How to Prepare Your Property For Our Services
Thank you for choosing Limitless Photography to serve your real estate imaging needs.
In an effort to make your property shine to its fullest extent, we made checklists for you of commonly overlooked or forgotten items to tidy up before we arrive.
Tasks to accomplish in advance:
General Interior Preparation:
Vacuum and/or mop all flooring surfaces.
Dust/polish all furniture, blinds, fans, baseboards, etc.
Clean your windows, inside and out.
Check the upper corners in all rooms for spider webs/dust.
Turn on all of the lights in the home. Replace any bulbs and be conscientious of matching the color temperature or style of the surrounding bulbs (cool temperature LED bulbs do not look good next to warm halogen or fluorescent bulbs in the same or nearby fixture.)
Repair any holes/cracks in walls, paint where needed.
Consider professional carpet cleaning/steaming.
General Exterior Preparation:
Remove any dead plants, dead trees or tree limbs, visible trash cans, garden hoses, kids' toys, signage, etc.
Consider pressure washing driveways/walkways if they are badly stained.
Pressure wash the home's exterior if mold or mildew stains are present.
Consider spreading fresh pine straw or mulch around trees and flower beds.
Trim bushes and shrubs, cut grass, edge and blow driveways/walkways.
Remove any pine straw/leaves from rooftops and gutters.
Clean your windows, inside and out.
Kitchen:
Remove all dishes/food items from countertops and place away in cabinets.
Remove any dish towels, sponges, extra countertop appliances, dish drying racks, etc.
Make sure your appliances are wiped clean of any grease stains or fingerprints.
Remove any extra countertop appliances/gadgets. The idea is to maximize the counter space available. Feel free to add a decorative bowl of colorful fruit (real or fake) or a variety of flowers for a nice pop of fresh color.
Remove any visible trash cans.
Dining Room:
If dishes and place settings are to be displayed on the table, make sure they are decorative/presentable and are set in a proper fashion.
Polish and straighten the table and chairs.
Consider removing any large area rugs that hide the flooring.
Living Room:
Arrange furniture in an appealing manner.
Consider removing any large area rugs that hide the flooring.
Consider removing any excess furniture if the space appears cramped. The living room should feel open and as spacious as possible.
Bedrooms:
Make the bed with the most attractive linens and comforters.
Fluff the pillows and arrange them in a presentable fashion.
Remove any bedside personal items: books, phone chargers, tissues, personal family photos, etc.
Ensure the floors are free of any laundry items.
Relocate any laundry baskets or other related items inside a storage closet.
Remove any box fans or pedestal fans, dehumidifiers, scented oil burners, etc.
Bathrooms:
Clean all mirrors/ sinks/ countertops/ toilets/ showers/ tubs/ flooring. Bathrooms need to be perfectly spotless to present a clean and inviting feel.
Remove all countertop items such as toothbrushes, soaps, towels, etc.
Remove any bathmats, cleaning supplies, toilet brushes and extra toilet paper rolls, etc.
Remove trash cans.
Check the ceiling vent fan cover for dust and vacuum as necessary.
Tasks to complete on the day of, and prior to, the photography session:
Inside:
Turn off all ceiling fans, turn on every light fixture and lamp.
Open all curtains, raise or open all of the blinds, if present.
Fluff and straighten all decorative pillows.
Turn off TV's, remove phone chargers, etc.
Straighten bedding and tidy up bedrooms.
Double check that all trash cans, bath towels, bath mats, toiletries, etc. are removed.
Spot-check in the kitchen, bathrooms and any other high-traffic areas.
Give a quick once-over with the vacuum. Fresh lines in carpeted rooms really stand out!
Breeze back through the more detailed checklist above and touch up anything else you find that needs attention.
Outside:
Make arrangements for vehicles to be inside a garage, or parked out of sight from the roadway.
If you own campers, boats, trailers, or other recreational vehicles that are usually stored outdoors, make arrangements if possible to store them elsewhere or move them to an area behind the house beyond visibility from the street.
If necessary, blow any excessive fallen leaves away and enhance your curb appeal.
Where do I put all of my "extra" things?
Most clients choose to move their private or "unsightly" items into the garage, an outbuilding, or into smaller interior closets that will not need to be photographed on the inside. If you do use any of these spaces for storage, rest assured that we will not photograph the interior of those areas to preserve your privacy along with the hard work you have done to properly stage your home.
We understand that this list of things to prepare and/or hide from normal view may seem to be a daunting task. The good news is, after you have completed these tasks, most of them will be much easier to spot-check in the future.
Most of our clients prefer to keep their home staged in this manner during the sales process so that there is less work to be done in the event of a short notice showing of the property by the agent or potential buyer.
These extra steps make an enormous difference when presenting your property to the potential buyers, who typically want to personalize their new living spaces to fit their personal interests. Therefore, staging your space in an open and inviting manner gives the buyer a broad view of the space, including all of the potential it holds to be customized and molded into their dream home. We have proven through countless experiences that these checklists and bits of advice help to maximize your property's potential and make its natural qualities shine.