Photo-ready, then showing-ready

Photography is a subtraction game. Rooms read bigger with less in them, and buyers scrolling Realtor.ca flick past a photo in a second or two. Nothing you pack away is wasted effort, either - you’re moving anyway.

• Kitchen counters down to one or two things you actually use. Everything off the fridge door.
• Pack away half of what’s in the closets. They read twice the size, and at showings, closets get opened.
• Take down most family photos. Buyers stop and study them instead of the room - and strangers will be walking through your home.
• Bathroom counters: empty. A drawer or one basket holds the daily kit.
• Cords, chargers, and cables out of sight.
• Replace burnt-out bulbs, and match the colour while you’re at it - a warm lamp next to a cool ceiling light photographs badly.
• Fix the small stuff you’ve stopped noticing: the dripping tap, the door that sticks, the scuffed baseboard.
• Outside: mow, sweep, bins and hoses out of sight, and wash the front door. The first photo on the listing is usually the front of the house.

If a room is doing two jobs - office plus gym, say - pick one job and stage for it. A confused room photographs worst of all.

Clean to have-guests-over standard, then a notch past it. The camera finds what eyes forgive.

• Windows and mirrors, inside. Smudges show at full size.
• Stainless appliances wiped down; sink empty and dry.
• Beds made tight, fresh towels folded, toilet lids down.
• Pet bowls, beds, and the litter box into the garage or a cupboard.
• Garbage and recycling out of the house.

• Every light on, lamps included. Blinds and curtains open, sills clear.
• Ceiling fans off - they blur in photos.
• Cars off the driveway, garage door closed.
• Pets out of the house if you can manage it, crated away from the action if you can’t.

Give the photographer two to three hours and room to work. They’ll nudge furniture and move small things between shots; that’s the job, not a critique.

You’ll do this often, so make it a routine, not a project. Same order every time. Keep a “showing basket” by the door: last-minute clutter goes in, basket goes in the car.

• Dishes in the dishwasher, counters wiped.
• Beds made.
• Every light on before buyers arrive - daytime included.
• Blinds open, toilet lids down, towels straight.
• Litter box scooped, pet bowls up.
• Quick vacuum at the entry. It’s the first floor they see, and on the wet coast it takes the beating.
• Air the place out. Skip candles and plug-ins - a masked smell reads as a hidden problem. Cracking a window for ten minutes works better.
• Temperature set to comfortable: warm in winter, cool in summer.
• A clear spot by the door for shoes, and the feature sheets your agent prepared out on the kitchen counter.

Nearly everyone who books a showing is exactly who they say they are. Lock things up anyway - it makes every showing worry-free instead of watchful.

• Prescription medications. This is the item people forget, and the one nobody notices missing until later.
• Jewelry, cash, and small electronics.
• Mail, bills, anything showing account numbers.
• Spare keys - all of them, including the junk-drawer ones.
• Laptops and tablets, or take them with you.

You don’t need to be there - plan to leave. Every buyer walks through with their own licensed agent, so strangers never come through unaccompanied. Buyers also linger longer and talk more freely when the owner isn’t home, and a longer visit is a better visit. Run the reset above, unlock, and go get a coffee.

If you’d rather be home, that’s fine. Greet buyers at the door, point out the feature sheet, then step back. Buyers need to open closets and whisper to each other; follow them room to room and they’ll cut the visit short.

House facts - roof age, furnace, what’s included, strata details - are in the feature sheet your agent prepared. If a buyer asks you directly, answer plainly. But three topics always go to your agent - price, why you’re selling, and your timeline. Anything you volunteer on those weakens your negotiating position. The sentence that does the job: “Our agent handles that side - I’ll have them follow up with you today.”

Afterwards, log the showing in your dashboard while it’s fresh. What buyers asked about is signal your agent uses when the offers come.

Booking vendors is your side of the split, but you don’t have to find them cold. These are contacts we work with - you’re free to use anyone you like.