Laura Corin Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 We are putting the house on the market sooner than expected. Exterior photos already done; interior photos on Tuesday. What worked and didn't for you? We have one bedroom with no bed that we are staging as a music room (instruments grouped with music stands, chairs, etc). Any thoughts on that? In case styles are different in the UK, this is roughly what houses tend to look like in photos here (this isn't our house): https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72082315.html Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 Can you choose who will take the pics? If you have someone who takes very good pics can these be used? All I can say is that I have seen some spectacularly bad pics of otherwise nice looking houses and this could impact initial traffic and therefore sales potential. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terabith Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 My favorite staged photos involved someone in a Tyrannosaurus rex costume in every room. 2 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 I think it is well worth it to have a professional photographer do the photos rather than a realtor. Here’s why: most interior photos need a lighting kit to photograph properly. Proper lighting in a photo makes the room feel brighter, roomier, and cleaner. Most people use photos to sort houses....ie, it’s the initial screening. Your photos should create a welcoming emotional response so that a buyer will want to go to the effort to arrange a showing. The house should be staged—either by you or by a professional. Family photos should be put away. Countertops cleared. Fresh flowers in the bathroom (usually an orchid) and entry. I typically know my target market and will do something like display a cookbook open to a beautiful recipe. You want to get small psychological nudges that are slightly aspirational. The pantry is carefully stocked. There is a fancy hand liquid soap in the bathroom...all of those things that subconsciously make people think you healthy and prosperous and fashionable and if people buy your house they will be too. It seems over the top but buying a house is an emotional experience and so you play the emotional game. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 As to OP, if you have at least three bedrooms I would stage it as a music room. If the room is clearly a music room and the art on the wall and the layout of the overall house work, great. Otherwise I would fake a bed with plastic crates, a blow up mattress, etc. People aren’t imaginative. One would think they could work through the fact that it is also a bedroom possibility but they don’t. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 Open the blinds in every room to let in all the natural light. Turn on every light in the room. Look to create cozy spaces in bedrooms - drape a blanket over the end of the bed or put a tray on the bed with tea cups or set out a tray with s'mores supplies if you have a fire pit. I know our photographer enjoyed those touches. Kitchen and bathrooms clear the counters except a few decorative items. I even took the toothbrushes out for the pictures. Be sure the toilet seats are down. Hide pet stuff, fluff pillows, and straighten anything that looks crumpled. In the US we have a product called Quick Shine that really makes the hardwood floors so shiny - mine sparkled in the pictures. Wash the windows so the light really shines. Polish the wooden surfaces, shine the shiny stuff - faucets, mirrors, etc.. Best of luck - our pictures were awesome and the house sold in three days with multiple offers which was unheard of for our neighborhood. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalmia Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 I took the photos for my last house sale because my realtor's were known not to be great. Because I took my own, I could take the photo of each individual room at a different time of day to capture the sunlight streaming in, so the east facing rooms in the morning and the western facing rooms in the afternoon. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 less is more - don't crowd furniture. give a feeling of space. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted September 2, 2019 Author Share Posted September 2, 2019 (edited) We have four bedrooms, one of which will be a music room. There will be normal curtains and carpets in there, and anodyne pictures on the wall. We do have a blow up high single bed, so we could use that instead. I'll talk to Husband tonight. We have removed five pieces of furniture from the sitting room and reorganised elsewhere. Bookshelves have been slimmed down and last clutter in house (ironing boards, etc) will be removed to cupboards. I cut fresh flowers from the garden, and there are new plants in the bathrooms along with high quality toiletries. It's a photographer coming rather than the agent. I have also been taking outdoor photos through the seasons, which I will load to run on an iPad in the sitting room. I don't think aspirational shots are done here. In this market they would look a bit cheesy. Edited September 2, 2019 by Laura Corin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 I’d pretty much echo Patty Joanna. Probably because I started a course on real estate photography, lol. In my area, listing photos are typically either “mostly adequate” or downright pathetic. But that downright pathetic is basically filthy, cluttered houses and a disturbing number of open toilet shots. Excellent photos are generally outsourced at a certain price point, but the bulk of our listings are under $200k. (US) The whole direct “light streaming in” is not a real estate photo’s friend. Light good, Harsh light imbalance bad. The photos linked probably had other light sources bounced into the rooms, were shot with careful manual settings, and were definitely processed in Lightroom or a similar program. If they didn’t use additional light, they used someone with extra special shooting talent and processing skills. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEmama Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 3 hours ago, Laura Corin said: We have four bedrooms, one of which will be a music room. There will be normal curtains and carpets in there, and anodyne pictures on the wall. We do have a blow up high single bed, so we could use that instead. I'll talk to Husband tonight. We have removed five pieces of furniture from the sitting room and reorganised elsewhere. Bookshelves have been slimmed down and last clutter in house (ironing boards, etc) will be removed to cupboards. I cut fresh flowers from the garden, and there are new plants in the bathrooms along with high quality toiletries. It's a photographer coming rather than the agent. I have also been taking outdoor photos through the seasons, which I will load to run on an iPad in the sitting room. I don't think aspirational shots are done here. In this market they would look a bit cheesy. Yeah, a lot of the stuff mentioned would be cheesy everywhere I’ve ever lived, and would also send out a huge red flag. Orchids in the bathroom (?) would feel like overcompensating; like, what do the sellers NOT want me to be looking at? Know your market, basically. Clean, uncluttered, simple. Garden flowers are perfect if you want any at all. The music room sounds lovely, especially since you already have three other bedrooms. I've never done it before, but I’ll hire a cleaning service next time we sell. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth S Posted September 2, 2019 Share Posted September 2, 2019 Consider temporarily emptying out the rooms for the photos. Our realtor asked that we empty my in-laws house before listing, as the stuff is a turnoff to the younger generation. Emptying closets can hide the fact that the house doesn't have lots of storage space, for example. 😉 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 Take out 30-60% of furniture and clutter. You still want it to look lived in, but minimize everything and remove almost all personal items. Very minimal and spacious with tons of floor space. Buy a couple bouquets of fresh seasonal flowers and spread them around. A rose on the entry table. A bouquet in the living room. A bouquet on the dining table. I've heard bloggers remove things like window screens because they reduce natural light, but I've never gone that far. While I agree with Patty JoAnna that a wide angle lens can be good, do NOT use a lens that distorts a room to make it look 5 times bigger than it is. When people discover that the library they were super excited to see in person is actually a huge fireplace and a couple of built in bookcases in a terrifyingly narrow basement hallway they will be so angry they'll stop looking at the house. I speak from experience. I'm still angry I wasted my time being excited about a library/homeschool room that didn't exist. If they'd just put a chair next to the fireplace in the pictures it would have looked like a delightful reading nook perfect for escaping the chaos of the children, not a terrifying glimpse into wondering what else they were misleading us about. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted September 3, 2019 Author Share Posted September 3, 2019 Thanks, all. The photographer comes tonight. I've seen a lot of his photos and I think he knows what he is doing. I've done the last arranging and Husband is doing the last cleaning today. Fingers crossed. I picked three bunches of fresh flowers this morning... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 Can I ask about your experience with a bathtub in a bedroom? I'm thinking of doing that, but it would be a nutty thing to do here and I'm a little chicken. I would solve a lot of problems for us and I'm considering going for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 30 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said: Can I ask about your experience with a bathtub in a bedroom? I'm thinking of doing that, but it would be a nutty thing to do here and I'm a little chicken. I would solve a lot of problems for us and I'm considering going for it. That isn’t OPs house..... My thoughts on it are that if it helps your current life go for it. I would do my best to do it in a way that allowed it to be undone if the next owner hated it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted September 3, 2019 Author Share Posted September 3, 2019 48 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said: Can I ask about your experience with a bathtub in a bedroom? I'm thinking of doing that, but it would be a nutty thing to do here and I'm a little chicken. I would solve a lot of problems for us and I'm considering going for it. I've never had one. I think I'd feel rather exposed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 45 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said: Can I ask about your experience with a bathtub in a bedroom? I'm thinking of doing that, but it would be a nutty thing to do here and I'm a little chicken. I would solve a lot of problems for us and I'm considering going for it. 13 minutes ago, Scarlett said: That isn’t OPs house..... My thoughts on it are that if it helps your current life go for it. I would do my best to do it in a way that allowed it to be undone if the next owner hated it. Totally agree with being able to undo it. I know of two bedrooms with bathtubs in the U.K. so perhaps not uncommon there. Both have been remodeled in by the current owner.......one is a gigantic claw footed beauty with fabulous fabric screens available for privacy. @Laura Corin My one comment regarding house hunting in UK (though not Scotland) is the bedroom shapes can be so non standard that it is really helpful to see an actual bed in the room. One house we looked at had four bedrooms which appeared to be a win. Two were huge....as in two king sized beds would have probably fit in each but the other bedrooms were going to be challenged to even fit a single comfortably. Extremely long and narrow rooms which would be odd as a bedroom. One was an adorable sewing room and the other a very cool music room. After viewing that I always really look at the photos because I want three adult sized bedrooms and the easiest way is to see beds in place or at least a full sized couch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted September 3, 2019 Author Share Posted September 3, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, mumto2 said: Totally agree with being able to undo it. I know of two bedrooms with bathtubs in the U.K. so perhaps not uncommon there. Both have been remodeled in by the current owner.......one is a gigantic claw footed beauty with fabulous fabric screens available for privacy. @Laura Corin My one comment regarding house hunting in UK (though not Scotland) is the bedroom shapes can be so non standard that it is really helpful to see an actual bed in the room. One house we looked at had four bedrooms which appeared to be a win. Two were huge....as in two king sized beds would have probably fit in each but the other bedrooms were going to be challenged to even fit a single comfortably. Extremely long and narrow rooms which would be odd as a bedroom. One was an adorable sewing room and the other a very cool music room. After viewing that I always really look at the photos because I want three adult sized bedrooms and the easiest way is to see beds in place or at least a full sized couch. Thanks. The 'music room' is set up with a keyboard, two music stands, a chair and floor pillows, as well as guitars against the wall and a book shelf with more instruments and books, so there's space for some stuff in there. The floorplan is quite good and shows that it's a large double room, so I'm more concerned that it looks attractive and not junky. It's bedroom 2 below. There originally was a sofa-bed in there before my mum moved in, but we had it moved upstairs, and then she moved out with her bed. It would take professional movers to get the couch back down... I'll see what the photographer says - he postponed until tomorrow morning as the light was so low at 4pm. It's meant to be bright at 8.30 tomorrow. I agree that you get some pretty tiny 'bedrooms' here. Edited September 3, 2019 by Laura Corin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 Will you be putting that floor plan in your ad? I LOVE to see a floor plan ahead of time. I am all about good flow....and thus is a. W floor plan. I think the way you describe the music room is great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted September 3, 2019 Author Share Posted September 3, 2019 13 minutes ago, Scarlett said: Will you be putting that floor plan in your ad? I LOVE to see a floor plan ahead of time. I am all about good flow....and thus is a. W floor plan. I think the way you describe the music room is great. Yes, I think it's standard to have a floorplan in the ad. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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