How to photograph a property so it sells

The first photo is the whole listing

In a results list the buyer sees one photo, a price and a title. The decision to open takes under a second and is made almost entirely on the photo.

So the first photo is not the façade and not the bathroom. The first photo is the strongest space in the property — usually the living room, or the view or terrace if there is one worth showing.

The façade works for houses. For a flat in a concrete block it mostly puts off people who would otherwise have come to a viewing.

The hour of preparation that pays

This is where most of the gain is, and it needs no equipment at all.

How to shoot the room itself

Three rules cover nearly everything.

From the corner, not the doorway. Step into the room and shoot from the corner facing the most interesting part. That shows volume rather than a corridor.

At chest height. Not at eye level and not at the waist. Around 1.2 metres keeps verticals straight and does not distort the perspective.

Level and square. Keep the phone parallel to the walls. Tilted shots with falling walls look amateurish even when the room is lovely.

Photograph every room, including the bathroom and the hallway. A missing room raises suspicion, and suspicion stops the call.

The common mistakes

• An ultra-wide lens. The room looks twice its size, the buyer arrives and feels misled. That is a wasted viewing and a damaged reputation.
• Shooting into a window with no light in the room. You get a dark room and a white rectangle.
• Too many shots of the same thing. Twelve good frames beat forty mediocre ones.
• Shooting in the evening. Unless the property is specifically being sold on its night view.
• A watermark across half the frame. The logo goes discreetly in a corner, or not at all.

Empty properties

An empty room is the hardest thing to sell in a photograph. Buyers cannot judge size without furniture, and bare floors and white walls read smaller than they are.

So empty properties show better furnished. Physical staging is slow and expensive; virtual staging does the same thing to the photograph — the same room, with a bed, a sofa and lighting added by AI.

The one non-negotiable condition is stating that the furnishing is virtual. A buyer who arrives and finds none of the furniture from the photo walks away, and rightly so.

Frequently asked questions

Is a phone enough, or do I need a camera?

A modern phone is enough for the vast majority of properties, provided the preparation is done and the light is good. A camera with a wide-angle lens is worth it for expensive properties and very dark rooms.

How many photos are enough?

Between twelve and twenty for a flat: one or two per room, plus the view, the terrace and communal areas if they are worth showing. More rarely helps.

Do I have to disclose that a photo was edited?

Brightening and straightening are normal processing. Adding furniture, removing defects or changing the view must be disclosed — otherwise it is misleading, and it comes back as lost trust at the viewing itself.