How to Prepare a Home for Real Estate Photos: A Checklist

To prepare a home for real estate photos, clear every surface you can, put away personal items, open all blinds, turn on every light, fix what a camera will exaggerate and get the exterior tidy. Do most of it in the days before, then walk the house once more an hour before the photographer arrives. Most of the work is removing things, not adding them.

This checklist is for sellers and the agents who brief them. It's split into what to do in the week before, room by room, outside, and on the morning of the shoot, plus what a photographer can and can't fix afterwards.

The week before: decide what stays

Photos show more than a walk-through does. A camera at a wide angle takes in every corner of a room, and buyers scroll through the gallery slowly. Start a few days out so you're not packing boxes on the morning of the shoot.

• Remove about a third of what's on display. Shelves, counters and dressers look busy in photos long before they look busy in person.
• Find a staging spot for the overflow. A car, a garage corner or one closet the photographer doesn't need to open works well. Tell your agent which door to skip.
• Book small repairs now. Burnt-out bulbs, a cracked switch plate, a loose cabinet door and scuffed paint near light switches all show in a sharp photo.
• Plan around tenants or family schedules. If the home is tenanted, the agent should arrange access and notice well ahead so every room is ready on the day.
• Ask what's being shot. If your agent has booked a floor plan or 3D tour as well as photos, every room gets scanned, including laundry, storage and the garage. Those rooms need the same attention as the living room.

Room by room

Work through the house in the order buyers will see it in the gallery: entry, living areas, kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, then the extras.

Entry and living areas

• Clear the entry of shoes, coats, bags, keys and mail.
• Straighten cushions and throws, and take away remotes, chargers, game consoles and stray cables.
• Remove most framed family photos. Personal photos pull a buyer's attention away from the room, and they put your family's faces online.
• Leave a few simple decorative pieces: a plant, a bowl, a stack of books. An empty room can look cold.

Kitchen

• Clear the counters almost completely. Keep one or two items at most, such as a bowl of fruit or a cutting board.
• Put away dish racks, sponges, soap bottles, paper towel holders and small appliances.
• Clear the fridge door of magnets, school notes and calendars.
• Wipe stainless steel and the stovetop. Fingerprints and streaks catch the light in photos.

Bedrooms

• Make every bed with smooth, plain bedding and matching pillows.
• Clear nightstands down to a lamp and one small item.
• Close closet doors, or tidy the closet fully if you want it shown.
• In kids' rooms, put away toys and remove names, photos and school details from walls and doors.

Bathrooms

• Take everything off the counters, the tub ledge and the shower floor.
• Close the toilet lid, hang one set of clean, matching towels and remove bath mats.
• Hide bins, plungers and scales.

Laundry, storage, garage and suites

• Fold or remove laundry and close the machine doors.
• Clear the garage floor enough to show its size; a parked car usually goes out on the street for the shoot.
• In a secondary suite, apply the same standard as the main home. Buyers weigh suites carefully, and a cluttered suite photo stands out.

Outside

Exterior photos are often the first image in a listing, so they deserve the same care.

• Move cars off the driveway and away from the front of the house.
• Put garbage, recycling and green bins out of sight.
• Mow, edge and sweep paths, decks and patios. Clear leaves from the front steps.
• Put away hoses, tools, kids' toys and pet items.
• Uncover and wipe down patio furniture, and set it out as you'd use it.
• Turn on all exterior lights, especially if your agent has booked twilight photos.

In Metro Vancouver, the wet season makes outdoor prep harder. Wet decks and soft lawns are normal from November to March, so focus on what you control: clear surfaces, tidy beds and swept paths. If the property has views or a large lot, ask your agent whether drone aerials are worth adding, and keep the roof and gutters clear of debris if they are.

Condos and townhomes

Condo shoots have a few extra steps.

• Book the amenities. If the gym, lounge or rooftop will be photographed, the strata or property manager usually needs notice. Ask your agent to arrange it.
• Clear the balcony. Remove storage bins, bikes and drying racks, and wipe the railing glass.
• Leave other residents out of it. Photos of shared hallways and amenities shouldn't show neighbours, their unit numbers or their belongings.
• Unlock every level and storage locker in a townhome so nothing is missed. Our Floor View Tour checklist for townhomes and condos covers this in more detail.

If you're selling in a tower-heavy area like Burnaby or downtown Vancouver, view and amenity shots often matter as much as the unit itself, so plan those with your agent.

Privacy and security before photos go public

Listing photos stay online long after the sale. Before the shoot, remove or put away:

• mail, bills and anything with your name or address on it
• family photos, children's names and school items
• alarm panels and their codes, safes, key hooks and spare keys
• prescription bottles and medical items
• valuables such as jewellery, collectibles and art you'd rather not advertise

The morning of the shoot

About an hour before the photographer arrives:

• Open every blind and curtain fully, and turn on every light, including lamps, under-cabinet lights and range hood lights.
• Turn off ceiling fans and TVs.
• Take pets out for the shoot if you can, and put away their beds, bowls and litter boxes.
• Make the beds again, wipe the bathroom mirrors and take out the garbage.
• Leave the house during the shoot if possible. It's quicker for the photographer to work through an empty home.

What editing can and can't fix

Some cleanup is routine. RealtyShot's photos are professionally edited, and small distractions such as a stray cord can often be removed afterwards. But editing has limits, and some of them are set by the regulator.

The BC Financial Services Authority's advertising guidelines say that editing out items such as a garbage can or a car parked in the driveway is acceptable. Removing nearby power lines, or changing any physical feature of the property in a way that misrepresents it, is not. BCFSA's consumer guide to advertising also lists digitally altered or enhanced photos among the forms of misleading advertising. (Both pages were checked in November 2026.)

So the rule of thumb is simple. Edit out temporary clutter, but don't edit out anything that comes with the house. If a wall has a crack or the carpet is worn, repair it or let it show. Hiding it in the photo creates problems later. The same thinking applies to staging: virtual staging is a useful option for empty rooms, as long as it's labelled. See virtual staging done right for how to handle it.

Quick answers

How long does it take to prepare a home for photos? For a typical occupied home, plan on a few hours of decluttering spread over the week, plus about an hour on the morning of the shoot. Larger homes and homes with a suite take longer.

Should I be home during the shoot? It's usually easier if you're not. If you stay, keep to one room the photographer has already finished.

Does the time of day matter? For exteriors, yes. Light direction changes through the day, and twilight photos are timed around sunset. Your agent or photographer will pick the slot. If you're curious, the National Research Council's sunrise/sunset calculator gives the times for your area.

Book once the home is ready

A well-prepared home is the cheapest improvement you can make to a listing's photos. When the house is ready, compare what's included on our pricing page and book the shoot.