Real-estate listing photos: showcase your property in 8 moves

At equal price, a real-estate listing with good photos generates far more visits — and visitors already half convinced. Selling or renting, here are the moves that change how your property is perceived.

Prepare the rooms (the step everyone skips)

• Tidy and depersonalize: cleared countertops, made beds, family photos out of frame — buyers must project themselves, not visit your daily life;
• Open every curtain and shutter, switch on accent lamps: brightness is buyers' No. 1 criterion;
• Shoot in daytime, ideally when the sun enters the rooms.

Take the right shots

• Stand in a corner of the room, chest height: three walls visible, the room reads at its true size;
• Keep the phone level — straight verticals (walls, doors) instantly read “professional photo”;
• One or two photos per room, no more: living room, kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom, exterior/façade;
• Do not forget the assets: balcony, view, cellar, parking, well-kept common areas.

Photo order makes the listing

First photo: the most beautiful bright room, or the façade if it flatters the property. To show more from the thumbnail itself, you can combine living room, kitchen and exterior into an animated image that cycles through them — in a list of frozen thumbnails, yours will be the one moving. Test on your platform; best view first.

Avoid at all costs

• The distorting wide angle that promises a castle-sized living room (disappointed visits = wasted time);
• Vertical room shots (they slice the space), frontal flash, the mirror with you in it;
• Grey winter photos if you can wait for a bright day.