A successful rental property listing isn’t complete without a selection of great photographs. After all, they are one of the first features a potential renter will look for in your listing. With them you are more likely to convert views into enquiries.
Although you don’t need to become a photographer to create a professional-looking portfolio, it pays to get confident behind the camera. Knowing what makes a great property photograph can help you boost interest in your listing and speed up the lettings process. Here are some of our top tips for taking great photographs of your rental property.
Remove distractions
Step one is to make sure your property is clutter-free; this simple tip will help you avoid distracting and overcrowded photographs. Pay attention to the finer details and consider the following tips before taking a photograph:
- Clean all floors, surfaces and windows
- Neatly store away all personal belongings (such as handbags, shoes and coats)
- Make sure all people (and pets!) are out of the picture
- Clear away any evidence of pets
- Hide wires (such as television cables)
- Store all toiletries in a bathroom cabinet
- Put all food and cooking utensils in a kitchen cabinet
- Take care of all washing up and make sure the drying rack is empty
- Turn off all electronic screens
- If the property has a garden, mow the lawn and store away gardening equipment
- If the property has a driveway, move all cars, bikes and bins.
Turn your house into a home
Incite interest in your property by making it look homely. If potential renters can imagine themselves living there, they are much more likely to book a viewing. Simple tricks such as arranging vases of flowers or laying beds with decorative cushions can make a property look more inviting.
Open all curtains and blinds
Natural light can make even the smallest rooms in the house look brighter and more spacious. Take advantage of this by photographing your rental property in the morning and avoid using flash or artificial lighting if possible.
When doing so, be aware of any shadows and sunlight glare that could affect the quality of your photos. This may mean experimenting with different angles and positions.
Choose an attractive focal point for every photo
Drawing the viewer’s attention to a particular point in your property photographs will help you highlight the most attractive parts of your rental home. Achieve this by choosing an attractive focal point for every photograph and positioning it in the centre of your lense.
If you can enable grid lines on your camera or smartphone, use these to ensure that your chosen focal point takes centre stage.
Take all property photographs at waist level
Instead of holding the camera at face height, take your photographs at waist level. This makes it easier to avoid the issue of ‘leaning walls’ and will help you avoid frustrating distortions that can make your property look cramped.
Embrace landscape photography
When shooting your property, utilise the power of landscape photography. This will allow you to capture wider frames without distorting the images.
Presenting your photographs in landscape format will also make your listing look more uniform and attractive to potential renters. When flicking through images of your property, it will be easier for your viewers’ eyes to adjust if every photograph has been taken from the same angle.
Edit the images before uploading them
Editing the images before uploading them to your property listing is a key step. This will give you the chance to choose your lead photograph – the most attractive image to capture your viewers’ interest – and tweak the pictures to ensure they look professional. Potential tenants will want to see as much of your property as possible before registering their interest, so it’s important to display a selection of great photographs alongside an engaging virtual tour.
You don’t want to go overboard with editing, but playing around with the cropping, contrast and exposure tools can help you remove unsightly shadows, enhance colours and resize images.
Landlords, create and manage engaging property listings with ease through Bunk’s helpful digital lettings platform. With a personalised online dashboard, you can write and edit property listings on your own terms. For more information about Bunk’s digital lettings platform and the resources available to you, compare our plans and features online today.
