The most important photo of a home is the front exterior. The reason is that time and time again the listing agent is required to choose a single photo that is either featured most prominently (as on web sites) or the only photo (as in print media ads where there are only space for one photo). In these cases this single has the job of creating enough excitement to get the prospective buyer to click a link for more information or make the call to the agent to ask for more information. Many MLS’s require this photo to be an external photo.

Because of the importance of this single photo as much time, thought and expense should be focused on creating and choosing this single photo as all the other photos put together. You want grab the attention the potential buyer and get them to take action. It’s difficult to state rules for doing this. Twilight shots are just one approach. Some homes require a low altitude aerial shot because they are so obscured by vegetation or neighboring homes. Frequently, just making sure the sky is not burned out will allow the sky to add emotional punch. Finding an unusual angle other than street level can add interest.

One thing that makes a boring exterior shot is a straight-on front shot that makes the home look like a flat facade with no depth. It is usually more interesting to take a “3/4” shot where you can see that the home has depth or even reveal details of the side yard or backyard.

Let’s face it some homes are just plain ugly. We had a listing last year that was so ugly that I used a twilight shot so you couldn’t see much of the home.

This actually worked quite well by obscuring many aspects of the home that were not attractive in the daylight.

Many times a straight-on shot accentuates the garage, large driveway or street. These are usually not the most important features. In short, do everything you can to make the front external shot look great and to show as many of the homes important or unique features with this single shot.

Condominiums are always a challenge. For condominiums where a photo of the front of a particular unit in the condo is tipically not inspiring I recommend a wide shot that shows the whole condominium structure and it’s surrounding environment so the buyer has a feel for the setting. Here is an example:

On this condo listing I even marked where the particular unit was we were selling. Not very elegant I admit but I wanted to show where the unit was because this was a very desirable location next to the greenbelt. I believe in this front shot you want to convey as much information as possible. A photo like this shows where the unit is as well as well as a complete feeling of the whole condo environment.