Your listing photography is the first introduction to your potential renters. The very first thing anyone does before even reading the details of the space is look at the photos. If the photos aren’t good, they’ll quickly move on to the next listing without even giving your rental a chance. So it is essential that you offer up great listing photography to engage potential renters and entice them to learn more. There are some pretty common mistakes property managers make when creating listing photography, here are the five most classic mistakes to avoid:

1. Blurry Or Small Photos

Blurry and small photos can be a huge problem, because if the picture isn’t clear, then no one can see the great amenities of your property. So before listing any photos do a little editing to make sure that anyone can look quickly at a photo and see all the important things you want to highlight. If the photo is bad quality, scrap it and take a new one.

2. Bad Lighting

Bad lighting is probably the most common mistake you can see in listing photography. Photos that are too dark not only do not properly display all the awesome features, but many people don't want to live in dark spaces. So dark photos can be a real turnoff to potential renters.

3. Cluttered Backgrounds

We’ve all seen the listings where there’s piles of laundry in the corner or stacks of moving boxes. This kind of picture will not attract any potential renters, so make sure to time your listing photography where you have sharp and clean backgrounds and can really highlight the space.

4. Over Editing

On the other end of the spectrum are property managers who use too many soft filters, turn the contrast up too high, and use too much warmth that the property ends up looking like a cartoon. It’s not a bad idea to make some adjustments to your photos to lighten the space or focus on a great amenity, but you can also get too heavy handed. If your photos are too edited, it will look like you are trying to cover up something which will definitely turn off potential renters.

5. Upload Issues

Finally, even if you have taken the best photos in the world if you upload them incorrectly you can have all kinds of issues from upside down photos to pixelation from low quality files to photos that don’t fit in the provided photo frames. Make sure that once you’ve uploaded your listing, you scroll through to make sure you’ve done it all correctly so you don’t turn off potential occupants.

Listing photographs are your very first impression, so you need to make sure you make a great one. Don’t lose potential residents over these avoidable common mistakes. For other listing tips, check out our blog at Occupancy Solutions. We have loads of advice to help your rental stand out!