Real Estate Photography Prep Checklist (Free to Copy)
A real estate photography prep checklist to copy and send to agents and homeowners: room by room, a morning-of list, and what editing can't fix.
A real estate photography prep checklist needs to cover four things: every room (lights, blinds, clutter), the rooms that photograph hardest (kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms), the outside (cars, bins, lawn), and a short list for the morning of the shoot. Send it twice, at booking and again the day before. Keep the second one to a single screen, and make it a link the agent can forward. Both versions are below, ready to copy.
It matters because of mornings like this one. You pull up to 218 Glenwood Avenue five minutes before a 10:30 shoot. There’s a pickup in the driveway, the bins are lined up by the garage, and the living room blinds sit at four different heights. Jordan Meyers at Hartwell Realty did get your checklist, but he never passed it on, and now the homeowners are apologizing in the doorway while the good light moves across the yard.
The full real estate photography prep checklist, room by room
When a homeowner asks how to prepare a house for real estate photos, this is the answer to send. It’s the long version, for your website, a PDF, or the email that goes out at booking, while the homeowner still has days to clear the garage and mow. Edit it to match how you shoot, then copy it.
Every room
- Turn on every light and lamp, including under-cabinet and range-hood lights
- Replace dead bulbs, and keep bulb colors matched within each room
- Open blinds and curtains, all set the same way
- Turn off ceiling fans, TVs and computer screens
- Pick up shoes, bags, cords, chargers and remotes
- Dust, vacuum, and wipe mirrors and glass
Kitchen
- Clear the counters down to one or two decorative pieces
- Put away the dish rack, sponges, soap, dish towels and trash can
- Clear the front of the fridge of magnets, photos, calendars and school notes
- Empty the sink and close the dishwasher
- Put away small appliances you don’t use every day
Bathrooms
- Clear counters, tub edges and shower shelves of toiletries
- Close toilet lids
- Hang fresh matching towels, folded neatly, or put them away
- Hide the trash can, toilet brush, plunger, scale and bath mats
- Wipe mirrors and glass shower doors
Bedrooms
- Make the beds and smooth the covers
- Clear nightstands down to a lamp
- Put away clothes, laundry baskets and shoes, and close closet doors
- In kids’ rooms, put toys in a bin and take down anything with a child’s name
Living and dining areas
- Straighten cushions, fold throws and clear the coffee table
- Clear the dining table, or set it simply
- Put away gaming gear, piles of mail and paperwork
Outside
- Move cars off the driveway, and out of the street in front if possible
- Put away trash and recycling bins, hoses, ladders, tools and toys
- Close the garage door
- Mow, edge and sweep the paths and driveway a day or two before
- Take the covers off the pool, grill and patio furniture, and hide pool toys and the cleaner
Pets, people and privacy
- Plan for pets to be out of the house, or contained out of sight
- Hide pet bowls, beds, crates and litter boxes
- Plan for occupants to be out, or together in one room the photographer can skip
- Put away mail, prescriptions, valuables and anything with a family name on it
- Take down family photos where you can, since listing photos are public
Closets and the garage make good temporary storage on most shoots, because they usually aren’t photographed. Have the homeowner check with the agent first if either one is.
What should the homeowner do the morning of the shoot?
The morning is for the jobs that daily life undoes overnight: lights, blinds, cars, bins, beds and counters. This list is deliberately short. It belongs in the day-before reminder, and it’s the one worth forwarding to whoever will actually be at the house.
Please run through this list on the morning of the shoot, so the photos show the home at its best.
Outside:
- Move cars off the driveway and out of the street in front of the home
- Put trash bins, hoses, tools and toys out of sight
- Close the garage door
- Leave the sprinklers off so paths and the driveway are dry
Inside:
- Turn on every light and lamp, and replace any dead bulbs
- Open all blinds and curtains, and set them all the same way
- Turn off ceiling fans, TVs and computer screens
- Clear kitchen and bathroom counters, including the dish rack, soap and toiletries
- Make the beds and tidy every room
- Close toilet lids and hang fresh towels, or put them away
- Put away mail, medications, valuables and anything with a name on it
During the shoot:
- Pets out of the house, or out of sight, with bowls, beds and litter boxes hidden
- Occupants out, or together in one room we can skip
What not to do before the photographer arrives
Nothing moving, nothing half done, and nothing stuffed where the camera goes. Many of these mistakes come from homeowners trying to help, so it’s worth naming them in your checklist:
- Ceiling fans left spinning. Moving blades blur, and a fan switched off as you walk in is still turning when you set up.
- Half-open blinds. Blinds at different heights read as mess in a wide shot. Photographers differ on whether they want blinds raised or slats tilted open, so say which you prefer. The mix is what ruins the shot.
- Clutter hidden in the shower or tub. Glass showers and tubs get photographed. Use a closet.
- Cleaning still under way. A vacuum cord, a mop bucket or a wet floor in the frame means a retake.
- Sprinklers on that morning. Wet patches on the driveway and paths look like stains in the photos.
- Following the photographer room to room. People and pets show up in mirrors and windows.
What can you fix in editing, and what can’t you?
Editing fixes light and color well, removes objects slowly, and shouldn’t change anything that’s a real part of the property. Share the table below with any agent who asks whether you can “just edit it out.”
| Problem on shoot day | Fixable in editing? | Better before the shoot |
|---|---|---|
| Gray or blown-out sky | Yes, sky replacement is a routine edit | Nothing to do, but check your MLS’s labeling rules |
| Window glare, color casts | Usually, with normal editing | Open the blinds and turn on every light |
| Mixed bulb colors | Partly, and it takes time on every photo | Match the bulbs in each room |
| Dead bulb in a fixture | Not convincingly | Replace it |
| TV left on | Yes, the screen can be darkened | Turn it off |
| Car in the driveway, bins at the curb | Slowly, photo by photo, and in some markets removing objects counts as an alteration | Move them |
| Cluttered counters | Not realistically, with dozens of small objects | Clear them |
| Spinning ceiling fan | Not cleanly | Fan off before the photographer arrives |
| Uneven blinds, unmade beds, toilet lids up | Not worth trying | Fix them on a final walk-through |
| Streaky windows and mirrors | No | Clean the glass |
| Brown or patchy lawn | Possible, but some MLSs restrict landscaping edits | Mow and water in the days before |
| Utility poles, power lines, a neighbor’s junk | Shouldn’t be removed | Work the angle and leave them in |
The bottom rows aren’t about editing skill. Listing rules treat some removals as misrepresentation. California’s CRMLS says in its digitally altered images FAQ that users can’t “add, remove, or modify any real part of a property,” and it lists landscaping among the examples. San Diego MLS’s rules, as summarized in its January 2026 update, require a “Digitally Altered” label and a link to the unaltered original when software adds, removes or changes elements, and they name utility poles and views through windows as examples. Rhode Island’s State-Wide MLS recommended in 2023 against removing utility poles, junk piles or water towers, or adding a view. Rules vary by MLS or listing portal and keep changing, so check yours before promising an agent anything.
A gray sky is the friendliest problem on the list. If you use Spatiko, AI Studio can replace the sky on an order’s photos, and you review every result before it goes to the client. Whether a swapped sky needs a label depends on your market, so the same check applies.
What does a skipped checklist cost you?
Usually a second trip, or an evening of editing that nobody pays for. Take that morning at 218 Glenwood Avenue, a 3,240 sq ft home booked for HDR Photography at a sample price of $240 with 75 minutes on site. Add 30 minutes of driving each way, and the job takes about 2 hours 15 minutes, which works out to roughly $107 an hour.
Now the truck and the bins mean you shoot the interiors and come back another day for the exteriors: 20 minutes on site plus another hour on the road. The same $240 now covers about 3 hours 35 minutes, closer to $67 an hour. The figures are illustrative, so plug in your own. Edit the clutter out instead and the cost moves to your evening, along with the turnaround time you promised the agent.
How do you get homeowners to actually use it?
Send it twice, keep the second one short, and make it a link the agent can pass on. The agent who books is rarely the person who moves the cars.
- At booking. That’s when the homeowner still has days for the slow jobs, like decluttering, mowing and buying bulbs. Some published checklists suggest sending it 24 to 48 hours ahead, which only leaves time for the quick fixes.
- The day before. The morning-of list belongs in the reminder, when it’s about to matter.
- Short beats complete. The reminder version should read on a phone without much scrolling.
- A link, not an attachment. A page forwards in one tap and opens on any phone. A PDF attached to the agent’s confirmation tends to stay in the agent’s inbox.
- Your policy in one line. Say what you won’t do (“we don’t move furniture or clean”) and what happens if the driveway isn’t clear.
- Access details on the booking form. Lockbox and gate codes change with every listing, so collect them as booking questions rather than in the checklist.
In Spatiko, the property prep guide takes care of the timing. You write the checklist once in Settings → Documents, or link your own PDF or Canva design, and switch it on. From then on it goes out with the booking confirmation and the day-before reminder on every booking with a scheduled shoot. A guide you write there also gets a shareable page with your branding, where the homeowner can tick items off on their phone or print it, with no account needed. The text box holds 1,500 characters, and the morning-of list above fits with room to spare.
The checklist is free to copy, whatever you book with. Getting it to the right person twice, without having to remember, is the part worth handing off. When agents book through Spatiko, the confirmation, the reminder and your prep guide go out on their own.
Frequently asked questions
Is prepping a house for photos the same as staging it?
No. Prep is tidying what's already there: clearing counters, making beds, hiding bins and opening blinds, and the homeowner can do it in an evening. Staging means bringing in or rearranging furniture and decor to sell a lifestyle, and it's a separate service the agent or seller arranges. A well-prepped occupied home often needs no staging at all for the photos.
Do real estate photographers clean or move furniture?
Many will straighten a pillow or nudge a chair, but cleaning, decluttering and moving furniture is the homeowner's or the agent's job. Whatever your policy is, put it in one line on your checklist, so nobody expects you to clear a kitchen counter on the clock.
How should you prep a vacant home for photos?
A vacant home skips the decluttering but shows everything else. Check that the power is on and every bulb works, clear out leftover paint cans, ladders and moving boxes, and clean floors, windows and mirrors, because empty rooms show every streak and scuff. Ask the agent whether the home will be staged before the shoot, so you don't end up photographing it twice.
Do twilight and drone shoots need extra prep?
Yes. For twilight, every interior light, porch light and landscape light needs to be on and working, with window coverings open so the rooms glow from outside. For drone work the roof, yard, driveway and street are all in the frame, so cars, bins, pool covers and yard clutter matter even more. Both depend on the weather, so confirm the day before.
What should you do if the house isn't ready when you arrive?
Shoot what's ready and agree a plan for the rest with the agent: wait a set time while the homeowner fixes it, come back for the exteriors, or reschedule. Decide your wait-time or return-trip fee in advance and put it in your booking terms, so it's a policy you can point to rather than an argument on the driveway.