Your Home’s First Showing Happens Online: Every Picture Tells a Story

Your Home’s First Showing Happens Online: Every Picture Tells a Story

Marsha’s Home Selling Series — Part 3 of 7

When buyers are searching for a home, they aren’t just casually scrolling through pictures. They are looking with a purpose.

And they aren’t necessarily looking during business hours.

Your home’s first showing might happen at 2:00 in the morning while a buyer is sitting at home looking at listings online.

The pictures are usually the first thing they see. If something catches their attention, they keep looking, read the details and decide whether the home is one they want to see in person.

Long before I open the front door and walk through a home with my buyers, they may already have toured it through the photographs.

That’s why I believe your home’s first showing happens online.

Put Yourself in the Buyer’s Shoes

Coming Soon listings are a good example.

Often, there is only one exterior picture available. My buyers immediately want to see more. What does the kitchen look like? How big is the living room? What condition is the home in?

They are trying to decide whether this could be their home, and one picture doesn’t give them much to work with.

The quality of the pictures matters too. One of my pet peeves is seeing a room photographed with the camera held vertically when a horizontal photograph would show the space much better. Instead of seeing the room, buyers see only a narrow section of it.

Pictures should help buyers understand the home, not leave them trying to figure it out.

Picture Day Is More Than Taking Pictures

I always use a professional photographer for my listings, and I am always there when the photographs are taken.

Even when we’ve already prepared the home, picture day often means making additional changes one photograph at a time.

We may temporarily remove things from a room and put them back after the photograph is taken. I’ll clear counters, remove dish towels, straighten or remake a bed and take care of whatever else catches my eye.

And yes, toilet seats are down and beds are made!

Sometimes something that doesn’t bother you when you’re standing in a room becomes a distraction when you see it through the camera.

I approach every photograph with one thought in mind:

I treat the camera as if it is the buyer seeing the house for the first time.

Every picture has a job to do because every picture tells part of the home’s story.

Give Buyers a Tour Before They Arrive

The order of the photographs matters to me too.

When I show a home, I pull up in front and park at the curb. My buyers normally park behind me. That’s their first view of the house.

I want the online experience to feel just as natural.

So I begin the listing photographs with the front of the home as you see it from the curb. Next might be the driveway, followed by the front door inviting you inside.

From there, we move from room to room in the same order that I would normally tour the home with a buyer.

Instead of looking at a random collection of pictures, buyers begin to understand how the home flows.

I’m giving them their first tour before they ever arrive.

And remember, I may not be there for that first tour. It could be happening at 2:00 in the morning.

At that moment, the photographs are doing the showing.

Good Pictures Don’t Have to Hide the Flaws

Professional photography should show a home in its best possible light, but that doesn’t mean making it appear to be something it isn’t.

Suppose the living room carpet is worn. I wouldn’t try to photograph around it so buyers don’t see it.

A buyer looking at the pictures might think, The carpet needs replacing, but I would want new carpet anyway.

They know about it. They’ve already considered it. And they may still decide they want to see the home.

If they don’t discover the worn carpet until they walk through the front door, their reaction may be very different. Instead of simply seeing something they would like to change, they may feel disappointed because the home isn’t quite what they expected from the photographs.

And that disappointment can affect how they see everything else about the home.

I would much rather have a buyer arrive knowing what to expect and then discover all the things they like.

Showing a home positively doesn’t mean hiding its imperfections. It means presenting the home honestly while allowing its best features to shine.

That philosophy goes beyond photography. Buyers are going to learn more about a home as they move through the buying process. Being upfront helps set realistic expectations and can prevent unnecessary surprises later.

The photographs are one of our first opportunities to begin building that trust.

“It Looks Just Like the Pictures”

The estate property I’ve mentioned earlier in this series is a wonderful example.

We prepared the home carefully, priced it appropriately and had professional photographs taken.

At the open house, I heard the same comment from several people:

“The house looks just like the pictures.”

To me, that’s exactly what good real estate photography should accomplish.

The pictures attracted buyers to the property, but they didn’t promise something the home couldn’t deliver.

When buyers walked through the front door, the home they had been interested in online was the home standing in front of them.

That’s the experience I want the photographs to create.

Marsha’s Tips

When preparing your home for photographs:

• Look at each room through the eyes of someone seeing it for the first time.

• Clear counters and remove small distractions.

• Make beds and straighten each room.

• Show the space, not the belongings.

• Use photographs that help buyers understand the size and flow of the rooms.

• Don’t intentionally hide imperfections that buyers will immediately discover in person.

• Think about the order of the pictures as a tour through your home.

• Remember that every photograph has a job to do.

Preparing your home gets it ready for the market. Pricing it correctly positions it for buyers. Professional photography gives buyers their first opportunity to experience it.

The goal isn’t to make your home look better in pictures than it does in person. The goal is to make buyers want to see it—and when they arrive, have them feel good about what they find.

Coming Next — Part 4

Great photographs are important, but putting a home on the market takes more than beautiful pictures.

In Part 4 of Marsha’s Home Selling Series, we’ll talk about marketing your home—how we take everything we’ve done so far and put it together to get your home in front of buyers.

Because preparing, pricing and photographing your home are only the beginning. The next question is:

How do we make sure buyers know it’s there?

Putting You 1st Is 2nd Nature!