Getting a house ready for listing photos and video

Why the prep is the shoot

A listing photo does one job: make a buyer stop scrolling and book a showing. The camera makes rooms look bigger and brighter than they feel in person, which is great, and it also makes every cord, magnet, and shampoo bottle look bigger and brighter. I can fix the light and the color. I can't make a dish rack disappear, and I wouldn't if I could, because the photos have to show the actual house.

So this list isn't about making the home perfect. It's about taking out the things a buyer's eye snags on so they see the room instead of the stuff in it. Most of it is an hour of work the night before.

Outside first

The exterior is the first photo in the listing and the one that decides whether anyone clicks. It's also the one sellers forget, because they see it every day.

• Cars off the driveway and away from the front of the house, including the neighbors' if you can ask nicely
• Trash and recycling bins out of sight, around the side or in the garage
• Lawn mowed and edged, within a day or two of the shoot
• Hoses coiled or put away, sprinklers picked up
• Kids' toys, bikes, and pet things off the lawn and porch
• Porch swept, doormat straightened or removed if it's worn out
• Dead plants gone, live ones watered
• Grill covered or moved to the side of the patio, cushions on the outdoor furniture
• Garage door closed

If the seller has a pool, uncover it and skim it. If there's a view, whether it's a yard, a lake, or a field, make sure nothing is stacked in front of it.

The entry

Buyers judge the house in the first three seconds of the walkthrough video, and the first thing on screen is the entry. Clear the shoes, the coats on hooks, the mail on the table. Leave one nice thing: a plant, a bowl, a piece of art. If there's a rug, straighten it or take it out.

Kitchen

The kitchen sells the house, and it photographs like a stage. Everything on a counter is a prop, so keep only what a magazine would keep.

• Counters clear: no small appliances except maybe the coffee maker, no knife block, no paper towels
• Dish rack put away, sink empty and wiped
• Everything off the fridge: magnets, photos, calendars, kids' art
• Dish towels off the oven handle, or one clean folded one
• Trash can out of sight, ideally in a cabinet or another room during the shoot
• Stovetop wiped, burners clean, nothing on it
• Soap and sponge off the sink edge
• Pet bowls moved out of the kitchen

A bowl of fruit or a plant on the island is enough. More than that starts to look staged.

Living and family rooms

• Cords tucked behind furniture, TV cables tidied, chargers gone
• Remotes, game controllers, and magazines out of sight
• Pet beds, crates, toys, and scratching posts moved out of the room
• Throw pillows fluffed, blankets folded or removed
• Family photos are fine, just thin them out. Buyers should picture themselves, not the seller's wedding
• Ceiling fans off (more on that below)
• The coffee table gets one or two things, not six

Bedrooms

The bed is the photo. Make it like a hotel does: sheets pulled tight, comforter smooth, pillows squared. Then clear the nightstands down to a lamp and maybe a book. Phone chargers, tissues, glasses of water, medications, all of it goes in a drawer for an hour.

• Beds made, tight and smooth
• Nightstands cleared to a lamp and one thing
• Clothes off the floor and the chair, closet doors closed
• Laundry baskets out of the room
• Kids' rooms: toys in bins, bins in the closet
• Dresser tops cleared or down to one or two items

Bathrooms

Bathrooms are small and the camera sees all of it. The goal is a bathroom that looks like nobody has used it yet.

• Toilet lids down, all of them
• All toiletries off the counter and out of the shower: bottles, razors, toothbrushes, the soap dish
• Fresh towels, folded, and not the ones anyone dries off with
• Bath mats and toilet rugs removed or straightened
• Shower curtain pulled closed, or open if the tile is a selling point
• Mirrors wiped, no water spots
• Trash can out of sight
• Plunger and toilet brush gone

Lights, blinds, and fans

This is the section that changes the photos the most, and it's the one nobody thinks about. I shoot with every light in the house on. That means every bulb has to work.

• Walk the house and turn on every light. Replace anything burned out
• Lamps on too, including the one in the corner nobody uses
• Blinds open, and tilted so the slats point slightly up. Curtains pulled back to the sides
• Ceiling fans off. A spinning fan turns into a blurred smear in a photo
• Windows cleaned, at least the ones facing the view and the ones in the main living room
• TVs and monitors off, screens wiped

If a bulb is a different color from the others in the same room, swap it if it's easy. If not, don't stress. I balance the color in every photo. Dead bulbs are the thing I can't fix.

Pets

Out of the house if at all possible, along with their bowls, beds, litter boxes, and crates. A dog in the yard for the exterior shot means a dog in the exterior shot. A cat on the bed means a lump on the bed. And a buyer with allergies is looking for any sign there was a pet, so the fewer signs the better.

What not to bother with

Sellers spend the night before on the wrong things. Skip these:

• Inside closets and cabinets. I don't open them. Close the doors and it's done. The exception is a walk-in closet that's a selling point.
• The garage, unless it's finished or has something worth showing. Close the door and I shoot the outside.
• Deep cleaning the carpet. Vacuum lines are nice. A rented shampooer the night before is a day of work for no difference on camera.
• Buying new decor. Clearing beats adding. An empty counter reads as space; a new vase reads as a new vase.
• Baking cookies. Photos don't have a smell. Save it for the showing.
• Small scuffs on walls. They're much less visible in a wide photo than they are up close.

A note on video

A walkthrough shows everything. A photo is one angle of one room, and I pick the angle. A video moves from the front door through every hallway and doorway in one continuous take, so the corners, the spot behind the door, and the room at the end of the hall all end up on screen. The same prep list applies; it just matters more, and there's no "we'll skip that room."

Two extra things for video: leave the doors between rooms open so the walk flows, and clear the hallways completely. A shoe rack in the hall is out of frame in the photos and right in the middle of the video.