with professional photography sell up to 3 weeks faster and up to $11,000 above list price, a testament to the positive impact of this service on the selling process.
In this guide, I will cover everything that you and your clients need to know to prepare for when I photograph their property!
Put it away!
I get it; moving is chaotic. While some of the homes I photograph are vacant, many are still actively occupied by the homeowners. However, Clutter is unappealing in photographs as it can distract viewers from the room's features. It is essential to ensure your clients have boxes, clothing, sundries, dishes, food, trash cans, toiletries, etc., tucked away into cupboards and closets or neatly stacked in the basement or garage.
My mantra is, "If you don't want it enshrined for eternity on the Internet, put it away." Buyers understand that some listings are still owner-occupied. Still, you want the furniture, appliances, and details to be accessories that double as staging (which helps buyers visualize having their stuff in the house) and not have distractions.
This mantra extends to the exterior as well! Garbage cans need to be put away or taken to the curb. All vehicles and equipment (including those that are nonfunctional) should be either in the garage (if the garage isn't on the list to be photographed) or parked off-site, out of view from the home (ensuring they don't appear in interior photos that show out windows and doors - I do photoshop them out when necessary, but that is not always a perfect solution). Toys, hoses, yard waste, dirty boots, and dog poo (to name a few) need to be cleaned up and put away. Pro tip: if the house's exterior is dirty, ask your sellers to invest in power washing. It makes a difference! Additionally, make sure all lights are functional and turned on (with the same color temperatures) and any political signage (regardless of affiliation), flags, warnings, etc., are removed.
Lighting - it matters!
Top: A photograph as it looks directly from the camera showing warm light on the left and cooler light on the right.
Bottom: The same photograph after editing and color balancing
I am an Available Light Photographer, meaning I do not bring additional lighting or use a flash. Instead, I use only the light present in the home, from light fixtures and natural light from the outdoors. I do this to maximize realism and avoid the stereotypical real estate photography "too perfect look," which can give viewers uncanny valley vibes (and violate Article 2 of the NAR Code of Ethics). Using a combination of available light and my decades of photo editing experience (I hand-edit each photograph, and many other photographers outsource it), I aim to give viewers the impression that they are standing on-site at the property. Additionally, I perform a technique called "window pulling," where I combine multiple exposures so viewers can see out of the windows in photographs (cameras view the world differently than the human eye and cannot capture views through windows).
Why did I explain all of this? To adequately capture details and colors inside a home, you want as much light as possible and of the same color temperature. White light comes in what is known as color temperatures. A candle or incandescent bulb has a "warm" temperature, casting an orange-yellow glow. Daylight has a "cool" temperature closer to pure white or a bit blueish (and fluorescent bulbs have a greenish light). Our eyes compensate for color temperature differences better than a camera can. Light bulbs can be purchased at a wide range of temperatures, especially with the emergence of LED bulbs, which can change the ambiance of a room. In a room lit by cool daylight on the left and warm artificial light on the right, the camera will capture a heavy blue tint on the left and a heavy orange tint on the left. Color balancing in editing can correct this to an extent, but often at the sacrifice of capturing the correct paint and trim colors in the room.
To correct this and ensure the most accuracy and realism, sellers should replace all light bulbs in the home with "Daylight" bulbs in the 5500k-6500k temperature range. Doing this will harmonize the room's color balance. Remember that if daylight bulbs are installed in one room and not others nearby, those appearing in the background of a photo will look orange.
A light color temperature scale - Source: commercialledlights.com
Lighting also extends to window coverings! All blinds and shades should be fully pulled up (or to the side, depending on the type) to expose the window glass. Curtains and decorative window coverings should be pulled entirely away from the windows or removed altogether. Damaged window screens should be removed or replaced, and stickers on windows should be removed. The key is to have windows be completely unobstructed. Doing this makes photos look far better and is also great for buyers touring the home in person. Whoever buys the house will likely remove all the window coverings if they are dated, yellowed, dirty, damaged, or simply not their style.
Other stuff to do:
All televisions and computer monitors should be turned off (I often photoshop my photographic art with colors that match the room onto blank screens).
Ceiling fans must be turned off, and the blades should be dusted. I use long exposures in my photography, which makes moving fan blades look like a transparent disk. Fan blades tend to be filthy, as we generally don't think about them when we clean.
Clean the entire house, including walls and baseboards! While the camera doesn't always pick up dirt, buyers will notice when they are in the home! Plus, who doesn't love fresh vacuum lines in carpets?
If the house has a mailbox by the door, gather the mail and put it away before the shoot!
Be aware of unpleasant smells! First impressions are critical in sales, and we have all entered a home only to find our noses overwhelmed with a nasty scent. Unpleasant smells can instantly deter buyers, lower the selling price, indicate issues in the house, such as infestations and mold, and lead the home to sit on the market for far longer than it should. Ask a couple of honest friends to come over and sniff the house as if your home smells; you may not notice it since you are always there. I have informed many agents about bad smells. Don't just cover up the smells! Treat the source: steam clean the carpets, run the dishwasher and clotheswasher cleaning cycles, and if anyone has smoked in the house, be sure to scrub the walls and ceilings, throw away curtains, clean the ducting, and at the end, buy an ozone generator to clean the air. Pleasant smells help sell homes, so long as they're not overwhelming and are not used to covering up bad smells (I suggest citrus or vanilla!).
Leave home during the shoot, and bring your pets and kids, too! As a photographer, I can work much faster and more efficiently if I don't have to request that people move. I use a wide-angle lens, which makes staying out of my camera's line of sight hard. The best place for people to be is either off-site or on a different floor. Stepping outside doesn't help, as people are often visible through windows. I love animals, but they can be challenging to keep out of photos. If agents want to stay with me, they should always be behind me.
Make sure any damaged/miscolored paint is corrected! Altering a property in any way is against the Realtor code of ethics. I will not digitally "fix" any part of a home or property, as doing so could cause sellers to violate their property disclosure statement, and agents can be liable for fees.
Conclusion
Properly preparing your home for photography and tours can speed up the sale, fetch a higher price, and give you less to worry about at the closing table. Agents that have sellers follow this guide get a bonus of free advertising, as I post photos and details of homes on my Facebook profile, which helps get the listing in front of many other agents! If you're a paying client that has read this far (for any photography, not just real estate!), mention "Spork" when booking a shoot to receive a one-time $5 credit on your next invoice.
Vanessa's links to handy things for photo prepping
Sprayway Glass Cleaner: This stuff is the best and smells great!
Ozone Generator: to help eliminate harsh smells.
Air Freshener: plug it in, plug it in!
Daylight LED Bulbs: harmonize the light temperature!
Durable, Stackable Storage Bins: to put stuff away!
Plastic Scraping Tool: for removing stickers without scratching.
Goo-Gone: to get the sticker residue off.
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser: for getting smudges off of all of the things.
(Disclaimer: links to products in this article are attached to my Amazon Affiliate account; ordering through them may earn me a commission and support my business financially!)
