When selling your home as a For Sale By Owner (FSBO), first impressions are paramount. High-quality photos can significantly impact attracting potential buyers and securing a successful sale. Whether you are utilizing an Ohio Flat Fee MLS Listing Service like Ohio Broker Direct, these helpful hints will ensure your FSBO pictures stand out and showcase your home in the best possible light. Pictures truly speak a thousand words, and selling your home as a FSBO necessitates a strategic marketing plan. Even if you are using an Ohio Flat Fee MLS Listing Service like Ohio Broker Direct, consider these helpful hints to make your For Sale By Owner pictures pop. If you prefer professional photography, numerous companies offer services at varying fees.

1. Clean Your Home: The dust on ceiling fan blades, mildew around the bathtub, scum in the kitchen sink, spider webs in corners, dirty clothes on the floor, disheveled bed sheets, rotten fruit in the basket, and dirt and grime embedded in carpets are all significant issues. Why? Buyers are actively looking for flaws in your home to justify submitting a lowball offer. Psychologically, the way you handle small details reflects how well you have maintained the home overall.

• Stage Your home: Most often, you won’t need to spend hundreds of dollars hiring an interior decorator or renting designer furniture to stage your home. There are plenty of small things you can do to “stage” your home to ensure the highest and best offer.

1. De-Clutter: The most important thing you can do is de-clutter your home. Consider this an opportunity to purge or box items in preparation for relocation. Less is more, and reducing clutter offers the illusion of a spacious living area. Your goal is to sell your home, not your personal items! Attention to detail is key—bookshelves, drawers, kitchen cabinets, and closets should be no more than 50% full.
2. De-Personalize: The second thing you should do is de-personalize the space. This was your home, but you are relocating. Remove all personal photos and anything indicating political, religious, or other affiliations. It is imperative to maximize your “buyer pool.” Anything that takes the buyer’s experience away from envisioning ‘their new home’ to ‘viewing your home’ can potentially quell the sale. Your goal is to make sure that your home is the perfect home for as many people as possible, aiming for a quick sale and potentially a bidding war.
3. Interior Design Tricks: Simple interior design tricks can be very helpful. A bit of color coordination to create a flow throughout each room is beneficial. Ensure that bedding isn’t tattered and shower curtains are mildew-free. Furniture should be placed strategically to accent the architectural features of each room. Do not block closets or windows whenever possible. Again, less is more. Use enough furniture to show the functionality of each room while accenting the spaciousness of all living areas.

• Lighting: Turn on lights in the house or use alternative ambient lighting before taking pictures. Lighting is arguably the most crucial element in photography. Turn off the fan but leave the fan light on. Turn on the light underneath the microwave. While a professional photographer has the skillset and tools to adjust lighting and change a grey sky to blue, anyone can take the time to photograph the home at various times of day and night. Take exterior pictures when there is a beautiful blue sky and be mindful of shadows. Know your house and take exterior pictures of different parts at the opportune time to avoid undesirable shadows. Interior pictures are often best taken when it is cloudy outside, so the sunlight does not overwhelm the pictures. Enhancing the interior lighting of your home offers ambiance, a key factor in presenting a warm and inviting environment.

• Horizonal Pictures Only: Another one of our helpful hints to make your For Sale By Owner (FSBO) pictures pop focuses on the orientation of your photos. While it might seem logical to take vertical pictures of narrow spaces like a half bath or pantry, if the space isn’t large enough for a horizontal photograph, it’s best to skip it. Many sites that pull vertical pictures from the MLS will crop them, often in an unpleasant way. Most buyers only view the first dozen or so pictures when browsing a listing, so focus on the best pictures of your home—your “money shots.” Everyone knows what a commode and pantry look like, so if it’s not a spectacular picture, just leave it out.

• Focus: Lastly, a strategic tip: Do not look at the room you are photographing. Instead, focus on the picture in the screen on your phone to ensure you best encapsulate the image of the room. Clear, focused images are crucial for maximizing marketing exposure. Multiple Listing Services and many other websites prefer picture sizes between 500kb and 3MB. “Thumbnails” often won’t upload to certain sites and may appear blurry and pixelated on others.

The tips above will help you prepare for the photos, whether you take them yourself or have someone else do it. Check out the following links to view videos and learn more about how we can save you thousands of dollars in real estate commissions. For Sale By Owner Ohio Flat Fee MLS Listing options at Ohio Broker Direct will enhance your marketing exposure, ensuring a quicker sale at a higher price with better terms tailored to your needs. Reach out to our team directly, visit our blog page, or sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest information and maximize your profit.