Bad lighting in estate agent photos

When you put your house on the market you should always ensure you check over the listing before it goes live. Some estate agents allow you to adjust the listing until you’re happy with it, offering sensible practical advice to ensure the photos show off your home as best as possible.

Some seem to think it’s ok to throw any old photos up and expect to sell the house.
This photo of this kitchen is a typical one that you might see. It’s very poorly lit making the kitchen look dark and unwelcoming. It’s not a place you’d want to spend time in and isn’t going to help sell the property at all.
So what could the estate agent have done? They could have added more light to the picture using artificial lights and lamps, bounced light into the room using a flash and a screen, or taken the picture from a different angle, or at a different time of day.
Is it wrong to ask an estate agent to change photos you’re not happy with? I don’t think so – you both want to sell your house for as much money as possible – if they’re on a commission fee anyway!
It’s also important to declutter rooms before taking photos and to keep them decluttered when you have viewings. This might mean spending hours putting away junk or throwing stuff away, but it’s important to make your house feel more spacious and have room for the potential buyer’s clutter.
If your house is full of your clutter then they might think there’s no room for theirs! If you make your room look like it’s clean and organised then they’ll see that there’s lots of room for all their bits and bobs too.
In a kitchen you want to keep a few lifestyle items on display such as a bowl of fresh fruit, or a large bouquet of flowers. Leaving the toaster out and clutter on all the worktops makes it look like it’s impossible to be organised in that room.