The 3 Mistakes Ruining Your Listing Photos
As a writer who covers real estate trends, perusing home listings is part of my job. But it became a bigger part of my life when I began helping a family member search for a new home out of state. After weeks and weeks of looking through real estate websites, I realized that there are still some sellers (and possibly their agents) who don’t put enough stock into the importance of knowing how to take nice real estate photos. And real estate listing photos matter a lot — according to the latest Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends report from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), all homebuyers now start their search online.
After I lost count of how many listings had pictures of cluttered countertops, unmade beds, and overflowing garbage cans in full view, I realized that plenty of people might not understand the importance of these photos. And while a home stager certainly goes a long way in staging great listing photos, you don’t need one to make your photos look presentable.
Still, your listing photos matter a lot. They’re the first impression potential buyers have of your home. So I talked to nine experts about why you need to stage your home for listing photos, and a few ways to make your home look better — home stager not included.
Why You Need to Stage Your Home for Listing Photos
When buyers view a home, whether online or in person, they want to see themselves living there. While staging can create the look of a certain lifestyle, some experts think a fully empty space provides a better blank canvas as inspiration for the potential buyers’ lifestyle.
Where it gets hairy is in the messy middle — when a home is placed on the market, but the owners are still very much living in it and haven’t yet packed or decluttered and organized in anticipation of hundreds of people looking at their kitchen countertops.
If this is what your situation as a seller will be, know that your photo listings will likely suffer if you’re not more proactive about getting your space ready for its closeup.
“What is comfortable for living doesn’t always photograph well,” says Cari McGee, Broker/REALTOR® & Team Lead, Tri-Cities, Washington. “Of course, it’s easiest for daily life and making meals to have your toaster oven, coffee maker, and air fryer all on the countertop in the kitchen, but they don’t look the best for listing pictures.”
McGee’s particular pet peeve? Tea towels hanging off the oven door handle. “It drives me nuts,” she says. “I think it’s because there is just no way to make a hanging piece of fabric look elegant.”
Of course, buyers can do a better job of looking past or ignoring things that are removable or fixable, like ugly furniture and crooked window shades. But sellers need to do a much better job of removing and fixing these things to begin with.
So, I asked the nine experts about the mistakes that sellers need to avoid — and their expert tips for making their DIY listing photos look so much better. The important thing to note is that this is usually a job left to the professionals, so no seller should feel ashamed that they don’t know these tips and tricks. Luckily, these tips are easy (and cheap) to avoid!
Mistake 1: Too Much Clutter
It’s OK if you’re not the most organized person in the world. But your real estate agent would love it if you could get it together for home photos.
“It’s really hard for buyers to see the true potential of a home when there’s stuff everywhere,” says Dave Flanders, owner of HomeVisors Collective in Burlington, Connecticut. “Even just moving the clutter out of sight for the photos can make a world of difference.”
Mistake 2: Bad Lighting
Light-filled rooms appear bigger and more pleasing to the eye than dark ones. Do your best to make your home appear as illuminated as possible for listing photos.
“Take photos of the home when the weather and light are best to enhance visibility and show off the features of the home,” says agent Karen Kostiw of Coldwell Banker Warburg. “If the home is very dark, add lights and mirrors to lighten up the space.”
Mistake 3: Personal Hygiene Items On Display
It’s great that you’ve found a skincare or tooth-whitening regimen you love. But there’s a reason it’s called “personal” hygiene — and there’s no reason would-be home buyers should be privy to it. So clear up those bathroom vanities and avoid the embarrassment of your real estate agent doing it for you — because they will.
“I typically will bring a basket and start throwing [bath products] all in there,” says agent/appraiser Candice Krasovec. She’s also not shy about bringing boxes. “It needs to be packed anyways; let’s start now!”
Colleen Covell, broker associate at milehimodern, also prefers countertops cleared, even of the soap. Her suggestion for bathroom photos? “Only white towels, and never show the toilet in the photo,” she says.
6 Easy Ways to Make Your Listing Photos Better — No Pro Needed
Want a quicker home sale? So does your real estate agent. It pays to listen to their advice when it comes to what doesn’t belong in listing photos. Here are just some of the many tips they have for when you’re prepping your home for listing photos.
Tell family members it’s not their photo shoot. Clutter can’t remove itself during a listing photo shoot, but family members can — and should. “It is so easy to simply tell someone, ‘Hey, I am taking an important picture, could you please get out of the way?’” says Joe Muck, Realtor at J Muck Realty.
Prune indoor gardens. “No overgrown and unruly or unattractive plants, and no flowers that are wilting,” says agent Jane Katz of Coldwell Banker Warburg.
Let the sun in. “Window shades should be all the way up unless you are trying to hide something,” says Katz. “Even if the view is bad, don’t have the window shades or curtains hiding everything.”
Lids down on toilet seats. “It is so gross to see them up,” says Susan Thayer, founder of The Thayer Group.
No pantry or closet photos. This was one was a surprise to me because many would consider extra storage to be a huge selling point. But Thayer also has a good point: “Most people don’t keep either of those neat enough to impress a potential buyer in a photograph,” she says.
No “creepy” rooms. This is the term Thayer gives to sparsely furnished rooms that might have a single chair or air mattress, but nothing else. “It would be better to get all the furniture out of the room and take a vacant room photo than a creepy one,” she says.
While all these tips can go a long way if you’re taking your own photos, agents do a ton of work in making your home look absolutely spotless before you take your photos. Many of the agents I talked to mentioned prepping client homes for listing photos. Nicole Beauchamp, associate broker at Sotheby’s International Realty, shows up in yoga pants and sneakers the day of the shoot — that’s how committed she is to nailing the “photography Tetris,” as she calls prepping the space.
Still, not every seller gets it. “It’s a struggle, Beauchamp says. “What I often tell sellers is that we get one chance to make the best first impression online.”
Further Reading
We Tested (and Rated!) All the Sofas at Ashley — Here Are the Best to Suit Your Style and Space
I Just Discovered the Smartest Way to Store Paper Towels in Your Kitchen (It’s a Game-Changer!)
See How a Stager Used Paint to Transform a 1950s Living Room
