Showcasing a home with a virtual tour is a great way to increase the chances of a sale.
Is preparing your home for virtual tour photography necessary?
Absolutely yes, listings with virtual tours receive 87% more views than listings without (including listings with static photos), and you want it looking top shelf.
Here are some tips to make your house virtual tour photography ready to sell your home fast and at top dollar.
Get Ready To Edit
You have to mentally prepare yourself that this will no longer be your home. Buyers are interested in how they will fit into the layout and need to begin visualizing themselves and their things in the space.
This means you are about to embark on a major overhaul of your home. You will no longer have to concern yourself with it being functional for you. The challenge is to make it look as much like a showroom or magazine-worthy space as possible.
You’re about to move anyway, so it’s time to start packing unneeded things away to transform your space into your buyer’s dream.
What You Should Pack Away
Start with your furniture. Most people have too much furniture for the space of the room. Extra seating makes rooms seem small.
Stand at the entrance to your rooms, where the camera will likely be placed, and see if your eye can easily flow through the room. Remove a piece or two to open up space and try to avoid furniture blocking the view with its back to the camera.
Clean off bookshelves. It’s great that you are an avid reader, but an overstuffed bookshelf gives the impression that your home doesn’t have enough space.
Place your best-looking books in small groupings with bookends. Leave white space. And add attractive decor or plants to create visual interest.
Remove personal photographs of your family. It is difficult for people to imagine their own family in your home with yours staring at them. The exception to this rule may be large canvas investment pieces that decorate your wall, but only if you can’t find something to replace them with.
Clean
Deal with it. It’s never fun doing a deep cleaning, show off your views, and let in more light by cleaning your windows inside and out.
De-clutter your counters. Include putting away small appliances such as toasters, juice makers, and random toiletries in the bathroom. Having things on the countertops makes it seem like you don’t have enough storage space, so living with the inconvenience for a short while is worth it.
Add a pop of color to draw the eye with an attractive flower arrangement, bowl of fruit, or a sculpture. Do not let a decorative grouping exceed a set of three, and the objects should vary in height.
Clean counters, walls, and doors to a sparkling shine. It’s easy to overlook fingerprints and smudges when you live with them every day, but virtual tour photography will capture it all.
Dirty marks may give potential buyers the impression that you don’t take care of your home, and they will wonder about other underlying issues.
Address the Exterior
Curb appeal is essential even for virtual tour photography. Make sure you have trimmed your shrubs, edged your lawn, and planted some colorful flowers.
Make sure your home’s paint job is looking good. Faded and peeling paint can’t get edited away. Also if you have rust or mineral spots from sprinklers, they are a turn off to buyers.
Remove cars from your property, including your garage. Cars can be distracting and make your garage appear smaller.
Sweep up the garage and pack away unnecessary sports and seasonal items. And finally, make sure to clean any oil spots on the garage floor or driveway. If you have a painted floor now would be the time to give it a touch-up.
Feature your pool as an asset by cleaning the deck space (power wash if needed) and adding attractive plants. And wash any outdoor furniture.
Your pool should be clean and crystal clear. If you are not using your pool, you can easily keep it pristine by bumping up the acid content.
Pets, Kids, and Virtual Tour Photography
Sure you love your pets and your kids, but they can be hindering your chances of making a good first impression. Just like you did for the rest of the house, you will need to do some serious editing.
You will want to remove all children”s toys from common rooms. Reduce the toys in children’s rooms to only the objects that can be put away neatly in a toy box or on a designated shelf.
The floor should be cleared of clutter, and the bed should be made (this applies to your room too). It is best if children are not present during the virtual tour photography session.
You will also want to remove your pets. Not every buyer is an animal lover, and you don’t want them to frustrate your high-end looking virtual tour.
In addition to hiding away your pet, you should remove any pet toys, water bowls, litter boxes, and cages.
Final Notes
Vacant homes should be staged. Or you may want to consider trying virtual staging. Having even the most basic items will help potential buyers imagine how to use the space, and it avoids the “abandoned home” feel.
Do not have seasonal items in your virtual tour photography for the worst case scenario is that your home doesn’t sell right away.
84% of first-time home buyers and 79% of repeat buyers search for a home on the Internet. If you’re ready to hire your own virtual tour photography service contact Home3ds and find out how their cutting-edge Matterport technology will make your virtual tour a cut above the rest.
