1. Clean like everything’s covered in glitter

Cleaning your home for a viewing is common sense, and cleaning for a virtual tour photographer is no exception. “A camera is less forgiving than the human eye,” says Sally Scherer, home staging specialist with Enlightened Organizing, “The human eye can make sense of everything once you’re in the room.” On a screen, however, things look a lot starker, and the eye doesn’t always make sense like it does in real-time.

2. Make a good first impression

While there is a heavy focus on staging interiors of homes, don’t forget about the outside space! If the outside of the house looks neglected, people will assume the inside is neglected as well. When people show up for an in-person viewing, you’ll have the rest of the tour to try and win them back. When they’re sitting at home in their PJ’s simultaneously binging Netflix, they likely won’t make it through the door. Give them a reason to come inside.

3. Just fix it already

Often we learn to overlook the minor inconveniences in our living spaces. We add them to “the list” that never gets done. Now’s the time to make sure things are in working order! Change that really high lightbulb, replace that cracked moulding and fix that loose doorknob. All of these things will show up in a virtual tour. A few simple fixes can end up making a big difference!

4.Get lost!

You don’t want to ruin shots by sneaking a peak through the blinds, so treat the photography process like a home viewing and vacate! Bring your pets and their obvious belongings – beds, food/water dishes and anything else that screams a furry family member lives here. That way, potential buyers can focus on the selling points of the home, not how cute Rover looks sitting on your couch.