Preparing Your Home for Sale – Viewings and Photography

This blog aims to help you prepare your home for marketing photography and for subsequent viewings.

Marketing Photography

The photos we take of your home are visible to prospective purchasers through a large variety of channels: our website; our shop front; our social media accounts and property search engines such as Daft and MyHome.  Homes that we are selling will have 1,000’s of views from a combination of these platforms. If your home is particularly impressive or has scenic views, we may recommend recording a brief video with a drone. This can help people get a better sense of your home and its surrounding while attracting significantly larger volumes of interest.

Exterior

We are all familiar with phrases such as “it’s what’s on the inside that counts” and “you can never read a book by its cover”. However, when you are selling home you need to make a positive first impression. An external image of your home will be first image which people will see, and possibly the last, here is our advice on making the first impression count:

• Cut the lawn and trim hedges
• Remove leaves and dead plants
• Clean windows and door frames
• Move cars out of sight
• Move toys and sports equipment out of sight
• Ensure the external finish is in good condition – paint if required!

Interior

If potential purchasers are engaged by your home’s first impression they will then want to have a look inside. Here’s how you should prepare the interior of your home for photography:

• Open all curtains/blinds to allow natural light in
• Turn on all overhead lights and replace light bulbs if necessary
• Remove all personal photographs
• Make all beds
• Store all clothing and footwear out of sight

Viewings

Having viewed images and details of your home prospective purchasers will soon arrange to view the property. You should make an effort to maintain your home at the condition it was in when photos were taken. Buyers often book and expect viewings at short notice, keeping your home in good condition will mean that you are prepared when this happens. Apart from the steps taken to prepare your home for photographs you should also consider the following:

• Remove excess furniture so rooms appear larger
• Keep pets elsewhere as they may put off potential buyers
• Remove ornaments/art that may be personal or of specific taste

When people walk into a house for a viewing they like to imagine themselves living there. Try to appeal to as many people as possible when choosing what to keep on display.

It may be useful to enlist the help of family and friends when preparing your home, a fresh set of eyes might pick up on something that you have missed.

For more information on preparing your house for photography and viewings please see our extensive guide here.

QUINN PROPERTY

Experts in the Local Property Market