The quality of your pictures can make a big difference when you are selling your home. You want your pictures to show off your home in a way that will make buyers want to come to see it in person, and to have the pictures accurately display how beautiful your home is.

First impressions are critical!

First impressions are critical when you are selling your home. Often a buyer will make a decision on whether they are going to buy your home within a few seconds of their arrival, and if the pictures aren’t inviting, they might not even come to see it at all.

Now-a-days, a lot of people take pictures of their homes with their phones, and most phones do have really good cameras, so that is fine. But the mistake they often make, is they take their pictures with their phones held vertically, rather than horizontally.

Vertical pictures tend to make rooms look small. They often don’t show off all of the features of a home’s exterior or interior rooms as well as horizontal pictures do, and they don’t display as nicely on the internet as pictures which are taken horizontally.

So that is our No. 1 tip for taking pictures of your home – hold your phone or camera horizontally!

Before you start

Make sure your home is clean and de-cluttered – turn on all the overhead lights, open all the blinds and curtains, and make sure the flash on your phone is set to the On position

Tips for taking pictures of your home

1. Hold your phone or camera horizontally
2. For exterior pictures, if possible, wait for blue skies, and until the sun is shining on the side of the house you are shooting – if it is cloudy day, go ahead and take them keeping in mind that you can replace them later when conditions are perfect
3. Turn on all the overhead lights in your home. And the under-mount lighting in the kitchen if you have it (leave lamps off) Lights on give the photos life, dimension & colour
4. Open the blinds and curtains
5. Make sure your flash is set to On (vs automatic)
6. Stand in the corners of the room – this will make your rooms look as large as possible
7. Avoid shooting directly into windows, especially if the sun is shining in
8. Depending on the time of day, your bright room may look dark because of the natural light. Try taking the photos at different times of the day, until you are happy with the photos. Ideally you want your photos to be bright and sharp. If you are trying to showcase unique windows, try taking the photos after dark
9. If you are taking photos of the view out the window, use your HDR setting on your camera phone
10. Digital camera’s love a pop of colour. The latest grey trend looks great in person, but can sometimes appear dull in a photo. Try adding a bright coloured accent – a throw pillow or ornament – pink, red, aqua, yellow – to make the photo really stand out
11. …and don’t forget to close toilet seats!

Great pictures can make a huge difference in whether your home sells quickly, or not at all. Remember, you can change your pictures anytime you like, so if you aren’t happy with the pictures on your listing now, go ahead and take some new pictures, and give your listing a fresh look!

Don’t hesitate to contact us if we can help make suggestions…send us a sample:  info@saskhouses.com

The other option is we can take the photos for you.   In Saskatoon or Regina, $99.95+tax