Yes. The toilet seats need to be down.

We can do a lot with cameras.

We cannot make a pile of laundry disappear through sheer artistic vision.

A little preparation before a real estate photography appointment makes a massive difference — in the photos, in the time on site, and in how the listing feels online. So here's the list.

The obvious stuff

• Clear excessive clutter from floors and surfaces.
• Make the beds. All of them, including the one nobody sleeps in.
• Wipe down visible surfaces — counters, glass, mirrors, appliance fronts.
• Put the toilet seats down. This is the whole reason this note has a title.
• Hide toiletries, toothbrushes and shampoo bottles.
• Remove trash cans from rooms when practical.
• Put away dishes and empty the sink.
• Clear unnecessary items off kitchen counters. Keep one or two nice things.
• Tuck away visible cords and chargers where you can.

None of this is about hiding how people live. It's about giving a buyer a clean view of the room instead of a scavenger hunt.

Lights

• Replace burned-out bulbs before shoot day.
• Avoid wildly mismatched bulb temperatures in the same room.
• Check that fixtures and lamps actually switch on.
• Leave lights and blinds to the photographer — we'll decide what serves each room.

Your kitchen does not need to contain three different interpretations of the color white.

Outside

• Move vehicles off the driveway and away from the front of the house.
• Hide trash and recycling bins.
• Coil and stash hoses.
• Tidy toys, tools and yard equipment.
• Clean the pool if there is one.
• Turn on exterior features — fountains, fire features — if we've asked.
• Handle obvious yard clutter. Fresh mow if the timing allows.

Pets

Ideally, pets are secured somewhere safe while we work — a crate, a closed room, a walk with a neighbor, a trip to the park. Bowls, beds, litter boxes and toys are easy to move out of frame if they're gathered in one place beforehand.

We like your dog. Your dog may not like our tripod.

What we are not

We're photographers. We're happy to make small reasonable adjustments while working — straighten a chair, move a stray remote, close a laptop.

We are not a cleaning crew, moving company, staging company or landscaping service. If the house needs an hour of work, that hour has to happen before we arrive, or it happens during the appointment we all scheduled.

The ten-minute test

Ten minutes before the photographer arrives, walk through the house as if you're seeing it for the first time in an online listing.

Look at

• Counters
• Floors
• Beds
• Mirrors
• Cords
• Trash
• Toiletries
• Pet items
• Cars
• Bins

If something immediately grabs your attention in person, there's a good chance it'll grab attention in a photo too. Fix that one thing. Then let us in.

Our full shoot-day expectations live on the before you book page, and packages are on the pricing page.

Ready?