How to Prepare Your House for Real Estate Photos: The Photo Day Checklist

Almost every buyer sees your house on a screen before they see it in person. They scroll, they judge the first photo in about two seconds, and they decide whether your house is worth a Saturday afternoon.

That first click into your listing secures their interest. Everything after it is just confirmation.

So here's the exact checklist we send our sellers before photo day. It covers what to clean, what to hide, and what needs to happen the morning the photographer pulls up. Skim it, do what you can, and don't stress about the rest. More on that at the bottom.

Photo Day: The Morning Of

Finish early. All cleaning, landscaping, and contractor work needs to be done before the photographer arrives, not while he's there. Half-finished work shows up in photos and there's no editing it out.

Leave the staging alone. Turn on every light and lamp in the house. Open all the blinds. Natural light plus warm interior light is what makes a room look like somewhere you'd want to live.

Get everybody out. All occupants, kids, and pets should step off the property while photos are being taken. It moves faster and nobody ends up in the background of your living room shot.

Personal Items and Privacy (Every Room)

These photos go on the MLS, Zillow, Realtor.com, Facebook, and a dozen syndication sites you've never heard of. Anything in the frame is public.

Family and personal photos. Take down family portraits, diplomas, sports jerseys, and kids' names or monograms. Anything you wouldn't want a stranger studying online.

Valuables. Put away cash, jewelry, watches, firearms, spare keys, garage remotes, and small electronics. Photos get looked at by a lot of people. Some of them are not buyers.

Private documents. Hide prescription meds, mail, utility bills, wall calendars, and work IDs.

Where to put it all. Drawers, cabinets, and closets. We don't photograph inside of them, so anything that goes in there is out of the shot.

Kitchen and Dining

The kitchen sells the house. Clear counters make a kitchen look twice as big as it is.

Counters. Clear them off completely. Appliances, drying racks, spices, paper towels, all of it. Then wipe down the counters and cabinet fronts.

Appliances. Strip the fridge. No magnets, photos, notes, or artwork on the front or sides. Wipe fingerprints off the stainless.

Sink. Hide the sponges, dish soap, drying mats, and the trash can.

Dining table. Clear the placemats, mail, and clutter. A simple centerpiece is nice if you have one. Skip it if you don't.

Floors. Sweep and mop. Center the rugs and make sure they're lying flat.

Bathrooms

Bathrooms are small and photograph rough. Empty is better than decorated here.

Counters and vanities. Everything goes away. Soap dispensers, toothbrushes, makeup, hair products. Clean the mirrors and wipe the counters until they're streak free.

Shower and tub. Pull out the shampoo bottles, loofahs, razors, and bar soap. Scrub it.

Shower curtain. Wash it, then leave it about half open.

Linens and trash. Clean folded towels hung neatly on the racks. Bath mats, toilet brushes, and trash cans out of sight.

Floors. Sweep and mop.

Living Rooms and Bedrooms

Surfaces. Clear desks, coffee tables, and nightstands. Chargers, remotes, tissue boxes, and stacks of books all read as clutter in a wide shot.

Living room. Fluff the pillows. Lay the throw blankets neatly instead of tossing them.

Bedrooms. Make every bed with clean, unwrinkled linens and fluff the pillows. Move the laundry hamper out and tidy the walk-in closet, since we usually shoot those.

Floors and seating. Vacuum and mop. Tuck away extra blankets, shoes, and anything on the floor.

Climate control. Portable fans, space heaters, and window units all need to disappear. They make a house look like it has a heating or cooling problem, even when it doesn't.

Pets, Lighting, and Fixtures

Pet stuff. Beds, food and water bowls, crates, litter boxes, toys. Roughly a third of buyers have allergies or just don't love pets, and there's no reason to give them a reason.

Bulbs. Replace every burned-out bulb in the house. Then check that the bulbs in each room match each other in color temperature. One yellow bulb in a room full of daylight bulbs turns the whole photo orange on one side, and that's a hard fix in editing.

Fixtures. Dust light fixtures, fan blades, and cabinet hardware. Close-up shots are unforgiving.

Exterior and Curb Appeal

The front exterior is usually the first photo in the set. It gets more views than any other shot in your listing.

Driveway and street. Park all personal vehicles down the street or somewhere off-site. That includes the boat and the trailer. We want clean front views and clear drone shots. Clear the snow if it's that time of year.

Yard. Roll up the hoses, put the trash and recycling bins in the garage, and pick up lawn toys and tools. Mow, and pull the weeds in the flower beds.

Patio and deck. Wipe down the outdoor table, uncover the patio furniture, fluff the cushions.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a real estate photo shoot take? Most homes take about an hour. Larger homes or ones with drone and video take longer. Plan on being gone for a couple hours to be safe.

Should I be home during listing photos? No. Head out with the kids and the pets. It goes faster and the photos turn out better.

Do I really need to take down family photos? Yes, for two reasons. Buyers should be picturing themselves in the house, not meeting your family. And these photos end up on public sites where anybody can see them.

Do photographers shoot inside closets and drawers? Drawers and cabinets, no. Walk-in closets and pantries, usually yes, because buyers care about storage. So tidy those, and use the drawers and cabinets to stash everything else.

Should the lights be on for real estate photos? Yes. Every light and lamp on, every blind open. Dark listing photos are the single most common reason a nice house looks bad online.

What if my house isn't perfect? Then it isn't perfect. Keep reading.

Perfection Is Not Expected

We put this list together to make photo day easier, not to add one more thing to your plate. Life is busy.

If you get to all of it, great. If you get to none of it, that's okay too.

Either way we'll present your home online as well as we possibly can. Our photographer edits every photo, and we run a final pass with our own AI software to clean things up further if it needs it.

Thanks,

The Bellhaven Team

Thinking about selling in Idaho? Reach out to Bellhaven Real Estate and we'll walk you through what your house is worth and what it'll take to get it sold.