Since
many buyers are turning to the internet to shop before they take a
drive around neighbourhoods, photography can make the difference in
selling your home quickly.
A picture says a thousand words, and
with the right listing pictures, you can attract more people to your
property by showing your home’s highlights. Below are tips on how you
can take the best quality pictures of your property to showcase it
properly.
Clean the entire house before taking photos.
Never
take photographs of a dirty home. Remove all trash cans from all rooms
being photographed. Tidy up any clutter and remove personal photos and
drawings from refrigerators and bulletin boards.
Think about the picture before you take it.
What are you trying to show in the photo? Do you want to move or remove anything before you take it?
Highlight the best features of your home.
Do
your rooms have spectacular views? You can take pictures of your rooms
to show off their views. Let the potential purchaser imagine themselves
standing in the room with the view. They will appreciate the picture
more knowing where they will be able to enjoy the view when they
purchase the home.
A general photography rule of thumb is the
closer the subject, the better the photo. However it may be useful to
take a few steps back or use a wide-angle lens to give the viewer more
context and makes your home seem more spacious.
Take a shot of every part of the house including living room, kitchen, dining room, and other key areas of your home.
Pay attention to lighting.
Lighting
is the key to good photography, and you must choose the optimum time
of the day for the shot typically when the sun is behind you. If the
front of the house faces east, the morning is the best time. If the
front faces west you want to take your pictures in the late afternoon.
A
good general time of the day is around noon or early afternoon on a
sunny day for most exterior pictures since the sun is overhead and there
are few shadows. If it is overcast you can set your camera to a lower
shutter speed to absorb more light and create a brighter image.
The light source also affects colour. When the sun is lower in the
sky, either in the morning or in the late afternoon, you get more
intense colour. This time of day makes the sky pop blue and the house
shows off its best colour. High noon overhead sunlight tends to wash out
colour.
Cloudy and overcast days can often provide surprisingly wonderful
diffused light that can bring out great colour, although shots like this
lack the bright blue sky in the background.
For dramatic evening photography, turn on all the house lights, and
take the picture after sunset but before it is totally dark. You will
see light coming out of the windows, however there will be enough
exterior light to capture the details of the house.
For interior room photography avoid mid day, since on sunny days the
light coming in the windows will be too bright. The best times are
after daybreak and just before sunset. Use a powerful flash or turn on
all the lights.
Take many shots.
If you are using a digital
camera, you can take multiple shots of the same room and then pick which
one looks best. You can try different angles and pick the winning view
of the room.
You can touch up your pictures on your computer software including
brightening up a darker picture. After you have a look at your pictures,
you will have a better idea of how to improve them. Some indoor
pictures can look too warm due to the lighting. You can always reduce
certain colours with your photo editing software to make it look more
natural.
Consider hiring a professional real estate photographer.
Many
real estate agents and homeowners simply do not have the time,
equipment, or skills necessary to take good photographs of a home or
building they are listing for sale. Professional photography is provided
by many brokerages as an optional service and the price is extremely
reasonable.
Photos of your home are the first introduction of your new listing to
the world. This is the visual element that captures the imagination of
buyers and sends them running to contact you for a first look.