Marketing
How to prep a home for its photo shoot: the checklist that saves the edit
Thirty minutes of prep beats hours of retouching. The room-by-room checklist agents send sellers before every shoot.
Editing can remove a bin from a driveway. It can't open curtains that were closed, and struggling against a cluttered room costs more than prepping it would have. A well-prepped house is the cheapest thing that makes a gallery better. Here's the checklist worth sending sellers 48 hours before the shoot.
Whole house, before anything else
The photographer's first fifteen minutes shouldn't be spent hunting light switches.
- Every light on, every bulb working (matching color temperature if possible)
- All curtains and blinds open, windows cleaned inside
- Ceiling fans off (they blur)
- Pets, bowls, beds, and litter boxes out of sight
- Personal photos and name art down if the sellers are comfortable; it helps buyers project themselves in
Kitchen
The kitchen sells the house and clutter shrinks it.
- Counters completely clear: appliances, dish racks, sponges, all of it
- Fridge face bare: no magnets, photos, or takeout menus
- Bins and floor mats out of the room
- One or two staging touches max: a bowl of fruit, a plant
Bathrooms
- Toilet lids down, every time
- Counters clear of toothbrushes and products
- Fresh, matching towels; shower curtain pulled open
- Bath mats up, since they read as clutter on camera
Bedrooms & living
- Beds made hotel-tight, wrinkles show at full resolution
- Cables, chargers, and remotes hidden
- Closet doors closed
- Throw pillows straightened, blankets folded or gone
Exterior
- Cars out of the driveway and away from the curb frontage
- Bins in the garage, hoses coiled or hidden
- Lawn mowed, walkways swept, seasonal debris cleared
- Pool cleaned and cover off if it's a feature
What editing should handle
Some things aren't worth the seller's Saturday: a grey sky, a neighbor's car that wouldn't move, a room that's empty rather than messy. That's sky replacement, object removal, and virtual staging, and it's honest as long as anything structural about the property stays true to life. Prep gets the house right; editing gets the frame right.
