What do I need to do for estate agent photographs?

[oopslateagain]

The estate agent is coming tomorrow to measure up, photograph, and value our house.

Obviously there is a major tidying and cleaning project going on at the moment, but what do I need to do to make it look 'good'? I'm going to pack away most of our ornaments, photos, all the stuff on the kitchen counters etc tomorrow morning.

Any hints anyone care to share? I've never put a house on the market before!

Declutter like mad, I had hamsters, piles of ironing etc piled up in the shed move all personal stuff photos etc as some people (of little imagination) find it hard to picture themselves in a house which very much appears to be someone else's home. If they're any good they will know what they are doing and will choose angles to make it look enormous etc. I fell in love with my house all over again when I saw the brochure.

Thanks Bard, I've been frantically decluttering downstairs today, going to hit upstairs tomorrow morning (including my DD's room which I'm considering hiring a skip for ).

Do I need to remove photos, pictures etc for the estate agent's photos, or just for the actual viewings? I thought pictures on the wall give a better idea of scale. Mind you the photographer will probably tell me anyway - when my mum sold her house she was quite miffed that the photographer whipped away the nice teatowel that she had carefully placed, neatly folded, over the oven door!

The agent has mentioned making sure that pets are 'not in evidence' for viewings. I have three cats. I either lock them out, ensuring they yowl constantly at the back door and then shoot inside when the 'viewer' goes out to look at the garden, or I let them do their own thing, which means at least one of them will come up to say 'hello' to the viewer. I can't really see any alternative, except to put them in their carriers and have them sitting in the car...

About the pets, also put away any cat bowls / scratching posts / beds etc if you have that stuff, as well as the actual pet!

For the beds, iron the duvet covers / bed spread and put 4 plumped up pillows and ideally some cushions on each bed. (can dash around ahead of photographer with the pillows if doing a set fro each bed is a pain!)
White / mostly white bedding with a bit of colour looks clean and works best IMO.

Do you have tiles in your bathroom? What's the grout like? Ours was looking a little old - looked fine in RL really but I know it would have looked awful in a picture, so we got some grout whitening stuff. Fiddly job but definitely worth it.

Make sure the garden looks tidy / patio areas are moss free etc.

Hide the bins out the front for the front of house pic. (Not because you're trying to trick the buyer in any way, but just coz bins look ugly! We forgot and I'm kicking myself!)

Why not take a pic of the rooms you've done and post to your profile, so we can give you some fresh eyes?

Well the agent came today but will send the photographer on Monday. Thanks for the tips motherofallhangovers (love the name!), we actually have two viewings set up already so will make sure we hide the 'cat' evidence!

Our beds are already white with gold accents so that works well.

We had a list of jobs to do before the viewings, whiten the grout, re-touch some paint in the kitchen and hall, but we don't have time - the first viewing is tomorrow morning! We have done a mad dash tonight repainting the front porch, doorsteps, windowsills and gates, and finished the fireplace edging and surround. We're now sitting down with a very well-deserved .

I will try to get photos up tomorrow.

Are you doing the viewings ourselves? Did you get any tips?

The only tip we got was to let the buyer enter a room first, and for you to hang back at the door so the room doesn't feel too full of people.

Thanks for the compliment :) I actually dreamt that my mumsnet name motherofallhangovers! That and also "threefeethighandrising" in the same dream - which I use more often.

What that says about my mumsnet use I'll leave to you to surmise

Not sure if I should really be admitting that sometimes I actually dream about mumsnet but I'm quite impressed with my subconscious as it's evidently way more inventive than I am normally. I usually really struggle with naming things - children, cats etc!

Good luck for tomorrow,, I hope it goes well.

We got no tips at all , we are doing the viewings ourselves. I am shattered, have just finished the last of the clearing up and the house is sparkly clean (apart from an empty bottle and a couple of glasses ).

Will get up early and google tips for viewings - I'm sure there are some but I'm too tired to look right now. I realised an hour ago that I had forgotten the cat food when I dashed to the shops earlier; cue an emergency run to Tesco's wearing jeans splattered in paint, the cats would never have forgiven me if they didn't have their breakfast!

Morning! have you already done the viewing? How did it go?

'm impatiently waiting for our first viewer! (Only been on the market since yesterday though!)

I had a quick look online to see if I could find any tips, but not yet found anything that didn't seem like it was simply stating the obvious!

This on the other hand is a load of nonsense! homebuying.about.com/od/sellingahouse/qt/ShowingHome.htm

"Make it romantic by placing two champagne glasses on a nearby table."
"Turn on soft music."
"The best way to entice buyers to linger and notice even more details about your home is to offer them food. You don't need to cater a lunch, but finger sandwiches, cookies, soft drinks, water, desserts, all are welcome."
"Near the snacks, leave pens and a stack of preprinted questionnaire cards or a guest book to sign. Buyers will feel obligated to respond to your request after being fed."

I'd find that all a bit odd / desperate tbh, wouldn't you?

MN really needs a 'rolling eyes' emoticon! Snacks and champagne and music? Not in a mid-terrace ex-council house!

The viewer was just 'testing the waters' so to speak, said he was just seeing what sort of properties were in his price range; he was lovely though and did say that he thought we should be able to sell easily.

On the up-side of all this: my teenage DD has taken down every single fucking poster in her room, and is keeping it tidy which is nothing short of a miracle. How long do you think it would need to be on the market to make 'keeping room tidy' a habit rather than a passing novelty?

That is indeed a miracle, wow!

Shame he wasn't a serious buyer (yet) but I great that he was honest and didn't get your hopes up.

We've got our first viewer tomorrow yay!

How did you find doing the viewing? I'd be really grateful for any tips! :)

You do not have to allow viewings from people who are just "testing the waters". Ask the EA to convince you that your viewers are serious buyers who are in a position to buy (ie. first timers, cash buyers or under offer).

On second thoughts, if I went to view somewhere and a guy had champagne glasses out, soft music on and offered me food, I'd think he was trying it on, I'd be creeped out and I'd get out of there as quickly as possible!

I tried to take photos but my phone camera isn't good enough. The agent came this morning for 'official' photos so I'll link to the website when it goes live.

Viewer in 15 mins...

Ooh, good luck! I hope it goes well :)

It was a bit odd, the estate agent came and I expected him to do the viewing but he just came in with the couple and said "Mr and Mrs X, this is Oops, she'll show you around." I sort of expected the agent to do that!

How did yours go motherofall?

Cheeky bugger! I don't understand why he wouldn't do the viewing if he'd brought them there, seems a bit odd to me too.

It went well thanks :) We had two couples come round, they both seemed interested but hard to tell what they're really thinking isn't it! What did you think of your viewers, did you get a gut feeling about them?

I started a thread asking for tips on viewings there's some useful stuff on there.

I'm getting really impatient waiting for feedback from the viewers! Reckon I need to distract myself - perhaps by doing the work I should actually be doing?! Or maybe lunch ...

Well my house has finally gone 'live' on the website here. I am a bit at the photos: I asked the agent if I should do anything before he took them, and he said "no that's fine" and started snapping away. I had to ask him to stop while I removed a folded newspaper from the kitchen table and a cat from the living room sofa - he was just going to take the photo with them there. I think the photos look a bit 'cluttered', but I guess I'll have to live with them now.

I hate the look of the garden - it looks incredibly cluttered and tiny in the photos but it's actually quite uncluttered and 'open'. Hopefully the photos won't put too many buyers off. At least it's priced 'to sell'!

looked at the photos and i think youve done a really good job!
good luck selling!!

Good to see your pictures! I sold my house last year in 11 days and I credit my mother for casting a hard look around the house before the photos were taken and recommending I remove /tidy stuff I hadn't even seen. Can I suggest you mow the lawn and tidy up the edges,although I think the garden looks good otherwise. Id say really massively declutter your kitchen - remove the plant near the sink, it takes up space, hide the CDs and stuff to the right of your microwave and put your fruit bowl on the table rather than on the hob, it makes it seem like your kitchen isn't big enough and you have to use the top of the hob to store stuff iyswim? I'd open your blinds in the living room (seeing garden is an asset?) and stuff poofay somewhere else to increase floor space in living room? Can you weed the front driveway too? Sorry if ive gone a bit but well, you did ask for tips! Good luck my dear!

LOL the lawn is mowed - I mowed it the day before the photos were taken - in the pouring rain. I need to weed but it's been pouring down for days. Weeds love rain, did you know?

Decluttering the kitchen is a must, you are right. I wish he'd said so before he took the photos, I could have easily moved things. It looks so much more cluttered in the photos than it actually does! I have the cloth and fruit bowl on the hob as I think ovens are ugly - do you really think I should move them? No problem doing so of course, just wondered what other opinions are.

The agent actually closed the living room blinds for the photo - they are usually open, and will definitely be open for the viewings, the windows let in a huge amount of light. Pouffes can be hidden shifted!

Front driveway was sprayed with weedkiller last week, bloody rain hasn't let up since and the weeks are insidious. I'll be out there again tomorrow with my rubber gloves pulling the bloody things up if it's still raining.

Thank you so much, appreciate the tips!

I think you need to rearrange your living room furniture. Those sofas look too big to fit in the space and that would immediately make me think I couldnt even it a small 2 seater in there. Most people have the tv and cabinets around the wall with the fireplace leaving the long wall for a sofa/couch. Putting stuff on hob makes it look unused/broken.

We can't have the wall units by the fireplace as the wall lights are in the way. That's what I mean about the photographs - they have really 'foreshortened' the living room, making it look poky when it's actually wide, airy and bright.

I will definitely work on the kitchen tomorrow though - uncover the stove and a major declutter.

I would move the fruit bowl as my first thought is what are they hiding?!

I wonder why there aren't pictures of the rest of the house? I'd really like to see pictures of the other rooms.

Also, from the description, your living room is big! It doesn't look big in the pictures though. I would take the picture with the patio doors open, on a sunny day if possible.

I don't think he's a great photographer tbh. I'd be tempted to hire or borrow a decent digital camera with flash and have a go yourself, or ask a friend or relative to if you know someone who's even vaguely into photography. If it's digital you can keep going until you get a good pic, no film to waste of course!

Having said all that, we're looking for a 3 bed and I'd definitely go have a look if it was near us, looks like a nice home

Update - we just accepted an offer, right at our asking price!

AND our offer on the new house got accepted too!

Oooh exciting! Congratulations!!!

Have some well-deserved

We just turned down a cheeky offer today (£30k below asking price - they went for the stamp duty limit) but at least it feels like things are moving :)