This is part two in a five part series on prepping a real estate property for listing. If the goal is to make the most profit off the sale, these blog posts will highlight the major steps you must take before the home becomes available for showings. Even if you just want a quick sale without much effort, some of these tips will be very useful to make sure you still earn top dollar for your effort. The various topics covered will be decluttering, upgrading, repairing, landscaping, cleaning, staging, maintaining and finally what to do on the day of the photoshoot.

Part two in this five part series is: Upgrading and repairing.

Beautiful dining room from a Nocatee photoshoot.

When it comes to real estate photography or video, nothing stands out more in imagery than a poorly maintained home. From decluttering, cleaning, landscaping, repairs and upgrades, all factors must be taken into consideration to make the most money from your listings. At the end of the day, this is what real estate is all about. Making all parties money. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to do property photography to see that the basic steps were not taken.

Nothing will steer a potential client away more than a broken house. If the house needs paint, holes patched, window’s replaced, bathrooms caulked, gutters rehung, or the roof reshingled, you’re likely to lose out on that sale. Especially if it’s not an investor flip or the buyer hasn’t secured a renovation loan.

This stage should occur in conjunction with decluttering. As the home becomes less cluttered, obvious repairs will stand out. For most homes, this will be painting and drywall repair. The good news is this is easy and fairly inexpensive. At this point, make a decision on paint color. A neutral color is your safest bet. It will match any decorations in your home and won’t deter most potential buyers.

At this point, you’ll want to repair any broken light switches, power outlets, fans, lights, plumbing and appliance issues if they’re staying with the home after the sale. More serious issues such as roof leaks, will result in issues at the inspection and financing stage. If possible, you’ll want to repair any roof problems.

If your financial situation allows, perform necessary upgrades to the home. This can be from a little as replacing bathroom lighting to all-out kitchen renovations. Kitchen renovations are proven to typically provide a return on your investment. Use this time to replace really old light switch and outlet covers too. Those like to become yellow over time. Upgrades can be as simple or complex as you want.

Just remember at the end of the day it’s about making the property look as good as possible when it’s time for the real estate photographer to arrive. You’ll want the photos, video, and 3D virtual tour to look as good as possible in hopes it will entice someone to see the property in person.