Checklist for preparing your property for a photo shoot

Without a doubt, capturing quality photographs is one of the most important steps in the marketing of your property. No longer are the days where people rely on a brochure full of text, as with the introduction of The Internet in the property industry, potential buyers now have a vast array of ways to find your property, all of which use imagery.

First impressions are extremely important in getting potential buyers through your door and quality photographs will grab the attention of buyers and increase exposure.

To put this into prospective, which would you prefer to view – Image A or Image B?

Image A

Image B

We’d like to think you said Image B! This was the photo we used with the marketing we did for the property (image taken by one of our in house photographers) and subsequently the property is now sold – Image A was taken by the previous agent which generated very little interest and one of the reasons why the vendor changed agent to us.

So, what does it take?

Here’s what do on the outside of your property

• Cut the grass
• Remove weeds – this is especially apparent in between paving stones or brick driveways
• Move bins – if you can try moving them next door, with permission of course!
• Give the windows a good clean
• Sweep the driveway of any leaves
• Keep the kids toys in the shed
• Move cars off the driveway and/or keep them away from the front of the property
• Remove rotary washing line
• Remove pets and their evidence

…And here’s what to do on the inside

• Declutter – this is one of the most important steps – you really need to create a sense of space. If you can,try moving the items into a part of your property where we won’t be shooting (i.e. the garage)
• Allow as much natural light into your property as possible
• Make sure all lights are working– if they aren’t fit some new bulbs or remove the light if possible
• Vacuum the flooring
• If you have hard flooring then give the floor a wash over
• Wipe off marks on walls or cupboards
• Remove children’s toys
• Add a splash of colour with a vase of flowers but don’t go over board – less is more
• Make the beds
• Put away clothing
• Remove pets and any of their bowls, toys or litter boxes.
• If you can, remove things from under beds or at the very at least hidden to the point where you can’t see the items from any angle in the room
• Remove bathroom toiletries (i.e.toilet cleaners, brushes, shampoo, ect)
• Remove bins
• Clean all mirrors and surfaces
• Remove bathmats
• Close toilet seats
• Fill your wine rack
• Tidy away cables
• Arrange curtains in an appealing manner

This isn’t an exhaustive list although we have tried to cover as much as possible. We do plan on keeping it up-to-date as and when anything else could be added. If you would like to arrange a valuation, or find out more information about our property services then please give our office a call on 01454 316718 – we’ll be happy to help.