{"id":3964,"date":"2014-02-14T07:00:19","date_gmt":"2014-02-14T14:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staufferandsons.com\/?p=3964"},"modified":"2021-10-10T14:24:57","modified_gmt":"2021-10-10T20:24:57","slug":"7-tricks-selling-home-faster-good-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staufferandsons.com\/7-tricks-selling-home-faster-good-photography\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Tricks For Selling Your Home Faster With Good Photography"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This is a guest post by Paul Kohlman, who is the photographer who took most of the beautiful photos you see on our website. Since many of our clients sell the home they’re living in before moving into a house we build them, we asked Paul to share some helpful hints on how photography and staging can help people sell their home faster and command a higher selling price. We hope you like what he shares.<\/em><\/div>\n
Think fast: How do you sell a home quickly AND get top dollar? Answer: present it at its best! People generally list their home as fast as possible when deciding to build a new one. Sometimes they’ll hire a real estate agent… the listing begins… the world goes silent… no calls… no showings. Feelings of discouragement or even fear can creep in. What went wrong?<\/p>\n
Who am I and why should you care what I think? I\u2019ve been an award winning architectural photographer for over 15 years and I’ve seen enough to know what sells a home and what doesn’t. Below are a few tricks of the trade that will help you sell your home quickly AND get the best price by using staging techniques and photography. I hope you find them helpful.<\/p>\n
First things first: before I even talk about photography, let me first mention the most important part of selling your home is hiring the right real estate agent<\/em>. Don’t just hire someone because you saw their ad, or because a relative referred them. Instead, do your research and interview a few. Don\u2019t be fooled by a high energy salesman that throws around dollar amounts of what your home is worth to tickle your ears and warm your wallet. You want a person that LISTENS, takes notes, does the homework, checks the sales comps near and far and recommends an accurate listing price. I call this kind of agent “The Thinking Realtor.” Now, on to the photography…<\/p>\n
#1) De-Clutter Your Home!<\/h2>\n
Your home must<\/span> be clean and orderly for it to show well and photograph well. I know this sounds obvious, but it\u2019s the single biggest mistake I see when people are trying to sell their home. Most people think they\u2019ve cleaned up their home enough to sell it, but in reality, they\u2019ve become blind to many things that are a real turn-off to others You need someone with a pair of trained eyes that can walk through your house without bias or emotion and say \u201cthat artwork is hideous, take it down,<\/em>\u201d or \u201cget rid of this old table,<\/em>\u201d and things like that. A “Thinking Realtor” can do this for you.<\/p>\n
Your Realtor might also have you get a storage unit so you can store everything you want to hang on to but shouldn’t have in the house for showings. Remember: when your house sells, you\u2019re going to be moving it all anyway, so you might as well pack some of it now.<\/p>\n
Your stuff might be important to you, but clutter turns buyers off!<\/p><\/div>\n
The rules are the same on the outside of the home as they are for inside: de-clutter! Roll up your garden hose or put it away. Remove all unsightly objects: ladders, wheelbarrows, building materials, etc. The concept is simple: a home that’s clean, neat, and in good repair is attractive. Make sure all the rooms and all the yards look like this before you photograph or show your home.<\/p>\n
Don’t forget, your potential buyer will be viewing photos of your home in the MLS (real estate multiple listing service), which means your pictures will be very small. If there is any item that has the viewer asking \u201dWhat is that?<\/em>\u201d get rid of it! In the MLS, your home is just one of thousands, so try to make sure you do everything to have your home stand out from the others and look more attractive.<\/p>\n
#2) Stage Your Home Properly Before Taking Photos<\/h2>\n
\u201cStaging\u201d a home is preparing a home for sale by making it look as appealing as possible, and it is an art in itself. There are professional \u201chome stagers\u201d you can hire that will do this for you (I know at least three here in Colorado Springs). Studies have shown that staging a home properly can help it sell several weeks faster! Most people don’t realize it, but photography and staging really go hand in hand. If you choose not to hire a stager, ask your Thinking Realtor for some suggestions on staging. Here are a few simple staging tricks I share with people that you should do before<\/span> taking photos of the home:<\/p>\n
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Do some simple repairs.<\/strong> Caulk and paint can add thousands of dollars to the perceived value of your home. You want to have the future owner feel like there will be no \u201choney-do list\u201d after the sale.<\/li>\n
Change out your towels.<\/strong> Get some colorful towels that compliment the rooms. You don\u2019t have to spend a lot of money\u2014towels can be very cheap. Your old towels may look just fine to your blinded eyes, but they look bad to the public.<\/li>\n
Add some fruit.<\/strong> In the kitchen, it\u2019s always nice to have a bowl of fruit. It just adds some color and a notion of… living. Try putting out some bright, colorful apples, oranges and bananas, or maybe even put some colorful peppers on a cutting board. It awakens the mood of evening, lifestyle, cooking, and living.<\/li>\n
Add ambiance.<\/strong> Before a showing, turn ALL the lights on and have some nice music playing. The idea here is that you want to show off your home in its best possible state, and this isn\u2019t very hard to do. Make them want to live there now<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
#3) Take Interior Photos With Subdued Outdoor Light<\/h2>\n
Aside from the cluttered home, the next biggest mistake I see people make is taking photos that turn out too dark. It\u2019s not their fault though: their camera is operating in automatic mode, trying to average out everything it sees, and when it sees super-bright sunlight shining through the windows, it tries to adjust, but in doing so, it makes everything else too dark. You don\u2019t want dark photos of your home – it makes it look dingy and unattractive. Bright is attractive!<\/p>\n
Watch out\u2014bright sunlight coming in through the windows darkens the photograph.<\/p><\/div>\n
Buyers can always look at a bright room and imagine<\/em> it being dimly lit and romantic in the evening, but nobody wants to buy a dark, dingy home. So here’s a simple trick for taking better photos yourself: take your interior photos in the evening or early morning, when the sun isn\u2019t so bright<\/span>. This evens out the lighting and flatters your home\u2019s interior. You can open your blinds either all the way or partially, to allow subdued light to come in the windows, but it won’t be overwhelming. This will make the home\u2019s interior appear brighter.<\/p>\n
With indirect or subdued light outside, an interior looks bright and inviting.<\/p><\/div>\n
#4) Take Exterior Photos With Full, Bright Sunlight<\/h2>\n
For exterior shots, the opposite is true: you want bright, full sunlight outside. Sometimes an overcast day can work well because it can show more detail in the shadows (such as under a porch), but generally, when you look at a photo of a bright, well-lit home from the outside with blue skies, it just says \u201chappy home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bright, warm sunshine and a beautiful blue sky make this look like a happy home.<\/p><\/div>\n
#5) Bend Your Knees When Taking Pictures<\/h2>\n
Most people who take pictures of their home stand up straight and hold the camera at eye level, pointing downward at the room they\u2019re shooting. This is a mistake! Pointing the camera down like that makes the vertical lines of the walls, windows and cabinets either converge or diverge (i.e. they look tilted or distorted).<\/p>\n
Two mistakes here: the vertical lines are distorted and the sunlight is too bright.<\/p><\/div>\n
This is obvious to some viewers and only a subconscious annoyance to others, But without the lines being straight, your mind thinks of it as \u201coff\u201d\u2014not clean and simple. People won\u2019t know why exactly, but when they have a comparison (looking at your house vs another house) they will be drawn to the \u201cstraight line home.\u201d Here\u2019s a very simple trick: just bend your knees a bit and shoot the room while holding your camera as level as you can. This will give you straight vertical lines.<\/p>\n
Shooting from a slightly lower position produces nice, straight vertical lines.<\/p><\/div>\n
#6) Create A Walk-Through Video<\/h2>\n
If you already have good photography, you might consider doing a \u201cvideo walk-through\u201d or \u201cvirtual tour\u201d of your home. Not everyone who looks at your photos will watch a video, so just be aware of that, but some people will appreciate it. If you\u2019re going to do a video walk-through, keep these three things in mind:<\/p>\n
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Keep It Short!<\/strong> Don\u2019t go on and on about your house\u2014walk through it quickly and keep it to two or three minutes.<\/li>\n
Keep It Simple.<\/strong> You don\u2019t need to show the viewers everything about the home. Just hit the high points. Your goal is to show the viewer how the floor plan flows.<\/li>\n
Keep it all Positive!<\/strong> Don\u2019t make the mistake of \u201cconfessing your home\u2019s sins\u201d to the camera. If there are issues with the home, the buyer will find out later when they do a \u201clive\u201d walk-through of the home or after it is inspected.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n