Putting up an Open House sign or spreading the word throughout the neighborhood might work, but nowadays, to sell a property, you’d do well to list it on a multiple listing service (MLS) for a higher chance of a better sale. This means you have to attach photos or a video of your property so that house hunters can see the place without having to visit in person. To cut costs, most agents prefer photos to videos, and this calls for learning about MLS specifications regarding property photos. In this blog, we’ll take a look at these specifications in more detail.
Strictly Carved in Stone, More or Less…
A multiple listing service is a platform where real estate agents and brokers get to know each other and exchange information regarding for-sale properties. It’s also where house hunters can check out listed properties that are for sale or rent.
On such a platform, members need to operate within a defined framework so that everything is clear to everyone. That’s why following MLS specifications is a must! However, you might notice that certain requirements are present on one listing and absent on another!
This could be due to local regulations or market practices that only apply to certain areas. In what follows, we outline those specifications that are almost the same for all property listings. These specifications have been gathered after consulting prominent listing platforms, such as Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com, etc.
MLS Property Description Requirements
To highlight the selling points of properties, agents can include as much information as they wish regarding the property and its neighborhood. This might range from listing the nearby amenities, such as shops, transportation, schools, hospitals, and entertainment centers to narrating the history of the place and its potential as a safe investment. Apart from these, the following details must be included in every listing:
- Age and size of the property
- Exact address
- Number of rooms
- Facilities, including electricity, internet, etc.
- Parking, garage, deck, roof garden, etc.
- Buyer’s agent fee
- Price
- Down payment
- Loan details
- Tax records
Photo Requirements for Multiple Listings
Regarding the visuals, not many specifications have been prescribed for videos or 3D plans. As for photos, there are a few requirements that, unfortunately, are not the same for every listing. The following table shows some of the most common photo specifications for listing properties on Zillow that are more or less the same for most listings.
Another line of MLS specifications is concerned with the content of your real estate photos. Your photos should strictly be void of any sexual or violent content. Neither should it advertise any product or service. Last but not least, people, especially children under 13, should not be present in any of your photos.
Must-Follow Tips for Taking MLS-Ready Photos
Photos alone cannot sell a property, but they definitely determine how much attention the property is going to get when listed. That’s why you should make sure that they’ll showcase your property to the highest standards. This necessitates taking certain steps before, while, and after shooting your real estate photos.
Prepare: Things to do before shooting
clean up
To take stunning photos, the place should look rather stunning itself. That’s to say, you should declutter the place and clean it up. Move the unnecessary items out, mop the floor, dust the furniture, spruce up the windows, and even go so far as to paint the walls if you have to. Also, keep in mind that you’re not doing this just to take better photos. Sooner or later, visitors are going to stop by your place, and it must look neat and inviting.
depersonalize the house
The photos you put out there should encourage house hunters to imagine themselves living there. So remove every item that tells a story of you or your family. Let them start writing their own story the moment they see the photos or step into the place.
Family photos, personal knick-knacks, souvenirs, and children’s artwork are some of the things you should move away before shooting your place.
bring in natural light
Bright rooms evoke a sense of warmth and comfort in all of us. They make everyone feel relaxed, uplifted, and at ease. For this reason, you should do your best to bring in as much natural light as you can. One little tip: Rooms that don’t receive enough natural light can look brighter if you put white items in them. If the room’s empty, try installing a big mirror on one of the walls – or placing it next to the ground to avoid ugly holes – to reflect light.
Focus: Tips to observe while shooting
If you don’t want to hire a real estate photographer, you need to learn some basic techniques to shoot great shots. Here are a few things that can help you with that.
mind the position and angle
Pick a well-known property listing site and check out the first few properties you see. You’ll come across lots of photos in which half of the floor or room is missing. This happens when the person behind the camera either chooses the wrong spot or positions the camera at the wrong angle.
Regarding the angle of the camera, it’s best to stand in the corner unless you’re shooting a bathroom. For bathrooms, small as they usually are, it’s suggested to stand in the doorway to capture the entire space effectively. As for the position of the camera, a chest-level position is best to provide a balanced perspective of the space you’re shooting.
use a tripod
As an agent or the owner of the property, you probably don’t have a tripod but make sure to get one. Using a tripod has two benefits: For one thing, you can push it to the corner of the room, hence capturing as much of the place as possible. Two, it helps stabilize the camera, resulting in sharper, professional looking photos.
focus on key features
Every part of your place has a selling point. For one room, it could be a big window with a nice view. For another, it might be a cozy little fireplace or a built-in bookshelf. Accentuate these features with optimal lighting and attractive decor.
Edit: Enhance photos after shooting
When it comes to editing real estate photos for listings, two misconceptions should be addressed. First, editing doesn’t mean that your original photos are bad or unattractive. You just want to make sure house hunters see your place at its best.
Second, by editing your photos, you’re not trying to deceive potential buyers. You’re simply enhancing the images to accurately reflect the home’s true appeal. With that being said, let’s see how you can edit your photos.
Read More: Real estate photo editing
virtual staging
Let’s get it straight. Buyers wish to see both the empty and staged versions of your place. They like to see the empty version to make sure that the house is in good condition, and they wish to see the staged version to visualize themselves living there. To fulfill such desires, virtual staging can be the go-to service for those who don’t want to suffer the ups and downs of costly, time-consuming traditional home staging.
By virtually staging a house, you’ll allow the potential buyer to get a first-hand experience of how living in that place feels and how it can be furnished to suit their lifestyle. Meanwhile, upon visiting the property while vacant, they can easily check every corner to assess the condition of the house, without any physical furniture getting in their way!
image enhancement
If you follow our tips for the “before shooting” phase, your photos will be bright enough. However, there might still be some noise or shadows in your photos that need editing. By enhancing the quality of your images, you ensure that they are as high quality as necessary while void of any imperfections.
day to dusk
Have you ever wondered which photo should be the cover photo of your listing? How about the front door view of your home with a day-to-dusk view? This specialized photo editing technique is designed solely to enhance the appearance of your home’s exterior to lure house hunters into checking your listing! As the name implies, a day-to-dusk service turns daytime photos into twilight, dusk, or even nighttime images. The result is a stunning view of your house under an enchanting sky.
item removal
Going through your real estate photos, you might notice previously overlooked objects that spoil the look. Spread-around books, left-over cups, or pet beds that only distract buyers are some common examples, and finding one in your final photos is never pleasant. Of course, you shouldn’t leave such details as they affect buyers’ first impression. To right such wrongs, you can virtually remove unwanted objects from your photos so that viewers pay attention to what you want them to see, not the clutter or distractions in the background.
All Prepped for Suitable Listings
Sticking to MLS specifications will guarantee your listing’s approval. But to attract house hunters, you need to clean up your property, take great photos under the best possible circumstances, and edit them to come to the best final images. Follow the tips above and rest assured that your listing will shine on any platform.
FAQs
The cost of editing real estate listing photos depends on the provider you choose. On a platform like AI HomeDesign, you can edit each photo for as low as $0.24.
