Getting the most from your marketing photo shoot

The days when buyers would circle promising ads in the Saturday paper before setting out to view them are long gone. Now, a property is launched online – on real estate and agency websites – and buyers will begin assessing your home from their smartphone or home computer.

With so many competing properties and limited time, buyers will filter properties carefully during their searches. For this reason, appealing to the widest possible pool of buyers is essential. If your Northern Districts home makes it past the initial filters of price, location and size, you want to give them a reason to come and see it. Key to this is a successful photo shoot and a great set of images.

• Property photographers will often photograph at either dawn or dusk for the best light, so they have limited time. Anything you can do in advance to ensure the photo shoot runs smoothly will help. Here are some tips from a real estate photographer to help you present your home in the best possible light.

• Photographing your Northern Districts property: Before the photo shoot

• As soon as you have a date for your photo shoot, start getting ready. Give every room a thorough clean and declutter well in advance, including wardrobes if these will be photographed.
• The aim is to make your house look like a display home, with as much open space as possible. I always advise sellers to remove anything personal, such as family photographs, as you want people to be able to imagine themselves living there.
• Any heavy sweeping or gardening should be done the day before so you don’t need to worry about it on the day. One thing to avoid is pruning too heavily as you want your garden to look lush and green.

• On the day

• Turn on every single light and lamp, inside and out, before the photographer arrives.
• Open all blinds and curtains.
• Hide electrical cables, put away all papers and keep bags and toys out of sight.

• In the kitchen

• Remove calendars, clear the fridge of any notes and magnets, and remove all clutter from benchtops and dining tables.
• Some greenery or flowers in a vase or a bowl of fruit is all you should have on your benchtops.

• In the bathroom

• Remove floor mats from the bathroom and neatly hang clean, preferably white towels.
• Hide shampoo bottles, soap, toothbrushes, and other personal items.
• Put toilet seats down.
• Make sure mirrors and tapware are clean.

In the bedroom

• Ensure beds are made neatly, with clean, ironed linen.
• Put all clothes away and remove laundry baskets.
• Add some cushions and a throw to your beds make them look styled.

Outside

• Hide rubbish bins – put them out on the street if necessary.
• Hide garden hoses and tools.
• Remove pool cover and pool cleaner and remove any leaves from the pool surface.
• Take all clothes off the clothes line.
• All vehicles must be out of sight. Park them a little way up the street so they can’t be seen through windows when photographing inside.

Give yourself time for a final walk-through

Prepare your home as you would on opening days. Anything you don’t want to be seen in the photographs should be removed or tucked out of sight. Rooms will look more cluttered in photos than they actually are, so if there’s anything that stands out, put it away.

If there is a room that won’t be photographed, such as a small bedroom, fill it with everything you have cleared from the rest of the house. Skipping a room in the photos is fine as it gives buyers something to discover when they view your house.

Talk to me

Having guided many sellers through the process of marketing and selling their home in Thornleigh, Pennant Hills, Westleigh and Normanhurst, I understand how to present your home in the best possible light to potential buyers. The real estate market is constantly changing, so if you are thinking of selling your home, feel free to contact me for a no-obligation chat about the best marketing strategy for your property.