You should obviously do a little cleaning around. Eventually - the very buyer who is going to end up buying your house - will be seeing these photos, videos, and the virtual tour. So pretend like some rich buyer is in town, and he's coming in to see your house first. Impress them! Try to depersonalize as much as possible, and here's how to do it.
Clean and clear all counter tops
Bathrooms: Leave only essential items. Make sure to freshen up the counter top. Don't hide your beautiful floor with rugs - hide the rugs if you can!
Showers: Hide your soaps and washing cloths, as much as possible.
Kitchen: Empty out the sink and its area (no yellow sponges, soaps, etc). Big appliances like instapot or a coffee machines may remain, but remove anything that you can - like a toaster for example. Food boxes, paperwork, fridge magnets - should go away.
Please put away paper towels.
Light on. Fans off. Blinds up.
Lights: Replace bulbs, don't forget to light lamps, any accent light that you may have - turn it on, make the house look beautiful!
Fans: OFF - we use slow shutter speed and a moving fan will not be visible on photos.
Blinds: We want to see what's outside the window. If you are shy about your neighbors or have other reasons to keep blinds down, please angle them at 45 degrees such that the light bounces up from them into the ceiling.
Clear out driveway.
Please make sure to keep the driveway clear on top of the appointment time. This is where the shoot will start. Don't park your car across the house, we'll see it outside of the window, keep that in mind when looking for a place to park your car at.
There should be no trashcans, water hose, shoes, or any other gardening tools visible from the street or the backyard. Please either use the side of the house or the garage to hide these items
Where to hide from the camera?
Please be ready to spend two or more hours in one of your smaller bedrooms. Host your agent in the same bedroom if you're planning on conducting business - I know the kitchen table is more tempting, but we need that space to be free and clear of any traffic. Be ready to get out of the room for a few moments when it's that room's moment of fame. If we're producing video or virtual tour for your house don't get too far from that bedroom because we're gotta do that all over again.
Virtual Open House is a real estate media solution that helps bring any house to the internet using latest media technology such as aerial imagery, 360 virtual tour, and video breakthroughs, along with traditional real estate photography.