Selling your home? Here’s how to increase your viewings and offers.
You’ve made the decision. You're going to sell your home and you’ve picked the estate agent you want to do that with. It’s time to schedule the photographer and get your house listed.
Selling a home in Malta, much like anywhere, is a process and searching for the right property can be daunting. Your agent will do a lot of the work to get your listing in front of as many potential buyers as possible, but the truth of the matter is that the initial work comes from you.
It may appear obvious but a higher quality set of photographs can pave the way for a quicker sale and, occasionally, a higher offer. The best photographs will be marketed across Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, locally and internationally. Video also now plays a huge role in real estate as many buyers will aim to take a virtual tour of a property before ever stepping foot inside the real thing. It saves time and effort all around. Alongside digital marketing campaigns and beautiful photography, video tours are included in our selling fee.
Here at Curbsy, we believe that every home has a story and we have a passion for helping people not only find their dream home but getting the best out of their current one. This includes photographing your home before we can start advertising it. Our motto that we adhere to religiously is ‘honest but beautiful’ and our photographs are just that. We will never deceive you with wide-angle shots or unrealistic editing.
Homeseekers tend to make up their minds in seconds when perusing properties online so it’s vital that the seller and agency have a symbiotic relationship and work together to give a home the best possible chance (that means finally tackling that pile of laundry in the corner of the room or sorting through the garage that’s always been an “I’ll do it tomorrow” job. We see you 👀).
If we could give you one prevailing piece of advice on how to approach what to include in a photograph, it would be this:
If in doubt, take it out.
Read on for our tips on how to accurately prepare a home for professional photography with accompanying examples that illustrate some of these points.
General Rules
There are a few tips that apply across the board in most homes when it comes to making sure a room is presentable and photograph ready. These are:
🧡 Remove all personal photographs from tables and counters.
🧡 Remove any laptops or other personal electronics.
🧡 Hide electrical cables where possible.
🧡 Hide all ashtrays.
🧡 If you have pets, hide the food/water bowls and beds.
🧡 Make shiny surfaces sparkle. With all the dust in Malta, glass gets dirty quickly. Clean mirrors thoroughly but be careful they’re not reflecting any people, animals or anything you don’t want in your photograph.
🧡 Open any curtains and blinds to ensure maximum natural light and wash all the windows — this makes a big difference with the light coming in (be aware that too much light doesn’t always look great in photos, try to schedule photographs at a time of a day when the sun is up but not fully overhead — we recommend 8am to 10am, or 4pm to 5pm).
Living Room
The living area is where we tend to relax and spend most of our downtime with friends and family. Our top suggestions for improving this space include:
🧡 Turn the TV off and hide remotes.
🧡 Remove newspapers, mail, magazines and any children’s toys.
🧡 Fluff and arrange the sofa pillows.
Dining Room
The dining room is usually a place where people gather at very specific times of the day and has a distinct purpose. To help keep this space clean and tidy, try doing the following:
🧡 Clearing the table.
🧡 Dusting and polishing the tabletop.
🧡 Placing any bouquets or decorative settings in the centre of the table, if you have them.
🧡 Straightening all chairs and spacing them evenly.
Kitchen
The kitchen is the heart of most homes, and it is often the room people want to see most. It is worth remembering that a spotless kitchen will sell a home faster. To achieve this, make sure to:
🧡 Clean off countertops of everything except your prettiest appliances.
🧡 Remove all cleaning products from view.
🧡 Hide all towels, dishcloths and sponges.
🧡 Wipe down the countertops until they gleam.
🧡 Hide all rubbish bins.
🧡 Remove all magnets from the refrigerator.
🧡 Leave out fruit in a bowl.
These photos provide a great example of how well these tips work in practice — just look at the difference before and after.
Bedrooms
A space to unwind and rest, the bedroom should exude calm and comfort. To make this possible, you should:
🧡 Make the bed with your nicest bedding and tightly pull the duvet or blanket to remove wrinkles. Consider ironing the covers as well — it makes a huge difference in photos!
🧡 Clear the nightstands of any personal items except lamps.
🧡 Hide any electrical cables.
🧡 Remove any clothes.
Bathrooms
We tend to associate our bathrooms with privacy and hygiene and look for a reflection of these in the photographs of potential new homes. Not dissimilar to a kitchen, the connotations of a dirty or dishevelled space can be harmful to the overall opinion of your property. In order to prevent this, we recommend:
🧡 Closing the toilet lid (we will not display any photos with open toilet lids).
🧡 Hiding all towels and toiletries, plus giving all surfaces a good scrub, removing any hairs, smears or stains.
Ultimately, we all want to present the best possible version of our homes to attract buyers and we all take a certain amount of pride in attaining the required standard. We hope this guide will help you do that. Just remember: if in doubt, take it out.
Want a little more?
If you would rather we prepare your home to get the best photographs possible, we are happy to provide a cleaning and photo-staging service. We can deep clean, remove old clutter and organise your home to show it at its beautiful best. Prices are reasonable and vary depending on the size of the home and the services needed. Please get in touch if you are interested by emailing support@curbsy.com.mt or give us a call on +356 7988 8117 to speak to a Curbsy team member.
