If most buyers will start their home search online, it makes sense that sellers focus on first impressions. Well-shot, well-thought out photographs will make all the difference.
The best advice to sellers is to get a professional photographer to take pictures of your home. Photographers have a lot of experience with things like light and composition and taking this avenue is the surest way to end up with an attractive portfolio presenting your property in the most beautiful and professional manner!
One way to have professional pictures taken of your property without breaking the bank is to award an exclusive sole mandate to Seeff. Awarding an exclusive sole mandate has many other benefits as well, but as far as pictures go we want to ensure that your property is presented in the best possible way to prospective buyers and assisting you with nice visuals is part of the exclusive marketing campaign we give to you when you give a sole mandate to us!
However, if you don’t want to award a sole mandate you should keep the following in mind when taking pictures:
- Prepare the home! It should be clean and tidy. Don’t leave clothes or dirty dishes lying around and make the beds.
- Avoid taking pictures of the toilet. Buyers know that your house has toilets and they don’t need to see them as proof! If the toilet has to be visible for some reason, make sure the lids are down.
- Take pictures during the day when you can count on natural light and always open the blinds and curtains. Dark and gloomy pictures make the home look depressing.
- Make sure the windows, mirrors and carpets are clean.
- You don’t need an expensive camera with state of the art equipment to take nice pictures, but a cell phone usually won’t do unless it takes high quality pics. Borrow a camera if you need to.
- No people or flash lights should be reflected in windows or mirrors – it looks very unprofessional.
- Try and showcase the room as best you can by not zooming in or focusing on specific objects. Prospective buyers are not interested in what’s inside your home; they are interested in the home itself.
- Don’t photograph the exterior of a home with many agents’ boards in front of it. It could be that they are old or that they belong to the neighbours, but this creates the perception that no one wants to buy your house.
- Add a splash of colour like flowers to brighten pictures up.
- Try not to take pictures where pictures of your family or your pets are visible. Prospective buyers want to visualise themselves in the home and your personal items could make this harder for them to do.
- Take your time taking pictures and make sure you have enough to choose from.
- Don’t distort images by taking pictures with fish eye lenses or using black and white or sepia lenses. The objective is not to produce an artistic image – the objective is to create a realistic version of your home in order to sell it!