How to Take The Best Photos When Renting Out or Selling Your Apartment? 9 Tips

Do you have a home that you would like to sell? Or are you thinking about renting out your apartment? This will offer you a steady, monthly income. Even if you have registered your apartment with various real estate agents and/or websites, it is, unfortunately, still possible you are not attracting the right buyer/tenant at the moment.

Maybe it’s time to have a good look at your advertisement and maybe change it a bit. Add some information to the description of your apartment, give details about the area the apartment is in, or upload new photos. If you are thinking about changing the photos in your ad, read this article from ShBarcelona and learn how to take the best photos. If the apartment is photographed with the following tips in mind, your apartment will be rented out/sold in no time!

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Table of Contents

Tips for photos of the apartment that is up for sale

ShBarcelona has been working in the real estate sector for years, and of course we also advertise on the internet. Our team knows what is needed to depict a good image of an apartment, a picture that is true to reality, which ultimately attracts the right client for each home.

In addition to this, research has indicated that 90% of all potential buyers check the internet to look for a new dwelling. So pay attention to the following tips when it comes to taking some good shots of your apartment.

We also asked Christian Ribas – professional real estate photographer – what he looks for when taking photos of real estate. Just keep reading and take advantage of the practical tips on how to take the best photos to sell your apartment.

Home Staging

Home Staging is defined as the technique to give your apartment an optimal and clean look, by means of the right interior plan and decorations. There are several important factors, such as lighting, furniture and decorative items, and you should keep these in mind at all times when photographing your home.

📌 Before picking up the camera, clean and clear out all rooms, set furniture straight again, and store all of your personal items.

Photographer Christian Ribas especially recommends you showing the practical and nice aspects of the apartment.

In other words, the simpler and less expressive decorations are, the better. This way, all the strong points of each room are emphasised, and anything that can distract is either stored away or removed from the apartment entirely.

Related article: Home Staging Techniques For Your Apartment

Using natural daylight

The perfect photo requires good light. Photographs in which the rooms are well-lit leave a better impression with the viewer, especially if you imagine having to look at a long list of advertisements to find that one, ideal home.

So the photographer has to think about what time of day is best to photograph the home: with natural light from the sun or other good lighting. Remember to open the shutters and curtains before grabbing your camera and clicking away. As a result, every room will be shown with its best features and as naturally as possible.

The two photos below show you the difference between a good photo and a less suitable photo:

Photo appartement ShBarcelona

Turning on the lights all throughout the apartment

It is important to turn on the lights in every room that will be photographed. Do not forget the lighting in adjoining rooms. If you open the doors to them, light can flow from one room into another.

When using artificial light, our advice is: make it as neutral as possible. There is one exception to the rule, however: the lighting by the bed. This space of intimacy requires lighting with warm colours.

Using artificial light and the correct shutter speed

Sometimes a room has no window or door, and then there won’t be any natural daylight. The only option you are left with then, is to use artificial light. Turn on all the lights and adjust the shutter speed on your camera to capture the right amount of light in each photo.

The picture below shows the difference in length of exposure time.

Photo appartement ShBarcelona

Paying attention to your camera’s flash

Try to use the flash on your camera as little as possible. This type of light does not benefit the image of a room. Walls and furniture turn pale and the atmosphere is completely ruined.

The use of a flash is always out of the question when taking pictures of windows or mirrors/glass in the bathroom. You will not only end up seeing the flash itself, but also reflections of yourself if you cannot take a proper position in the room.

What angle to use when taking photos

Sometimes a room seems smaller than it really is, just because you have used the wrong angle when taking pictures.

📌 It is important to photograph the room from the opposite corner of that room. This way you will capture the entire length of the room and also as many details as possible.

To optimize the depth of a room in a photo, we advise you to take photos from the height of your hip. Always try to show a complete picture of a room, by including both the floor and ceiling in the photo.

The picture below mainly shows you the floor, and not much can be seen of the rest of the room. The next photo was taken from the outer corner and now you can actually see the whole room.

Photo appartement ShBarcelona

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Using a tripod

Christian Ribas strongly recommends the use of a tripod. It doesn’t matter if you are taking photos with an SLR camera, a compact camera or your phone’s camera.

What are your benefits using a tripod? You can make sure that your pictures are always taken straight. This way you prevent leaving the wrong impression of a room, just because it had been taken at a bad angle.

Take a look at the next two photos, they speak for themselves. If you approach photographing your apartment like a professional would, you will see that good photos will definitely benefit the advertisement and sale.

Photo appartement ShBarcelona

Camera lenses and paying attention to lines

Try playing with different lenses on your camera and witness the extraordinary effects. You can make the image of a room look bigger, without “bending” the photo. A viewer can obtain more information about the space inside the room with these kinds of photos.

Remember to turn on the grid function, so that you can apply the rule of thirds in the composition of the photo.

The grid allows you to see horizontal and vertical lines in a room, but pay attention though, you do want these invisible lines to look natural in a photo.

Make sure natural lines match the lines of the grid, as this is the only way you can be sure that you are taking a photo correctly. This is what makes a photo much more appealing visually.

Which photos to include in advertisement when selling your apartment?

The first rule is: the more photos, the better. This way a potential buyer or tenant can see every bit of space and every detail inside the apartment.

Also show rooms from different corners, but avoid an overkill of almost the exact same photos. A buyer can then get a complete picture of each room, without being distracted by the amount of photos in an advertisement.

Of course, don’t forget to include photos of the outside of the building (or the neighbourhood) in the advertisement. This can make a big difference when selling a property. It also adds relevant information when renting out your long term rental. This way you show more than just the apartment itself, and house hunters truly appreciate this extra bit of info.

Photo by Jakob Owens via Unsplash

Taking real estate photos requires time and dedication. ShBarcelona takes care of every detail of the proces. When a new apartment comes up for sale or rent, we collect all necessary information for a complete brochure of the property. We use every tip we have mentioned above, and we also edit the images professionally to get the most out of each photo.

It is our mission to rent out or sell your apartment in Barcelona. Let us guide you through all the stages of selling or renting out your property.

What are your thoughts on this article? Are you already using the advice?
If you have another tip, please leave it in the comment section!

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