Real Estate Photography: Tips And Tricks

Selling your home is a stressful time for many people. Once you decide to sell, you often want to sell quickly, and you want the sale to be for the highest possible value. To increase your odds of a high offer, you want to attract as many potential buyers to your home as possible. The best way to do this is to have really beautiful photographs to showcase your home in the listing.

High-quality photos of your home can make a big difference when listing your property. While your home may have many features that people can truly only appreciate in person, the photos are what is going to attract people to come to your home in person in the first place. Without great photos, people may just skip your listing. Keep reading to learn key tips for how to shoot real estate photography like a pro.

The Importance Of Real Estate Photography

It is incredibly important to have good real estate photography when selling your home. Photos are the first impression that buyers get of your home, and many buyers decide whether they want to pursue visiting a home based on the available photos.

Bad photos can turn off buyers and are likely to mean less people come to tour your home in person. You likely want as many buyers as possible to see your home in person to increase the chances of a great offer, so you definitely don’t want to be turning people off with bad photos. Consider good real estate photos to be the first impression people have of your home, and you always want to make a good first impression.

Professional Vs. DIY Real Estate Photography

When it comes to real estate photos, you generally have two options: hire someone to take them or take them yourself. If you are working with a real estate agent, they might provide the photographer and the photographs as part of home staging with you.

Professional photographers are an extremely valuable asset to have on your team when you are preparing to sell your home. While it might seem like anyone with a smartphone could take photos, professional real estate photographers have excellent cameras, lenses and editing equipment which means their photos are light-years ahead of the DIY version. Professional real estate photographers focus on this craft and have created many tricks to make sure your photos are as bright and spacious as possible, more so than just taking a regular photo. Plus, it is just one less thing that you have to worry about during this potentially stressful time.

If you are selling by owner, you can either hire a photographer yourself or take your own real estate photos. DIY photos can be okay – but know that you’ll be fooling no one and the buyers will know that you took the photos yourself. Remember that you’re likely selling your property for hundreds of thousands of dollars, so paying for photos is not much in the grand scheme. But if you’re willing to give it a try, we have tips for you.

How To Do Real Estate Photography: Tips

Here are some tips for taking good real estate photos (even if you are taking them yourself).

1. Clean Up First

The most important part of staging your home is cleaning up all of the mess and clutter. Clear off all of the surfaces and remove anything that feels messy. You want people to be able to imagine themselves living there – which is always easier with a clean slate. Assuming that you will be moving soon, this could be a great opportunity to get rid of things that you do not plan to take with you. Otherwise, extra items can be boxed up and put in storage spaces, so they are out of the way for both photos and home tours. In general, having fewer items in view makes the room feel larger, neater and more inviting.

Also consider having a house cleaner come on the morning of the photoshoot. They can make sure that areas like kitchen surfaces, bathrooms or baseboards are clean. With the high-quality of photography, you want to make sure the home is clean so that is evident in the photos.

2. Design Your Home’s Look

If you want to take some time to stage your home, decide on a look or aesthetic that you are going for. Consider looking at other nearby homes for sale and notice what decor looks best in those spaces. When in doubt, keep it simple and let the features of the house be the star of the show.

It can be good to have an outside opinion, like an honest friend, walk your home and let you know if any decor or furniture is off putting. You might also rearrange furniture to make a space easier to walk through, even if that’s not how it works best for your family. Some people prefer to remove family photos, others will take down potentially polarizing decor like deer mounts or political signage. Remember – it’s not personal, but just business. You want to keep it neutral to attract as many potential buyers as possible.

No time to decorate? Consider doing virtual staging in your space, without ever having to move as much as a throw pillow!

2. Research Up-To-Date Home Decor Trends

When buyers see a space that looks super dated, they might assume that the home has not been kept up well. Because of this, it is important to look up current decor trends so that you can understand what potential buyers might be looking for in a new house. While you don’t want to throw all of the trends into your space, you want it to feel current and well-loved. Swapping out even a few items for something more modern can totally transform the feel of your space. Or, if you have a piece of furniture or decor that feels very dated, just removing it without replacing it could be the right call.

3. Create A Shot List

It’s important to go into your DIY home photoshoot with a plan. You will want to make a list of all of the rooms in your home and decide what angles you want of each. Be sure to get wide, zoomed out photos so that people can see the whole space. One of the best ways to do this is by taking photos from each corner of the room, so you can be sure to capture it from all angles. Remember to keep the camera straight, preferably in landscape directionality.

If the room has any unique features, you want to capture them in the images that you take. But, do not take close-up photos for a real estate listing. Do not focus on any furniture or personal accessories that do not convey with the sale of the home. Remember the purpose is to show what people will be buying and leave it at that.

4. Lighting Is essential

It is critical that your real estate photos do not feel dark or dingy. You want your home to look light, bright and airy. The best way to get this look is to let the light in. Open your blinds, pull back the curtains and cut on overhead lights. If there is anything super dark in the room, such as large wall art or heavy, dark furniture, consider removing it for the photos. We’ll talk about editing your photos to add more light, but starting out with as much light as possible is going to be key to showing off your home.

5. Use Proper Techniques And Equipment

Your best chance of professional quality photos is to use high-quality equipment. Ideally, you will have a DSLR camera that you can use. You can even take photos on a newer smartphone, but either way you will want to be sure you wipe off the lens, zoom all of the way out and get your focus correct. Hold the camera straight and still and consider using a tripod to get super crisp images.

When taking photos, open all of the blinds and let in as much natural light as possible. Never try to take real estate photos at night or in the dark. In darker rooms, you can cut on the overhead lights, just be sure that they are not blowing out the rest of the color in the space or putting a glare on a surface.

Take your time and take plenty of photos. It is better to have too many photos that you can delete or not use than to wish you had taken an additional angle after you’ve messed up the picture-ready clean space.

6. Edit Light And Bright

Once you have taken your photos, use an editing app to lighten, brighten and straighten the photos. You don’t want them overexposed, but you want the space to feel very light and bright. If you choose to use a specific filter, be sure to use the same filter on all of the images so they feel cohesive and make sense when viewed together as a collection.

More advanced editors can add images on TV screens or outside of windows or even remove unsightly items like a cat’s litter box. Professional editors even change the outside of the home to show it in a sunset. However, if you’re not an experienced editor, this is not the time to try. A poorly photoshopped photo can throw the integrity of all your home’s photos into question. When in doubt, keep it simple.

7. Upload to your listing

When you’re listing your home For Sale By Owner, you have to create your own online listing as well, including on the MLS or any other sites. When you upload your photos, more is better. Upload lots of angles of each space and take your viewers on a virtual tour of the home by uploading photos in a cohesive manner. 

Don’t mix up rooms or put something upstairs before downstairs. You want to guide the potential buyers through your home and give them a good idea of how the home is arranged and situated. If you have shots that include views of other rooms, this is a great way to help people understand the layout of the home before they come in. Do whatever you can to give them the best idea of your home, so you are getting buyers that are actually interested in buying.

The Bottom Line: Let Your Real Estate Photography Work For You

First impressions are key to attracting potential home buyers. It is essential to have beautiful photographs that make your home look its best to get the most possible buyers in the door and increase the odds of getting an offer. If you are ready to sell your home, connect with a sales agent online today.