Think about the last time you were on Zillow. After using their filters to narrow your search by number of bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. how do you decide which listings to click on first? For most people, it’s the first image they see of the home. Today we’ll tell you how to make your pictures pop and stand out on sites like Zillow.
1) Clean up the Clutter and Make the Bed
Though this may seem obvious to some, this step can often slip the mind of a first time seller. Before taking pictures of your home, make sure to vacuum, pick up toys, make the beds, fold up blankets on the couch, clean the bathrooms, organize yard furniture/ decorations and anything else to make your property look organized. Remember: a potential buyer could see an un-made bed and think, “If they can’t maintain their bed, how can I trust that they took care of their roof?” It’s always better to over clean when in doubt.
2) Put away Pictures of Family and Friends
As beautiful as your family may be, now isn’t the time to show them off. Remember: potential buyers aren’t looking at your home’s photos to see how it currently is, they are looking for its potential as their own future home. Seeing photos of another family in that space takes away from this process and could potentially deter buyers.
3) Take down Holiday Decorations
Though holiday decorations are always pretty, again this isn’t a time to show off the creativity of your Christmas light displays for several reasons. First, it’s always possible your listing may be up for a few months. If a buyer in April sees a picture of your home with Christmas lights up, it may signal to them that your home has been listed for awhile and could turn them off. Another reason is you could have a potential buyer who celebrates different holidays than you. Similar to our last point, if someone who celebrates Hanukkah sees a home with Christmas decorations, it could be hard to imagine themselves in your home. You should only feature holiday decorations in your photos when they are used to show off features of your property. For example, if you wanted to show that a tree in the front yard can easily be decorated as a giant Christmas tree in the winter, a photo with a caption would be an appropriate way of doing so.
4) Landscape
This one is straight forward. Pull up the weeds, mow the lawn, and trim the hedges. It’s the same reason you get a nice haircut before a first date.
5) Get Rid of Dirt and Moss
What else do you do before a first date? Shower and put on a clean shirt of course! The same should go for your property before a listing. Pressure washing & soft washing is one of the easiest and most effective ways to remove dirt and moss from your home, restoring it to like-new conditions. In some cases it can even prevent a new paint job entirely! Having your roof treated for moss also extends its life by up to 5 years, an excellent selling point for any listing. If you’re interested in professionals taking care of the exterior cleaning for you, visit our home page. We offer free, no-obligation estimates so you know exactly what you’re signing up for.
Conclusion
Great listing photos are critical for selling your home fast. We hope this guide helps you to capture wonderful photos of your home that put buyers in the mindset of choosing you!
