Being a growing sector, the real estate business is becoming more competitive. As a result, it’s essential to stage a home for real estate photography to make a stunning first impression.
With the digital age in full swing, prospective buyers base their decisions on online listings, mainly through photography and video.
In this dynamic market, staging your home effectively for real estate photography and video will make all the difference between a quick sale and lingering on the market. Statistics show that home staging had an effect on 58% of buyers, making them make purchase decisions.
However, staging a home for visual media involves much more than tidying up and decluttering. Instead, it requires a thoughtful approach to highlight the property’s best features, create an inviting atmosphere, and evoke an emotional connection with potential buyers.
This comprehensive guide will show you how to stage a home for real estate photography and video. We will provide practical tips and strategies to help you maximise its appeal and captivate prospective buyers. I have done this before, so I will discuss what I did to make a sale within 1 month.
You can also contact us for professional property staging real estate photography and videography. We are determined to make your property stand out from the crowd.
Importance of Property Staging for Real Estate Photography
Before delving into the specifics of staging, it’s essential to grasp why staging is crucial for real estate photography and video.
- Proper staging enhances the visual appeal of a property. This allows potential buyers to envision themselves living in the space.
- Staging helps to create a sense of scale, flow, and functionality, making the home feel welcoming and desirable.
- Staged homes tend to photograph and film better than vacant or cluttered ones. They appear more polished, inviting, and photogenic, attracting more attention from potential buyers browsing online listings.
- Staging a home for real estate photography helps you sell faster and at higher prices than unstaged counterparts.
How to Prepare a Home for Staging
Before you stage a home for real estate photography and video, you should ensure the home is clean, well-maintained, and in good repair, which is essential.
You can start by hiring professional landscapers for exterior cleaning and landscaping services. They will trim the flowers, and make the lawn garden beautiful.
Furthermore, you should also ensure that everything in the house, including the showers, sinks, bulbs, switches, etc., is working correctly. You can hire professionals to correct any leaking pipes or faulty home switches.
Finally, you should get the house clean. Do a deep cleaning or hire someone to do it for you. The curtains, boards, and floor should be sparking clean. In addition, you can also repaint your house for a new and welcoming look.
Preparing your home for real estate photography is the first step in making it look good for proper staging to make it more appealing.
7 Ways to Stage a Home for Real Estate Photography and Video
1. Highlight the home key features
To stage your home for real estate photography, you should identify the key features of your home. What are the features that will likely attract the buyer? For instance, when I’m staging a property before listing, I usually put myself in the place of a buyer and highlight all that could make me happy if I were to buy the home.
Some features that make a first impression on the buyer are the spacious seating room, kitchen, dining area, and bedroom.
Now, you should arrange furniture and decor to draw attention to these focal points, ensuring they take centre stage in photographs and videos. However, ensure the furniture blends well with the interior paint and decor.
According to some conversations in Quora, most people like buying fully furnished properties, especially those with elegant furniture and features.
However, people buying furnished homes drop if the furnishing is not good enough. Therefore, ensure you give it your best when furnishing your home for sale.
2. Create a neutral canva
When staging a home for real estate photography and video, creating a neutral canvas that appeals to a broad range of potential buyers is essential. For instance, you should opt for a neutral colour palette for walls, furniture, and decor to create a cohesive and timeless look.
In my home staging cases, I usually prefer neutral tones such as white, beige, and grey, making spaces feel larger, brighter, and more inviting. These colours have had a positive impact on my selling techniques as they allow buyers to envision themselves living in the home.
Most homebuyers prefer neutral colours because they don’t want to risk repainting a colour they do not want. Therefore, using neutral colours to paint your home makes it sell faster than using dull colours, which may not interest the buyer.
For example, most homes I have sold in the past years have had grey or white paintings. One of my former clients is a work-from-home mom and she really likes the background colour on her YouTube videos.
3. Maximising space and flow
To perfectly stage a home for real estate photography and video, you should ensure to maximise the available space. Remember that the homebuyers should see the rooms as spacious.
Therefore, you should arrange furniture to create an open and airy feel, ensuring there’s ample room for movement and navigation. In addition, remove excess furniture and clutter to make rooms appear larger and more spacious in photographs and videos.
Furthermore, you should ensure that there are enough pathways throughout the rooms, especially the seating area, bedroom, and kitchen.
The one thing that a parent looks for in a new home is the ability for their children to move and play in the house freely without getting hurt. Therefore, arrange the furniture nicely, leaving space around them for proper navigation.
4. Enhance proper lighting
One of the top determinants of proper video and photoshoots in your house is the level of lighting. Therefore, it’s essential to stage a home for real estate photography with proper lighting techniques, such as natural and LED lighting.
You should maximise natural light by opening curtains and blinds and strategically placing mirrors to reflect light and create a sense of brightness. However, you should also consider the angle of sun rays when maximising natural light. The best time to utilise natural light is at noon when there are no object shadows.
You should also supplement natural light with artificial lighting, using soft, diffused lighting to create a warm and inviting ambiance. This will make the photos and videos appear friendly and welcoming- leading to more conversions.
5. Add warmth and personality
When staging a home for real estate photography and video, adding warmth and personality to the home will help create an emotional connection with potential buyers.
For instance, you should incorporate tasteful decor, such as artwork, throw pillows, and area rugs, to add colour pops, and texture to the space.
Furthermore, personal touches such as fresh flowers, books, and decorative accessories will help make the home feel lived-in and inviting.
For instance, the client I talked about before, the work-from-home mom, was very happy to get a copy of the ‘Think and Grow Rich book by Napoleon Hill. She later called and told me how she enjoyed reading the book and how it was expanding her mindset.
Therefore, you could aim for self-improvement books or romantic magazines that would have an impact on the new homeowner.
6. Curate outdoor spaces
When a potential buyer is interested in your property, they are likely to visit the property, and the first impression is the outdoors of the house.
Are the gardens well-kept? Are the lawns trimmed? Are the chairs clean and stable? These are the things that would impress a potential buyer about your house outdoors. Ooh, don’t forget the exterior painting and the rooftop, too!
You should arrange outdoor furniture to create inviting seating areas and add potted plants and landscaping to enhance curb appeal. In addition, you can consider the season and incorporate seasonal touches such as colourful flowers or festive decor to create a welcoming outdoor oasis.
Collaborate with professional
While staging a home for real estate photography and video is undoubtedly possible to DIY, enlisting the help of professionals can take your staging efforts to the next level.
You should consider hiring a professional landscaper for exterior looks or an interior designer specialising in real estate staging to help you create a cohesive and visually appealing look.
The good news is that we have a team of professional home staging enthusiasts who will make your outdoor and indoor space look appealing. Just contact us for a quote.
Working with a professional photographer and videographer can also ensure that your staged home is captured in the best possible light. And we have all that for you!
Conclusion
Now, you can stage a home for real estate photography and video and start selling your properties faster. You can create an inviting and desirable space with careful planning, attention to detail, and a focus on highlighting the home’s essential features.
Home staging leads to a good space that resonates with buyers and a successful sale. We can help you achieve that with our professional team of home staging and photo/videography.
Stage a Home for Real Estate Photography and Video: FAQs
- How can you expose yourself to real estate photography?
When taking real estate photos, use high exposure for dark rooms, middle exposure for mid-lit rooms, and low exposure for highly-lit rooms. You can manage the lighting with bulbs or draw curtains and closed/open doors. You should take several photos with different exposure and angles to choose the best for property listing.
- How do I make my home staging?
You can start with the basics that don’t require professionals, such as cleaning and removing any personal items, such as artwork or photos on the walls. You can also arrange the furniture, leaving enough space for prospective buyers to walk around as they envision themselves owning the place.
- How long does it take to capture a picture in my home?
Depending on the size of your home, it can take 2-3 hours to take pictures of your home for sale. However, to ease the process, you should ensure the home is well-staged for real estate photography to avoid spending too much time.
4 Comments