House for Sale Photographs, Marketing Photography

[solekitchen]

My wife and I are preparing to sell our house in the near future. As we compare other houses in a market analysis, we have noticed that the images they present to potential buyers are nothing extraordinary, if not just bad.
When we are ready to list our house, we would like to have some high quality images that accurately present our living space to potential buyers. Hopefully these would be images that would set our house apart from other comparable homes that have stagnated on the market for the past months or year.
Does anyone have any tips (dos and don'ts) on the best way to photograph architecture or house marketing photography?

[Jim Bryant]

The interiors need to have well -balanced lighting, so that the outside window light coming into the room is not so overpowering that it's a white mass. This can be only done by putting your camera on manual and keep adjusting your shutter speed and f-stop so that there's detail outside the windows as well as detail in the room. You need to use at least three or four flash units to achieve this method. A lot of good info can be found here on Google.
how to photograph house interiors - Google Search

[Aleix]

Hello,

These DPS tips might be of help too:

An Introduction to Architectural Photography

[Photologyst]

I have shot my own homes for sale for many years. Good photos work every time. Like a photo of a person, you want to play up the good features and diminish the not so good.

Jim’s lighting ideas are great, but you can also get wonderful shots with “ordinary” lighting and flash.

The first thing that you should do is to clear the decks. While your own trinkets and memorabilia might be meaningful to you, don’t have too much of that around. People want to see your home, not your stuff. They want to imagine living there with THEIR stuff. OTOH, don’t make it look as if no one lives there.

Kitchens and baths are the most important rooms. “Stage set” these properly with herbs, flowers, cooking implements, bathrobes, towels, wine and cheese, etc. Move lighting cords out of the way and check for anything distracting in the photos. Take away all evidence of pets, bowls, toys, etc. We once had buyers who demanded that we replace the carpeting because we had a dog. (Since the carpeting was in perfect condition and our dog had never had an accident, we refused and they bought anyway.)


Take some pix from above, like via a step ladder. Take some at sunset especially if you have good views. Make sure that your exterior/garden/views show well and that the inside is not too dark.

Consider making a brochure. I have done this and it really helps to sell a home. The regular realtor flyers are pathetic. Even if Sotheby’s is selling the house, do your own photos. Our home sold almost immediately, while others languished over a year in a down market because of the photos and the brochure.

[solekitchen]

great suggestions, thank you. and i like the architect link provided. thank you.

[candidrachel]

My experience of Estate Agents photographs are unrealistic! I don't know why they insist on stretching the perspective to make gardens and kitchens look longer and wider than they are in real life. I remember getting details of the houses and then going for a viewing and being disappointed at the meagre garden and poky kitchen. Ha! should be an offence under the Trades Descriptions Act