Selling a Home? Here are the 7 Listing Photo Mistakes You Should Avoid

Selling a home is a big task in itself, but if you want to sell a home faster and for a higher price, then you need to be aware of some of the common listing photo mistakes that agents make. People will judge a book by its cover and your home from its listing photos. So if you don't get these photos right, expect your home to sit on the market longer than it should.

When you're selling your home, listing photos are crucial. They're often the first thing prospective buyers will see, and they can make or break their impression of your home. You don't want to miss out on a sale because of avoidable mistakes in your listing photos. Here are some mistakes to avoid:

• Showing Too Much Clutter or Too Many Personal Items

Piles of clutter can make a house look messy and unkempt. Clutter detracts from the beauty of a home and makes it difficult for potential buyers to envision themselves in that space.

A potential buyer needs to see an empty space first, before they get a feel for what they like or don't like about the property.

We advise showing only one or two major items in each room and any items essential for daily living (such as a stove or refrigerator). This will help provide enough contrast between your home and the other homes on your street to make them stand out and sell faster.

If your house is cluttered with personal items — pictures, books, souvenirs — don't show them off when selling the house! It's best to keep these things out of the way until after you've sold your home. If you want to remove clutter from your photos, try using an AI object removal tool that can help you improve your pictures in a few simple steps.

• Featuring Blurry or Low-quality Photos

It's tempting to take a photo of a home using just any old camera, but that won't give potential buyers an accurate representation of what they'll see once they visit the property. If you want your home to stand out among the competition, then it's important that all of the photos in your listing are clear and high quality.

When potential buyers visit your website, they'll want to see what they're buying. They don't want to view fuzzy images that make it difficult to tell what's in the photo. If you're not sure if your photos are high quality enough, ask someone else to look at them and give feedback.

• Photos With People or Pets Included

Avoiding the use of people and pets in photos is a good rule of thumb for real estate agents. This is because many buyers are uncomfortable with the idea of moving into a home where they will feel like they are intruding on someone else's space. Don't include friends, family members or pets in any photos unless they'll be moving into the home after it sells!

• Poor Lighting

Poor lighting is one of the most common mistakes when it comes to listing a home for sale. A home's curb appeal and aesthetic can be diminished by poorly lit photos that are unappealing and difficult for potential buyers to see.

If you're trying to sell a property, you want the best possible photo that you can get. Make sure there's plenty of light in your pictures and no shadows. If you're selling a house in a particularly dark neighbourhood, consider taking photos outdoors or using artificial lights to boost the brightness of your images.

• Failing to Show the Exterior of The Home

Potential buyers should be given a tour of a home via listing images, starting outside and going into one room at a time.

You want to provide a sense of how the house looks when people first approach the lot from the street.

It's also a good idea to include a few pictures of communal spaces, like the pool or lounge, if a seller is marketing a condo or townhouse.

• Including A Timestamp

A timestamp is the single fastest way to date a listing photo. Showing the precise time and day a photo was taken could undermine a seller's marketing strategy by disclosing how long it has taken for a home to sell, similar to presenting seasonally relevant weather. Timestamps also reveal the seller's lack of attention to detail, as they indicate that they were not interested enough to alter the camera's settings or hire a pro.

• Not Enough Photos

In addition to having high-quality listing photos, buyers would prefer to see as many images of the property as possible so they can make an informed decision over whether to arrange a house tour. Buyers could worry about what you are hiding if the listing contains few photos. For instance, if you simply show pictures of the exterior, it can imply that the interior is outdated and vice versa. If your home has two bathrooms, as stated in your ad, you should display both of them. Include pictures of every area of the house, focusing on the rooms and areas you wish to showcase.

Final Thoughts

The sole focus of a real estate listing is to attract as many sales as possible. But before you are even able to start focusing on selling the house, you have to make sure that the property itself is presentable. So, when it comes to real estate listing photos, not only should each photo be worth a thousand words, but it should be worth a click or a call. By paying extra attention to both the images you post and the various descriptions, you can easily differentiate yourself from the competition.