5 Tips For Taking The Perfect Listing Photos To Sell Your Home Fast

One of the most important things to consider when selling your home is the quality of your listing photos. To get the best images possible, you could hire a professional; however, if you have a camera and are willing to put effort into making your place look as beautiful as possible, you could handle this listing aspect yourself.

Zillow says that taking quality listing photos is very important to selling a property. In fact, almost 80% of home buyers said they looked at online photos when deciding on potential houses. This means buyers will become interested in your residence primarily from how it appears in your listing photos.

Zillow also notes that you'll want to post between 22 and 27 photos. Less than 22 images with the house or more than 27 could make your property sit on the market for longer than you desire. There are five tips you'll need to know to take the best listing photos so your home can sell fast, and we'll discuss them all.

When potential buyers view your listing photos, they're going to try to imagine themselves and their belongings in the space. This is a good thing because if potential buyers can see themselves living in your home, they may be more likely to buy it. However, if your house is extra cluttered, it may be difficult for clients to really see the space, which could turn them away from your listing.

As Stagemyhome points out, if your closets are bursting at the seams, it may make potential buyers assume that there's not enough storage space in your home. Clutter may also make your house appear dirty. MHM Professional Staging recommends clearing off shelves and countertops. Shelves should only be 50% full, and countertops should hold very minimal amounts of décor. Another element you want to think about is visual clutter. Décor with loud patterns or lots of colors can also be distracting in listing photographs.

According to Stagemyhome, you may need to rent out a temporary storage space for some of your belongings in order to stage your home appropriately for listing photos. To get rid of unwanted items, you could have a yard sale or pack boxes to bring to a donation center.

To make your home more appealing to potential buyers, you'll also want to clean it well. For example, it's important that you clean your windows before taking listing pictures, both on the inside and the outside. According to Nick's Window Cleaning, clean windows will add to your home's curb appeal and make your space look well maintained.

Clean windows will also allow more natural light to enter your house, which, in turn, will make your listing photos appear more inviting and bright. This is a rather important step because Real Estate Photographer Pro says that artificial light shouldn't be used at all when taking the photos meant for the listing. Light bulbs will change the color of your place in photographs, so using only natural lighting from clean windows is preferred. If a room doesn't have windows, the images may need to be brightened later with the help of an editing software.

According to Sunset Shutterbug, adding props to your space before taking the listing photos can make it appear more inviting and fun. However, adding too many can make an area look too staged and cluttered. To take the best listing photographs, make sure the props aren't the main focal point of the image. Instead, they should serve to point out the use of space, so placing them with purpose is important. 

Overall, when styling your house for listing photos, keep it simple. You don't want any design choices to take away from the main features of your home. Interestingly, you could also style your place virtually. Virtually Staging Properties says that images of décor and furniture can be added to listing photos after they are taken. In other words, you can add more props later, so don't feel the need to clutter the space with them before taking the photos.

When taking your listing photos, you'll usually want to do so from chest level. This will allow the images to showcase both the ceiling and the floor in a space, per Little House On The Corner. The exception to this rule is if you want to display a unique feature in your home, like an architectural detail on the ceiling.

You'll also usually want to stand in the corner of each room. Ifolor says that taking a picture while standing in the corner will make the space feel larger. Another tip is to try to take pictures with the light behind you. If you're strictly using natural light, photographing a room from the corner with a window behind you is the best possible case scenario.

Another benefit of taking photos from the corner of a room is that it will showcase more of your home in one shot. This can prove to be particularly helpful in houses with open floor plans.

You'll want to focus on the best features of your home when taking photographs. Think about what makes your space unique. For example, do you have a particularly beautiful fireplace or a very large living room? Adding lots of images highlighting the best parts of your house can help it sell quickly.

Cordon Real Estate suggests thinking of three things that make your home stand out. They say to find exactly three because potential buyers will be able to easily remember these unique features. For instance, if your home has a recently updated laundry room, new kitchen appliances, and beautiful bathroom tile work, these could be the main focal points of your listing photos.

Morris Realty & Investments says that many potential buyers pay attention to flooring, so new hardwood floors could be one of your home's standout features. Many potential buyers also look for things like spacious pantries, closets, laundry rooms, and nice outdoor living spaces.