Times have changed. From birthday presents to a new pair of shoes, shoppers seek the items they desire online, avoiding brick-and-mortar stores. The same holds true of home sales, shifting the focus from driving through the neighborhood to looking at houses online. Our real estate agents will assure you that if you want to sell your home quickly and easily, you'll invest in a series of listing photographs that will show your house to its greatest advantage. Here are a few things to keep in mind before your house is photographed.

• Make it sparkle!
  The camera lens is far more critical than the human eye, allowing viewers to enlarge a photo with the swipe of a finger. And you can be assured that they will do exactly that. Every streak on the baseboards will stand out. Smart sellers won't just clean the house the best they can. They will hire a service to deep clean all of the places they didn't think about. Make sure all windows are cleaned and drapes pulled open to show off both the view and the natural light.
  
  
• Declutter completely
  Be ruthless in your decisions. Store knick-knacks, personal photographs, and collections out of sight. But don't stop there. Take all small appliances off the countertops. Remove personal items from the bathroom vanities and counters. Remove children's toys as well as pets. Rent storage space to keep your belongings safe until you move. It's important that viewers see the house, not the basket of laundry. Give potential buyers the opportunity to imagine themselves living in the space.
  
  
• Stage the house
  When all the distractions have been removed, it's time to make the house look inviting. Organic materials breathe life into a house, so consider arranging fresh flowers in the dining room and plants on the coffee table. Add a tasteful painting where the family portrait once hung. Remember that mirrors on the walls will make the room appear bigger, as will smaller furniture. A professional stager will rent furniture to create the illusion of added space. Give the walls a fresh coat of paint in neutral colors to help your home compete with other Atlanta homes for sale.
  
  
• Leave it to a professional
  To ensure high-quality photographs, it's a good idea to engage a professional photographer. Your agent may already work with a specific photographer or company, so be sure to ask. Such a specialist will know how to adjust the lighting and use the best angles to show off the home's best features. You'll find they have a tendency to shoot pictures from the corner of the room in order to capture as much of the room in a single photograph as possible.
  
  
• Choose listing photographs wisely
  The photographer will snap a lot more pictures than needed to make sure there is a sufficient array. The final selections should include the best features of the house. Too many photos will make potential buyers skim through them without really looking at them carefully. Too few will make them wonder what you aren't showing them. Make sure the buyer can see what attracted you to the home when you bought it. Whether it's a huge closet or a huge bay window, let the photographs shine a spotlight on the best features.

If you're getting ready to sell, don't wait to contact us. Our professionals will happily guide you throughout the entire process of readying the home for sale.