For Best Results: (Helpful Hints for ensuring a good, quick, and successful photoshoot)
If the home faces East, Exterior Photos and single visit shoots should be taken in the morning.
If the home faces West, Exterior Photos and single visit shoots should be taken in the afternoon.
For 2 visit shoots, Exteriors will be taken in the morning or afternoon, and interior photos can be taken at or anytime after sunset, as agreed by both parties.
Especially important note for homes that will have interior shots done after dark: Please make sure that either you or the homeowners go through the house, and check to see that all light bulbs are working.... It is also important to make sure that there is adequate lighting in all of the rooms. It may be necessary to have additional lamps put in the rooms to ensure that the rooms will be well illuminated. Those lights that are burned out should be replaced prior to the photoshoot to ensure that the rooms are properly illuminated for the photos. It is best to also ensure that all of the lighting in each particular room is consistent, (all lights should be the same in each room, incandescent, fluorescent, etc) and there should be no mixing of fluorescent and incandescent lights in a room, as it may create odd looking color casts in the photos. Homes that have burned out bulbs will not only look darker, but the prospective buyers may get a bad impression of the home. If you are working with a Home Staging Service, it is always a good idea to stress the importance that they bring enough lamps and lights for each room.
The best way to go is to hire the services of a professional staging company, as they will go through the entire home and make necessary suggestions and / or do some or most of the necessary changes that need to be made. In many cases they'll bring in some of their own furniture, or they can bring in complete furniture outfits for vacant homes.
If you won't be staging the home, make sure that you at least go through and de-clutter as much of the home as possible, and remove things you wouldn't want in the photos. Convince the sellers that they'll be packing up and moving things out anyways, so the more they can do now will be less they'll have to do later.... It can also make the home look bigger, as the buyers may get the feeling that the home is bigger than it really is, if there is a lot more room in there... Remove unnecessary chairs, sofas, desks, etc that really don't get used every day, and of course taking down lots of family photos can't hurt either, removing stacks of newspapers, trash cans, magazines or anything else you can possibly get out of the way. By nature, we accumulate things in our homes which isn't a bad thing, but when it comes to selling a home clutter can be your worst enemy.
Clutter on the refrigerator door is also a thing you may want to take care of. Also check inside the refrigerator to make sure it is fairly clean... Most buyers won't look inside there, but if there are vast collections of old food, odors can crop up and turn off the buyers. While you're at it, walk around the home and do a "smell test".... Make sure problem areas like cat litter boxes, diaper bins, etc are cleaned up, and kept that way. Nothing turns off buyers faster than a smelly home. If there are strong dog or cat odors, you may want to have the entire carpeted areas steam cleaned and deodorized.
Wash the floors, wipe down all of the cabinets and countertops, run the vaccuum, and even have the windows cleaned, if necessary. When it comes time to sell, most sellers are often too busy with their jobs, kids, hobbies and the day to day hustle and bustle of life, and many simply don't have the time to thoroughly clean their entire home.... Some of the best and most successful agents will hire a maid service to do a complete cleaning of the home, which does wonders... Fresh paint, a new or pressure washed roof can literally add thousands to the final selling price of a home, and can really help sell it a lot more quickly...
If the furniture is really old and worn out, if the sellers were thinking about getting some new furniture it might be a good time to do that too.... Get rid of the old stuff, and bring in the new furniture set. You have to look at the changes that need to be made as an investment that will usually pay off quite well.... Every little bit helps!
Also, if you are able to have the driveways, decks and sidewalks pressure washed before the photoshoot, it can really make the home look much better, and cleaner too. The grass should be freshly mowed and raked if necessary.... Essentially, do everything you can to make the home look its best... While editing can be done to make the photos look better, it is really best to have the home really looking good for when prospective buyers come to see it in person. The photos may get the buyers to show up, but the true condition of the home along with the price is what will really sell it. Make sure the sellers are aware that they need to look at their home from a different perspective, almost as if they were looking at it to buy it all over again.... Make the necessary changes to get the home in its best shape possible, which will in turn pay off many times over with more money, and a faster sale... Nobody wants to buy someone else's maintenance problems, or dirty house.... The right repairs, painting, staging and de-cluttering, along with proper marketing (and good photos of course) ;) can more than pay for themselves, and they can be extremely profitable too.