How to prepare for listing photos

What should you do the day before listing photos?

Finish the cleaning and the small fixes first, because a camera at a wide angle shows what a person walking through would miss. Replace dead bulbs so every fixture in a room matches, wash the glass on windows and sliders that face the yard, and dust the fan blades the photographer will shoot from below.

Then take out the extra. Pack anything you would not leave out for a stranger: about half of what sits on open shelves, everything on the refrigerator door, the bath mats, the pet bowls, and the row of shoes by the door. Boxes go in a car, a storage unit, or one closet you tell the photographer to skip.

Have the lawn mowed and edged the day before rather than the morning of, so the clippings are gone from the walk and the drive. Blow off the entry, sweep the lanai, and pull the dead fronds and spent flowers from the beds by the front door.

How should each room look in listing photos?

Kitchen: clear the counters down to one or two objects, such as a bowl of lemons or a single cutting board. Put away the dish rack, the sponge, the soap bottles, the paper towels, the trash can, and the small appliances you use every day. Wipe fingerprints off stainless fronts and close every cabinet door and drawer.

Living areas and bedrooms: square the furniture to the walls, fold the throws, and take away remotes, chargers, and every cord you can see. Make the beds tight with plain bedding, leave nothing on the nightstands but a lamp, and clear the floor of any closet the photographer might open.

Bathrooms: toilet seats and lids down, the shower curtain drawn straight, and nothing on the counter but a folded hand towel. Put away razors, toothbrushes, the scale, the plunger, and the bottles on the tub ledge.

Outside: move every car out of the driveway and away from the curb in front of the house, roll the trash and recycling bins out of sight, and coil the hose. Clean the pool and brush the steps, take the automatic cleaner and its hose out of the water, and close the lid on the pump and filter or screen them. On the lanai, set the furniture square, remove faded or stained cushions, and close any umbrella that is not clean.

Should the lights be on or off for listing photos?

On, in every room, including closets, the range hood, and under-cabinet strips, with every blind open to the same angle along a wall. Color temperature matters more than brightness. A room lit by one warm bulb and one daylight bulb photographs in two colors, which is hard to correct afterward, so use one kelvin rating per room as printed on the bulb box.

Off: ceiling fans, televisions, computer monitors, and anything with a glowing clock or a blinking light. A turning fan blurs in a long exposure, and a dark screen reads as a clean surface while a lit one pulls the eye away from the room.

When should a twilight photo be taken?

Twilight exteriors are taken in the minutes after sunset, while the sky still holds color and the inside lights glow through the windows. Before the photographer starts, turn on every interior light, the porch and landscape lights, and the pool light, then leave the house so no one walks past a window.

Ask the photographer which side of the house gets direct sun and when. A front that faces west may photograph more evenly late in the day, while an east-facing lanai may need the morning slot. Pick a backup date in the same week in case weather closes the window.

What are the rules for drone photos of a house for sale?

A drone flight to photograph a listing is flying for work, and the FAA says anyone flying a drone under 55 pounds for work or business follows Part 107. Under 14 CFR 107.12 the person acting as remote pilot in command must hold a remote pilot certificate with a small UAS rating. The pilot must keep the drone in unaided visual line of sight and, with a narrow exception near tall structures, at or below 400 feet above ground level.

Close to an airport, the pilot also needs prior authorization from air traffic control to fly in Class B, C, or D airspace, or in the surface area of Class E airspace designated for an airport. The FAA's LAANC system gives pilots access to controlled airspace at or below 400 feet. Twilight drone shots are allowed, but during civil twilight, the 30 minutes after official sunset, the drone has to show lit anti-collision lighting visible for at least 3 statute miles.

Florida adds a privacy rule. Section 934.50 bars using a drone with an imaging device to record private property, or the people on it, with the intent to conduct surveillance in violation of a reasonable expectation of privacy, unless there is written consent. Ask to see the pilot's certificate before the flight, and ask that the close shots stay on your lot rather than the neighbors' yards and pools.

What should you hide from listing photos for privacy and security?

Anything that names you or shows your routine: family photos, children's names on bedroom walls, diplomas, mail, packages with a shipping label, wall calendars, and the school or work schedule on the refrigerator. Treat every listing photo as public and permanent.

Anything that helps a burglar: the alarm keypad, camera locations, a safe, a gun cabinet, jewelry, the key hook, and the garage code written by the door. Lock away prescription bottles, checkbooks, tax returns, and any paper with an account number before the first photo and before every showing after it.

Walk each room once from the doorway the way the lens will see it, then once more looking only at what is pinned to walls or left on desks. Tell your listing agent which rooms the photographer should skip, such as a home office you could not clear in time.