Real Estate Photography Checklist

Good pictures are crucial marketing tools for a home sale. It begins with a home professionally photographed as an important part of effective marketing. Homeowners and Realtors® depend on high-quality, high-resolution images not just to sell the home, but to sell it at a higher price, sooner.

Wall Street Journal, August 2012: “According to research from the National Association of Realtors, 98% of home buyers who searched for a home online said photos were among the most useful features of real-estate websites.” And, “listings with nicer photos gain anywhere between $934 and $116,076.”

Elsewhere, studies by larger real estate concerns, like Redfin, find professionally shot photos result in 61% more views!

Typical sales price increases more than pay for professional pictures—across all price tiers.

Creating high quality imagery is a team effort.  Homeowners must be involved in the process if professional photographs are to do their job. It really is important. The home needs to be clean and de-cluttered though not necessarily ‘sterile.’

Hiring a professional stager to help prep the home may be advised.

Anything distracting from presenting the home in the best manner possible must be addressed. Religious, political, and highly personal items (e.g. family photos) should be removed. Seemingly simple things like a cat atop a refrigerator, dogs (or people) asleep on the furniture, destroy the photograph’s intent.

The goal is to enable potential buyers to project themselves into the home.

The following checklist is provided for agents and homeowners to help prepare for Torben Photography’s visit. The list is not all-inclusive but does provide a pretty good starting point based on past experience.

Staging List | Inside

Staging List | Outside

Prune trees, foliage	Hide (or out of sight):
All light fixtures work properly	– Trash cans
Turn every single light ON (for twilight shoots)	– Garden tools
Grass, freshly cut and raked	– Lawn equipment
Clean, Swept, & Dry	– Vehicles
– Driveways	– Toys (including in pool areas)
– Sidewalks	Pool, clean, clear water
– Patios
– Decks
– Staircases

 

Staging List | General

Vehicles

– Driveways clear

– No parking in front of home

Garage

– No vehicles

– Clean, de-cluttered

– As much ‘off’ floor as possible

Pets

– Fish in clean tank, Ok

– All other pets out of sight

 

A typical photo shoot will focus on these shots:

Exterior Front & Front Corner	Master bedroom and bath
Exterior Rear	Main bath
Main living area	One or Two other attractive features identified by Owner or Realtor®
Main living area

 

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