Start with light, not tidying
Before anything else, walk the house and open every blind and curtain to the same height, then replace any burnt-out bulbs so each fixture matches. Mixed bulb colors are the one thing that takes real time to fix later, and matching them takes about five minutes on the day.
If the listing has a west-facing yard or a pool, tell me and we’ll aim for late afternoon. Rooms fill with warm light and the exteriors get depth instead of the flat overhead look you get at noon.
The room-by-room pass
Everything below takes about an hour in an average three-bedroom, and it’s the difference between twenty usable frames and thirty-five.
Kitchen
Clear the counters down to one or two objects. Hide the soap, sponges, dish rack, and magnets, and run a towel over the faucet so it stops throwing glare.
Living room
Pull the furniture a few inches off the walls, straighten the rug, and fluff the pillows. Remotes, cords, and pet beds go in a drawer.
Bedrooms
Beds made with matching pillows, nightstands down to a lamp and one book, closet doors closed, laundry out of frame.
Bathrooms
Everything off the vanity, fresh towels folded and hung, toilet lids down, trash cans out of the room.
Exterior
Cars out of the driveway and off the curb, hoses coiled, trash bins around back, lawn mowed a day or two ahead so the lines have settled.
What to handle on the day
Plan for pets to be out of the house or crated in the garage, and give yourself a buffer so nobody is still vacuuming when I arrive. I shoot room by room and I’ll ask to move a chair or a lamp here and there, so it helps if someone with permission to move things is on site.
If we’re flying aerials, the driveway and street in front need to be clear, and I’ll have checked the airspace at your address ahead of time. Wind and visibility decide the flight, so we keep a backup morning open just in case.
One thing that always pays off
Fresh flowers or a bowl of lemons in the kitchen, and a folded throw on the sofa. It sounds small, but those two touches give a staged room something to catch the eye, and they cost about fifteen dollars.
Prepped homes shoot faster, so you get more frames in the same window and the gallery goes out sooner.
