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Home Photo Shoot Preparation Checklist

Dear Realtor!

If people live in the property, please forward this page to your client.

It’s very important to tidy and clean the property thoroughly. If the home is prepared as though it were being photographed for a glossy magazine, it will greatly enhance the marketing efforts of the realtor. So, do the following preparations BEFORE THE PHOTOGRAPHER COMES:
Outdoor:
  • Remove cars from the driveway.
  • Hide any garbage bins, spades, wooden boards, garden hoses etc.
  • Arrange backyard furniture beautifully, with chairs lined up evenly and symmetrically.
  • In winter, remove snow from the backyard and from the path leading to it. If the backyard is inaccessible, the photographer will not be able to photograph it.
Please complete outdoor preparations half an hour before your scheduled time, as the photographer may arrive earlier to take exterior photos.

Kitchen:
  • Clear and clean countertops. Hide cleaning supplies, drying racks, cleaning cloths, and small appliances that are not visually appealing.
  • Hang towels beautifully (or remove them at all).
  • Remove refrigerator magnets, notes, and photos.
Living Room / Family Room:
  • Declutter surfaces; keep only a few tasteful decorative items (e.g., a vase or figurine).
  • Arrange sofa pillows neatly; smooth throws.
  • Place all chairs in an orderly, aligned position.
Bedrooms:
  • Make all beds hotel-neat.
  • Put away all clothing and personal items.
  • Clear bedside tables except for lamps and decor.
Bathrooms:
  • Remove everything not attached: toothpaste cups, soaps, shampoos, razors, sponges, scrubbers, cleaning cloths, hangers (placed on top of the door and on the glass of the shower stall), extra rolls of toilet paper, toilet-cleaning tools, rugs.
  • Leave only attractive decorative items (e.g., elegant designer bottles, plants and statuettes).
  • Hang towels beautifully (or remove them at all).
  • Close the toilet lids.
General (the whole home):
  • If possible, remove everything which personalizes the home — family photos, baby accessories, sports medals and certificates, educational diplomas, souvenirs that mention or point to other countries (especially those with obvious national flavour), even animal feeders — anything that will prevent potential buyers from seeing THEIR future home on the photos. Don’t worry if there are nails sticking out of the walls from the removed items – we’ll erase them using software.
  • Hide any cleaning supplies like the broom, bucket, mop, cloth, detergent, rubber gloves, etc.
  • Open curtains if there is a good window view.
  • Open blinds horizontally flat if there is a good window view, otherwise tilt them to an angle that lets in ample daylight. If the blinds don’t look nice, open them at all.
Thank you for preparing — these steps will help present the property at its very best!

REMARK:

 
If the house has a basement or multiple floors, residents may remain in the building for the duration of the photo shoot, but the photographer will ask them not to be on the floor being photographed at the moment.
 
If the building is single-story with no basement, it’s better if the residents vacate it, and only one person stays (the realtor or a resident). Experience shows that otherwise the photo shoot drags on for a long time because it turns into a struggle between the photographer and the people constantly getting into the frame, but you yourself want the photographer to leave as quickly as possible, don’t you?
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