8 tips on how to professionally photograph your home in order to sell it

So you've made the decision to sell, researched and engaged an estate agent, agreed on a plan and price and are ready to prepare to hit the market.

The photographer is coming tomorrow, so whats next? At this point there are a few things to do and consider to make sure that your property presents at its best. Studies have shown that the average purchaser sounds about 90 seconds looking at an advertisement and in the larger list less than 15 seconds; your photos must stand out and look amazing.

1. De-clutter - Whilst its still your home and you live there, most people will have little knick-Knacks or memento's that make them reminder happy times or trips. This isn't the picture your home's new owner/s need to see, they aren't interested you spend 4 weeks in Tahiti in 1995 with your family. As rude as it sounds, you need to take these away, leave a minimalist mindset with placement and keeping things looking like how you see the show homes in a new estate. Less is normally more.

2. Any minor maintenance or touch ups; if there has been things you were meaning to do, i.e. a quick once over with paint on the bathroom ceiling or repairing a pice of timber your puppy chewed a few years ago, now is the time to make sure its gone and sorted.

3. Gardening - Make sure all of your weeds are pulled, the trees and shrubs are all cut back, the lawns are cut to perfection and the edges and lines are clear and looking perfect. A garden and yard are a frame for your property. You can have the worst house with a lovely garden and it will sell; likewise if you have the best house with a terrible garden it will affect your price or the over-all sale.

4. Clean, clean, clean - every spec of dust, dirt and grime. The biggest irk for the average agent is a dirty shower screen or bath. Smallest things are the most obvious in photos.

5. Time to clean out the shed - you know it as well as I do; you were going to do this for the last 5 years and never quite got around to it. A clean and organised shed gives the impression of space/storage for the new owners.

6. Clean the blinds/curtains, lets make them nice white, crisp and clean - You need to remember that your displaying your home to someone that are standing there trying to picture living there. Whilst we dont do these things as often as we should (me included) small things make a huge difference, particularly when asking someone to part with a large sum of money.

7. Lighting - make sure all the globes are working and nice and bright, come photo day let alone open day/s its always best to have a well lit inviting home to show someone. Dark and dull will limit the 'Love' factor and ultimately the price.

8. Some nice smelling candles and relaxing music - have these prepared. An apple and cinnamon candle for the kitchen to smell like a nice pie cooking, a relaxing vanilla candle in the lounge/hall and importantly if anyone is a "smelly sleeper" its always imperative to have a good air out and a nice subtle smell in the rooms.

Here is a great example of a home that is not staged. Its simply de-cluttered and shown in its best light. I sold this in March 2018 for a record price and its simply because the purchasers saw themselves living there and paid a premium for it.