Taking a real estate photo with the phone held sideways and level

Tips for Taking Great Real Estate Photos

ByGlenn Tellier

Your home’s photos are the first showing. Most buyers, especially those looking from another country, decide in a few seconds whether a property is worth a visit, and they decide from the pictures. A beautiful home with dark, crooked or cluttered photos gets scrolled past. The same home with clean, bright, straight photos gets the call.

At GAP Real Estate most of our listings are open listings, which means you, the owner, provide the photos. The good news: you do not need an expensive camera. Today’s phones take excellent pictures if you follow a few simple rules.

Watch first: the difference between good and bad photos

Glenn Tellier, who has worked as a professional photographer for decades, made this short video showing what works and what does not.

1. Use the normal camera: check that it says 1x

Open your phone’s camera and look at the little number at the bottom of the screen. Make sure it says 1x, not 0.5. The 0.5 setting bends the walls and makes rooms look curved and strange. If the room does not fit, step back into the doorway instead of switching to 0.5.

Phone camera set to 1x, held sideways, photographing a bright kitchen

2. Hold the phone sideways, straight and level

Turn the phone sideways, like your TV. Horizontal photos fit every website and social media post. Keep the phone straight up and down, not tilted. In most homes the walls and corners are straight, and the photos should show that. Crooked, leaning pictures look sloppy.

3. Shoot in daylight with every light on

  • Take inside photos during the day, with all the curtains open and every light in the house switched on.
  • Do not point the camera straight into a window or a mirror; you will get glare and your own reflection.
  • Hold the phone completely still. Never send dark or blurry photos.

4. Stand in the doorway or a corner

Back up into a doorway or corner to show as much of the room as possible. The middle of the room is rarely the best spot. Move around and look for the angle that shows off the room’s best features.

5. Clean up before you click

Put away clutter: fridge magnets, toys, dishes, food boxes, toiletries, piles of mail, cables and remotes. Make the beds, close the toilet lids, move the car, put the garbage bins out of sight and cut the grass. Buyers want to picture themselves living there, not your everyday life.

6. The outside: midday sun and a blue sky

Photograph the front of the house in the middle of a sunny day, when the sun is on the front and the sky is blue. Dull days make dull photos. Try to keep power lines, poles and neighbours’ houses out of the picture.

House photographed at midday under a blue sky

7. Show every room and the best features

Buyers want to see more than the front: the living room, kitchen, dining room, every bedroom, the bathrooms, the laundry, the garden and the terrace. If you have a view of the mountains, the ocean or the city, a pool, a gym or other amenities, photograph them too. For condos, include the building’s pool, gym and common areas.

Not good with a camera? Ask a friend, or hire a photographer

Some people are simply not good at taking pictures, and that is fine. Everybody has a camera in their pocket today, so ask a friend or family member who takes nice photos to help. For a higher-priced home, hiring a real estate photographer is money well spent: better photos sell faster.

What we do with your photos

We check every photo before it goes on your listing. If a picture is crooked or bent by a wide-angle lens, we straighten it, without changing anything in the room. If a room is missing or a photo is too dark, we will ask you for another one.

Ready to list? List your property with GAP Real Estate or read how we help you sell your property. Questions? WhatsApp Glenn at +506 8888 0003.

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