DOs and DON'Ts - estate agent's photos!

[runningLou]

We've decided to sell and estate agent is coming round tomorrow to take pics and put listing together.
Any advice on how / how not to stage rooms for this?
Should all DC's clutter be removed??
Should worktops be clear in kitchen??

Yes and yes.

For the photos, as "show-homey" as possible, IMHO. Everything tidied and away so that the rooms look at big and bright as possible. (turn the lights on, even if its sunny).

If you have a family home in an area where family homes are sought after, and you have a separate play space, then perhaps a few strategically placed toys in one room to indicate "this is a playroom" - otherwise hide them all so prospective purchasers can decide for themselves what each room will function as. Obviously children's bedrooms can look like that, but even then, tidier the better, so its easier to imagine that room as a "guest" room or upstair study or whatever, if the family viewing have less (or older) children than you.

Don't clear away everything though - we went to one family house where it was so sterile, that I couldn't imagine living there. Every single personal item had been hurridly stashed in the study.

Whatever you do, do NOT let your 2year old DS stand in the window while the agent takes a photo of the outside of your home.

What will happen, is that when people (several families) come to 'view' your home, they will ask if we ever had any spooky going ons.... which will leave you totally dumfounded until you look at the pictures of said house on t'internet.....

There in all his glory, will be your 2 year old DS doing a very good impression of a small child ghost in the window!!

Ha ha! How did you guess I had a 2 year old DS?!
Have arranged for him to be with the childminder for this very reason!!

Right, showhome it is ... I will be clearing the kitchen and bathroom tonight then!!

Hello, am new round here... We've just sold our house and DH took the planning for the photos very seriously. I makes sense to keep things bright, clean and uncluttered, but still like a home. For example we took down most of the kids artwork which was pinned up in the kitchen, but we left up a couple of certificates from school. Think about lines of sight - we re-arranged some furniture so that you could see more of the rooms, and could see straight from doors/entrances to windows. Make sure all lights are turned on, curtains open etc.

But if you're house is clean and tidy and looks cared for then the rest is just icing on the cake.

That's really helpful - thank you!
Will the agent expect it to be done all in advance or can I dump kitchen bits in the hall, wait for pics of kitchen to be sorted, then run upstairs and offload bathroom toiletries onto the landing?!
Just worried we won't have space to stash everything ... I mean I'd feel a bit ridiculous putting the fruit bowl in the loft for half an hour!!

We put loads of stuff in our shed the night before. And stash stuff in cupboards if you have any. But me and DD were both in the house when the photos were being taken, and we just moved ourselves around so as to be out of shot (she was watching telly, so we just turned it off for a few minutes and went upstairs, and then swapped round again when the EA was finished downstairs).

Oh, and one more thing. Our EA took great pictures, but if you see them and don't like them then you could always ask for them to be done again, or do them yourself!

Clear worktops in kitchen indicate plenty of storage space. Leave a few bits out though as said above. Clear kids toys out the way (again, if they're everywhere, it looks like youve got nowhere to store them) but a couple out in a playroom or bedroom is ok.

Photos taken of the front of the house with cars on the driveway is my pet hate!

We didn't have a dining room in our last house but had a table in the kitchen and someone told me to make sure people could see where they would eat if they lived there. For photos and viewings I made sure that the table was set properly with my best crockery and with a lovely vase of fresh flowers in the middle. It was the thing that we ended up getting most positive comments on, so try to stage the house to address any potential problems.

Use this as your guide to how not to do it!

If your child has a stuffed toy monkey, don't leave it hanging from a chandelier or you'll find your house on Mumsnet
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/1851192-Property-Porn-Found-a-Sex-Bear-House

spiderlight!

Put your toilet seat down!!!

spiderlight that is so funny!

In general I hate the super wide angled photos. Its helpful to either give measurements of all rooms and garden, or have something in then for perspective (eg I like photos of gardens with certain kids play equipment in as I know how big it is.)

And I hate the photos from ground level, especially of bathrooms. I don't want to see the underside of your toilet and sink thanks.

Thanks all this was so, so helpful. Agent took pics this morning and house is on Rightmove tonight! The pics look pretty good, I think. Had forgotten what colour kitchen worktops actully were under the weetabix packets and overflowing fruitbowl so was nice to rediscover them ;)
Toilet seat was down, no hanging soft toys ... Agent did use a wide angle lens but hopefully there are enough contextual objects there (slide in garden etc) for pics not to be misleading.
Now we just have to cross our fingers for viewings, and try and keep it tidy for potential buyers ... Eek!!

Ok, new dilemma!
We have 2 viewings lined up for Saturday morning ... Does this mean I need to get it how it looks in the pics again?! We'd stashed loads of stuff in cupboard under the stairs and in garage, but what if agent wants to show them the fusebox / garage???