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In real estate, high-quality listing photos are the secret to selling a house faster. Vivid images capture interest more quickly and trigger potential buyers to call your agent.
You probably won’t attempt to list your house without photos. Yet sometimes you may desire to shoot them by yourself at the expense of professional home photography. In any case, a house listing should give ready buyers a glimpse of the property.
Use these hacks to take great listing photos of your house.
1. Get the Right Equipment
You don’t need to overspend when shooting listing photos. However, acquiring the right photography equipment can boost the quality of your photos.
Although it can be an option, your phone doesn’t have a wide-angle lens to capture large spaces such as an entire room or walls. You may also need to take aerial shots to show off your home’s surrounding environment.
So, you need a decent camera─ a DSLR would be best. You also need a tripod, wide-angle lens, and drones/camera poles if you want to work like a professional. The best part is you can always borrow some of the equipment without stressing over a buying budget.
A quality camera gives you more control and allows you to maximize image space. Also, a tripod comes in handy to position the camera in one place for the desired time. That way, you’re able to shoot highly sharp images at any shutter speeds.
Getting good camera equipment could be the key to getting buyers interested in buying your home quicker.
2. Prepare Your House for Eye-Catching Listing Photos
Before you start photography, make your home neat and ready for flawless photos. Remember, the listing photos need to bring out the true features of your home and the surrounding. Anything distractive can taint the images and keep off potential prospects.
Start from the interiors and clear any clutter spread in your rooms. Remove any items from the countertops and anything that may be covering the walls. Aim to showcase the walls and the rooms. This can save you the time and the cost of photoshopping listing photos later on.
Make sure your home is visible and photographable from all angles. For the best exterior photos, do things like mow the lawns and landscape the yards. This makes your home appealing and captivating for the buyer.
If you have a garden that’s blossoming, it would be best to show it off. Retouch the patio and neat up outdoor furniture for the most elegant images. Revamping the exteriors and the curbside is vital to show off space and the beauty around the home.
3. Stage the Home
Staging gives your home the extra sparkle you need for taking listing photos. It’s about redoing the decor to provide the buyer with extra reasons to buy your house. Compare it to preparing for a fashion shoot.
Add furniture in the rooms to give the potential buyers a vision of what they can turn the home into. Try to use standard furniture so that the house doesn’t look “overly decorated”.
One foolproof tip for taking real estate photos is to take care of every minor thing that can affect your results. Be sure that the parts you highlight about the home are clean, well lit, and revamped.
Think of cleaning or painting the walls to give the room a current feeling. If the house has darker or too bright colors like lime green, consider repainting. Instead, use lighter shades that are more photogenic.
4. Maximize Natural Lighting for the Best Listing Photo
In professional real estate photography, you must get lighting right. Lighting can make or break the quality of your photos. You want enough light into the rooms to remove shadows and illuminate all angles of the home.
Consider leveraging a sunny day. It’s better if the sun shines on the front area of the home. This is because the front exterior usually is the feature listing photo, so it should be as vivid as possible.
Utilize daytime light to your advantage and think of the best places to position the tripod. In case the room is small, you can consider using the doorway, but ensure the light is still balanced.
Larger rooms provide enough mobility and positioning flexibility. If they have large windows, pick a spot at least 45 degrees away from direct light. Sometimes, you may need to close some windows partially to reduce contrast.
In the case of poor interior lighting, you can shoot closer to the windows. Try to shoot with the light behind you. You can create HDR photos by shooting several bracketed images.
Raising the ISO can allow in more light and help to refine pictures. Shooting in RAW can enable you to edit the photos with poor finishes.
5. Take Listing Photos Like a Professional
Use the following tips for taking real estate photography for quality listing photos:
- Take the pictures from the doorways where you can see everything in the room.
- Use a flash in darker spaces when you’re not able to mimic or integrate natural lighting (bounce the flashlight on the walls to diffuse the light and reduce shadows).
- Avoid flat or two dimensional photos. Instead, shoot from angles to reveal your homes’ depth.
- Avoid obstructions like electric poles or dumpsters to direct attention to the house.
- Take some photos of the natural elements that help to invigorate your home.
- If you’ve got a drone camera, take photos of the neighboring features that can interest prospects.
- Remember to take as many photos for each aspect so that you can choose the best ones.
- Use photo editing software to enhance photos.
Why Great Listing Photos Matter
Every home seller is trying to get rid of their house fast. Taking good listing photos can help potential buyers with making the choice to pursue your property quicker. You have a higher selling chance if your photos can hook prospects.
If you need extra assistance with buying or selling a home, feel free to contact us today.
