Silly question. When do estate agents take photos?

[superdupernova]

Our perfect property has come up for sale. We want to put ours on the market but it isn't quite ready. We've started with tidying and decluttering but there are still a few bits to do like touching up paint, tidying up the front garden etc. Do estate agents do photos when they come round to value a property or will they come and see it, give us a quote and then arrange for someone to come back for photos later? I asked DH what happened last time he sold but he hasn't got a clue.

They won’t do photos when the give you an estimate. But it will be pretty quick afterwards.

They will give you a valuation, and you can ask them what they think needs doing to prepare for the marketing. When you engage that agent they will arrange a time to photograph and agree when to commence marketing the property.

We had a valuation, waited a bit to do some jobs in the house, instructed the estate agent, then the photographer called to do the photos after about a week.

They come around and do the valuation
Then when you choose an agent they get you to sign a contract for what %age of the sale price they will get when it sells.
Then someone comes to take full measurements and take photos
They may do some viewings right away if they have househunters waiting in the wings for properties like yours, so you may get the ball rolling before the photos even get online. It can take a while.

Some estate agents are bad photographers. Take a good look at all the photos in the window of your local branch as part of choosing your agent.

It was within 5 days. You can tell them when is most convenient. I'm sure it was so quick because they wanted me signed up to them as quick as can be.

Once we had decided to put the house on the market the agent came round and talked us through everything and gave us a suggested marketing price. Once we instructed them the photographer came out within a few days

Thank you all! It makes sense to do it after instruction when you really think about it but I was worried they'd turn up with cameras in hand.

Most people get 2 or 3 valuations from different agents. They won't do photos until they are instructed as there is a cost for them. They might take a few phone snaps on the first visit to help them remember the property in order to come up with a valuation but they won't be used to advertise the property.

Ours was about a week after instruction but we sold the day after we instructed them as they had buyers wanting to view straight away. The pictures were just so they could put it on rightmove as SSTC I guess looks good for them.