Marketing Your Home with Pictures
Some Photography Dos and Don’ts for FSBOs (For-Sale-By-Owner)
Jun 20, 2009
The first goal of every real estate professional is to get the prospective buyer into the house. As a FSBO, that is also your goal. Good images help do that.
Getting a home ready to sell forces homeowners to take a fresh look at their surroundings. There are many aspects of your home that you probably don’t even see anymore: the clutter, the condition, the pesky problems. The first task is to learn to see your home as others see it.
There is no better tool for this than a camera. Most people are used to taking snapshots of people and events, for sentimental reasons. Architecture is different. If you neglect main subject, light, composition, and angle, you may end up with images that weren’t worth the effort. What you wanted to showcase might be lost in shadow or hidden behind something else. What you didn’t think was even in the picture might stand out like a sore thumb.
Below is a checklist for the amateur photographer to increase the “curb appeal” of the home through better picture-taking.
You’re Not Selling Furniture!
It’s easy to end up taking pictures of the furniture and miss the nice views through the windows, a "feel" of the space, the floor and wall treatments and so on. A beautiful doll or cat on a bed may seem like a homey prop, but it often ends up as the centerpiece.
Of course, you can’t empty a room, but you can push large pieces aside and reduce clutter. Move that antique occasional chair into the kitchen, for example. It doesn’t have to live there, after all. Move the fifty family portraits off the mantel so the buyer can appreciate the fireplace and imagine their own collection of knick-knacks there. Oh, and don’t forget to put down the toilet seat!
Try for Natural Lighting Every Time
Most digitals can record a decent image without flash, even in indirect light. To avoid filling the frame with a too-bright window opening, take the shot from the window itself, into the fully lit room. Capture windows with angle shots.
Flash brings out distracting highlights (the back of the chair in front of you) and casts obscuring shadows that eclipse important details (the type of flooring). But if you have a room that looks like a cave on a sunny day, start by opening the drapes! Open an extra door; add a table and lamp as props. If the camera still doesn’t record much, use the flash.
Composition = the Arrangement of Shapes within the Picture Frame
Think of each room as a painting by a Great Master. Ask yourself: Are there open spaces that create a welcoming effect, or does the arrangement of shapes (furniture, windows, doors) seem to push the visitor away? Consider floor plan and compensate using camera angles if necessary. You're not being dishonest, just selective. It's your right. (This point applies also to deck and patio furnishings.)
Effective composition depends on camera angle. Never stand in the middle of the room. Shoot from the farthest corner, including at least two walls. The best bathroom angle is in the doorway, showing the bath enclosure, a special vanity, a window, if any.
Take long shots through a long room, as with a living-dining area that ends in a slider with a nice view. (Your digital can balance the exposure in this case.)
The key is to get as much information about the house into each frame. These tips will help you do that.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
