Photos taken tomorrow for house sale, tips??

[bookishtartlet]

My house is being photographed tomorrow afternoon to go on the market next week.

I'm in the process of hiding/getting rid of clutter, will ensure the place is clean and tidy.

What else can I do to make sure my house is seen in the best light?

Its a small 3 bed semi, I have 2 children but I've managed to have a child free evening to prepare!

My last property was sold empty, so any pointers appreciated!

Thanks 😊

Hide away as many personal items as you can - photos, kids paintings etc etc. Then it becomes more of a blank canvas that people imagine their stuff in. Take out loads of furniture and clutter - even if you just hide it at the other end of the room. Clean the windows.

Remove all weeds and mow the lawn if necessary.
Have some pretty flowering plants (in pots if necessary so you can take them with you when you move).
A vase of flowers inside the house.

White towels and white or plain duvet covers. You want the rooms to look fresh and bright, white will reflect the light. Agree with previous post re: removing clutter and personal items.

Move your toothbrushes and kitchen bin, litter bins etc (also when people come to view)

Definitely declutter but don't overdo it, leave a few decorative items, but only 1 or 2 in each photo. Overly decluttered places look soulless
Before photographer arrives, take some photos of your own. It's amazing what your eye can miss that you DO see in a photo, like a tangle of cables and crap under beds.
Curtains pulled neatly back, blinds up and level.

For viewings, have a set of Stunt Towels which are returned to linen cupboard afterwards.

Declutter like your life depended on it! A good tip I heard once is imagine you are putting your house on Airbnb - so feel free to make it look amazing but totally depersonalised. Include photos and anything with anyone's name on. It's a sales piece not a "this is my whole house" document, so unless something is going to be a positive, don't include it.

Make sure the toilet lids are down and towels are tidy

Vase of flowers on dining room table, maybe some in a window. Hide most photo's in a drawer, fluff up cushions on sofas and make sure beds are nicely made.

Don’t leave towels on the loo seat like some of the random photos I’ve seen! I’m sure you don’t do this though.
Thin out the things on your shelves - a few nice books / vase etc. Hide everything else in your car if needed!
Clear some counter top space in the kitchen by removing some of the gadgets.
Don’t let the estate agent put on too many obscure ‘lifestyle’ shots - I saw an advert recently with at least ten photos of close ups of door handles and suchlike.
Agree with what the others have said.

Take your own photos and study them. The things you don't notice in a whole room really stand out.
Make sure chests of drawers are closed properly.
Other than that think it's been covered

Hide your dustbins
Mow the grass

Take your own photos first - they help with identifying any areas to work on, even if it’s just how curtains hang or smoothing out bed clothes.

Take some photos on your phone tonight and have a good look at them. It will show you what stands out and what works!

I followed the photographer around with a massive laundry basket and chucked any last min clutter into the basket as we went from room to room. Close the toilet lid. Move any toiletries out of the bathroom. Let as much natural light is as you can.

Tuck away cables - they always stand out in photos

Hide any random “storage furniture” eg plastic drawer stacks or small kallax (unless for kids toys) - these always say lack of storage to me

Flowers yy but don’t go overboard

Do ask to see the photos when they finish, in case there’s rooms they have missed or there’s no decent ones of a key room.

What’s the forecast like where you are? Watch the sky and if it shows any blue drag the photographer out to the garden pronto!

Unplug things so there are no trailing plug wires and hide all plastic stuff like bins and loo brushes etc.

Lots of great advice, thank you.

Im in a relatively new (20 years old) house so there is ZERO storage, I can't hide all the kallax unfortunately!

Remember that if you are unhappy with the photos you can ask them to be retaken or get a friends to do the shots you want. My husband ended up doing a couple of ours as I really hate it where the house looks like it’s tipping back in the photo, and we got better angles on the garden, in better weather.

I always imagined I was up for inspection and tried to make everything as sharp as possible. Don’t forget to re level and mirrors or picture frames.

Stop the photographer if they either try and turn all the lights on (everyone will assume its a dark house) or if they try to take a low angle shot (no-one wants to see the pipework on the sink and toilet or all the clutter you just hid under the bed!). Really, just thoroughly check before the advert goes up. Its amazing how bad some of the photos and estate agent details are, a lot of home owners obviously just sign off on them without looking.