The Helpful Tip That Can Make Your Home More Appealing To Buyers During Winter

Real estate transactions never take a season off. While winter might be a good time to buy a house, it's not the ideal time to photograph your home if you plan on selling. No matter when you plan to sell your home, you should consider taking pictures — or having someone else take them — during the summer. "Having photos of the property from warmer months helps because prospective buyers want to know what it looks like. You can talk up a storm about how great the yard is, but they can't see what you're describing [in the winter]," Bill Gassett, a Realtor, told Apartment Therapy.

Because of the importance of curb appeal and landscaping, you shouldn't do a disservice to your home's potential to attract buyers by choosing the coldest, dullest season for pictures. Even if you enjoy the winter weather, such a chilly season will make images of any home appear less lively than the warm, bright summer weather. Whenever you decide to sell your house, it's crucial to do a photo session in the summer to make your home appear happier and more exciting.

If you want to get the perfect photos to sell your home fast, you should pay attention to more than just the season. Just like how the weather can affect the attractiveness of your images, the time of day and lighting matter for the outside and inside of the home, too. Try to conduct the photo session during a sunny, bright time. It's a good idea to take images of your house in the brightest sunlight to provide upbeat lighting rather than a gloomy, darker picture of the home. Remember to let the sun shine down on your house's exterior entrance during your photo session for cheerful-looking images.

Moreover, don't forget about the golden hour! Those magical 60 minutes before sunset and after sunrise will provide the glowiest, most attractive lighting for your home, helping your house appear as beautiful as possible. So, try to conduct your photo shoot between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. or 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. for that golden hour glow. There are over 14 million posts dedicated to #goldenhour on Instagram, proving that the timeslot provides the perfect natural lighting for various types of photo shoots.

While you should always make your home look more inviting by doing the photoshoot during a sunny time on a summer day, you shouldn't go as far as to do anything that will mislead potential buyers when finalizing your images. For instance, while it may be tempting to Photoshop out power lines or an old trampoline in your backyard, removing these not-so-stylish features from images but keeping them in real life will appear dishonest to potential buyers. For that reason, be sure not to cross the line of being misleading when representing your house through photos.

You can also benefit from investing in a professional photo session to avoid the stress of trying to do a perfect job yourself. If you decide to go that route, expect to pay around $110 to $300 for the photo session. Anyone who doesn't want to hire someone but would like some help should try using apps made to make real estate photography better and more convenient, such as the Exposio Real Estate Camera, which has 4.7 out of five stars with more than 500 ratings.