One of the most important aspects of selling a home is taking quality images of a listing.
Your realtor has invested in hiring a professional real photography firm to photograph your home. The images of your home will appear in the Multiple Listing Service and also appear in national websites such as Zillow, Realtor, etc.
Most buyers, more than 94%, start their home search on line
by completing the following checklist, your home will be ready for the photographer and the photographs of your home will appear attractive on line for prospective buyers.
- Remove personal items from the home. These items include family photos and school art projects. The idea is that people see themselves moving into the house when they examine the images.
- Clear off surfaces. Whether it’s the kitchen, the bathrooms, or even the hutch in the front hall, remove those items. People like to understand the space they’re looking at, and having things on top of what they’re trying to imagine impedes the process.
- Have a deep cleaning. Real estate photos are very detailed, and no one wants to get hung up on a smudge or dirty baseboard. Whether self-done or professional, a deep clean of all house areas is necessary.
- Whether it’s children’s toys in the living room or hobby projects in the garage, clutter stops people from seeing themselves moving in and living in the house. Packaging these items up and removing them will help the photos do their jobs.
- Take steps to stage the house. Model homes have neatly made beds, folded towels, straight rugs, and accent pillows galore. These models are great to imitate when preparing for the photographer’s arrival.
INTERIOR
• Vacuum and /or clean carpets and sweep and clean wooden and tile floors.
• Inspect all rooms for orderly arrangement and placement of furniture.
• Remove small rugs and place in closet.
• Verify that interior lights are working and replace burnt bulbs with new light bulbs.
• Turn on all ceiling and wall lights. Turn on all lamps.
• Turn off fans so that fan blades are not moving.
• Remove docking stations, cell phones, cell phone charges, newspapers, magazines.
• Remove cat litter boxes, cat and dog food/water bowels, and other pet related items.
KITCHEN
• Remove everyday items from countertops such as toasters, coffee makers, white paper rolls, towels, soap, cereal boxes, food, etc.
• Close all cabinet doors and draws.
• Remove all stickers, magnets, photographs, notes, etc from front and sides of refrigerator.
BATHROOMS
• Remove everyday items from countertops.
• Close toilet top.
• Remove soaps, brushes, shampoo, etc from shower and tubs.
• Remove rugs from floor.
WINDOWS
• Custom Drapes – leave in place, if affixed, otherwise, move to each side of the window.
• Curtains – moves curtains to each side of the window.
• Wooden Blinds – Lower blinds entire length of window and adjust blinds to horizontal position.
• Vinyl, paper, bamboo, other – Raise blinds to top of window.
BEDROOMS
• Verify that coverlets are clean and straight.
• Remove items from underneath bed, if coverlet does not extent to floor.
• Clean room and place toys, games, clothes, etc into closet.
• Remove books, clocks, reading glasses, photographs, etc from night stands.
EXTERIOR
• Sweep leaves, dirt etc, from driveway, walkways, patios, decks.
• Remove garbage bins, bicycles, boxes, landscaping supplies to inside of garage or storage room.
• Park vehicles inside of garage or on street opposite side of your home.
• Close garage door and open blinds in garage.
• Coil garden hose onto garden hose stand or remove.
• Open patio umbrellas; arrange outdoor furniture for everyday use.
• Clean pool and remove floating objects from water.
• Remove security signs, school yard signs, etc from flowerbeds.
