Sublet Your Apartment at Light-Speed with Fantastic Photos
When you’re trying to sublet your apartment, appealing photographs are critical for your marketing efforts. It’s why we’ve collected examples of good photos and not-so good photos, and included some how-to tips on creating excellent sublet photographs.
A picture is worth more than a thousand words in the subletting game. It can be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Yet it seems to be an afterthought for many renters.
That’s not a smart move. In the real estate game, Realtors who use professional real estate photographs in their marketing sell their listed homes 32 percent faster than other listings.
To prove our point, take a look at some examples of good sublet photos, and some very bad sublet photos.
The Good Sublet Photos
Before we delve into some examples of great apartment photos, let’s review some of the basics of good sublet staging.
“Staging” is a term used in real estate: It’s preparing a home (or apartment) for sale or rent by making it look as appealing as possible. Here are some apartment staging tips to follow:
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Show the apartments best features. Is it a sunny apartment? Make sure you shoot photos during the day. Excellent appliances? Feature them prominently. Put your apartment’s best foot forward.
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Advertise the amenities. If your apartment has a great workout room or pool area, include it in your photos. Amenities can be the difference-maker for a subletter.
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Floor them with your floors and ceilings. Gleaming hardwoods, new carpets, high ceilings – any type of attractive flooring or ceiling should be featured.
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Declutter, declutter, declutter. Eliminating clutter makes your apartment look bigger. In the examples below, note the counters are free of papers, purses, etc.
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Store your personal photos and collectibles. Stash the knick-knacks and personal photos. You want a subletter to think of it as their apartment, so de-personalize the decor.
Good Sublet Photo #1: It may not be a spectacular kitchen, but they’ve made it look its very best. Counters are clean and uncluttered. The photo showcases how bright and sunny the room is during the day. Floors are clean and the decor is tasteful.
Good Sublet Photo #2: The apartments best feature is showcased – the three sliding doors that allow ample light into the room. Clean, well-cared for hardwoods are also nicely displayed.
Good Sublet Photo #3: Another clean, clutter-free kitchen. The black appliances stand out, as do the granite countertops.
Good Sublet Photo #4: A good example of how a tastefully decorated room can really make an impression. The bright, sunny windows are evident, but they are shot correctly so the rest of the room doesn’t appear dark.
The Bad Sublet Photos
Ok, so you’ve seen how to do it right. So what are the typical sublet photobombs (as in, they blow up their chances to sublet)?
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Avoid lighting problems. We’ll provide links on how to shoot with light at the end of this post, but as a rule, shoot at an angle or mitigate the light in some way. The window-glare shouldn’t make the apartment interior seem dark.
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Clean-up after yourself. You can be a slob all you want, just don’t broadcast it in your photos. That means no dirty dishes in the sink, no piles of dirty laundry on the floor, and no toothpaste on the counter.
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Take photos that make sense. Show entire rooms. Why did you take a picture of just a door or just a bed? If you focus in on specific parts, the room will seem small.
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Focus your photos. Grainy, blurry, poorly lit photos stop a subletter in their tracks. Check out some of the links at the end of the post for photography tips.
And without further ado, some not-so good sublet photos.
Bad Sublet Photo #1 – They get points for somewhat stylish chairs, but everything is cluttered together. Don’t just showcase the chairs. Show us the entire room – the floors look nice too!
Bad Sublet Photo #2: Uh-oh: Dark room. The glare of the window is overwhelming. Also the bed is unmade, and the dresser is cluttered and has slightly opened drawers. Nice floor, but we can’t see them because of the glare from the window.
Bad Sublet Photo #3: Why an extreme close-up of some dingy art and a headboard? Neither reveals anything about the apartment. Show us the room, not the objects in the room.
Bad Sublet Photo #4: One word: Blurry. This is actually the room in Bad Sublet Photo #3. The lighting appears much better here, but what good is that if it’s blurry?
Apologies to the folks who took the Bad Sublet Photos if we sound snarky. When you know better you do better!
Hopefully this post will shed some light (literally) on best practices for sublet photos. Here are some links to other tips on apartment staging and taking indoor photos. Good luck!
Best Apartment Staging Practices
Apartment Staging Ideas on Pinterest
Additional Staging Tips with Pictures
How to Shoot Photos Indoors
8 Tips for Getting Professional Indoor Photos
How to Shoot Indoor Photos with an iPhone
Subletting An Apartment, Faster and Smarter
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