Home Photos Do’s and Don’ts
One of the most important tools available in selling your home quickly is your home’s online photograph profile. In most cases potential home buyers are going to first discover your home by coming across its profile online so be sure you are putting yourself and your home in a position to look as attractive as possible.
Do: Focus on the Curb Appeal
Curb appeal matters for both virtual and in-person visitors so make sure you include a clean and attractive photo of your home taken from the street. But before you upload the picture, review it to make sure that the tree in the front yard isn’t blocking the view or the car in the driveway is too much of a distraction. Remember: you want your potential home buyers to see themselves, not you, living in this home!
Do: Be Inviting
You want potential home buyers to feel like they are being welcomed into your home. In the real world this is achieved by creating a welcoming entrance way, but for your online visitors include a photo or two of your entranceway with your front door open so you can see directly inside the home.
Don’t: Be Scary
We get it: solicitors can be a pain. But your photos, and as a direct result, your home, feel a lot more welcoming if there are no warning signs nailed to your front door that threaten solicitors, trespassers, or non-dog friendly people. So if this applies to your home, take these signs down before you photograph.
Do: Stage Your Home
Home staging provides double the benefits: it can make for an attractive online profile which encourages potential home buyers to get off the internet and into your home AND it can make for an attractive real life set-up, helping your visitors to envision living in the space.
Don’t: Stage a Mess
This might sound like common sense but we have seen home sellers try to market the “lived in” look of their home. It did not work out that well. If your budget does not allow for the investment in staging, at the very least invest your time into cleaning your home before photographing.
Do: Underscore the Season
It is a good thing to include photos of your home in the current season. Exterior pictures of your outdoor light staging against a snowy backdrop can be very nice shots. However you will also want to include photos of your home in summer or fall so your potential home buyers can see how the home changes with the season.
Don’t: Underscore the Holidays
It can be a safer play to avoid emphasizing the specific holiday decorations in your pictures and home showings. Not all viewers or visitors will celebrate the specific holiday and an over the top emphasis can come across as a turn off.
Stay tuned for the second half of our home listing’s “Photo Do’s and Don’ts” coming up in our next post!