5 Most-Loved Listing Photos and Best Practices for Capturing Them

"L...is for the way you look at.... Listings?"

OK, so that might be a stretch, but click here to hear Nat sing while you sway with me and read through our tips for taking the listing photos that buyers love.

As we all know, if you really want buyers to fall in love with your listings in 2015, you need to make a mega-splash with your online listing photos.

Check out this quick slideshow and our tips below for creating a little more love for your listings this weekend.

Trulia research shows that visitors not only spend most of their time on our site looking at photos, but also that when it comes to pictures, having a single shot from your cell phone is not enough. Here are a few photo elements that mattered.

• 76.6% of buyers say number of photos is very important.
• 74.6% of buyers and sellers say the quality/clarity is very important.
• 82.6% of buyers and sellers say it's very important that photos show the right areas.
• 84% of buyers and sellers said they would not consider buying a photo-less listing.

What does this mean for agents?

To create the listing love you need to sell during this market season, follow these five simple tips:

1. Uncover the Killer Kitchen

Buyers won't get the full impact of your listing's awesome kitchen if your seller's stuff is in the way. Here are three steps to taking great photos that uncover a property's killer kitchen:

1. Get the sellers inspired – Before your clients start shifting, prepping, and self-staging, encourage them to take a watch a home design show or thumb through a home fashion magazine.
2. Declutter – The second step is all about clearing out the unnecessary junk. The best rule of thumb here is: if you wouldn't see it on a home décor show, then it needs to go.
3. Highlight high-end items – When it comes time to capture the shot, make sure you capture close ups or shots that highlight interesting features like custom back splashes, high-end appliances, and other luxury features buyers love.

2. Flaunt Your Fantastic Front-Shots

Among these other varieties of listing photos that attract the best buyers, research has found that the front of a house is the second most important shot for helping it to sell, but snapping a drive-by shot won't get you the offers you need.

To get high-quality shots which generate buyer interest ...

• Shoot in season – no one wants to see snow on the ground if it's sun-shiny outside.
• Snap when the light is behind you – One great classic tip is to use the sun as your natural flash. Always shoot with it over your shoulder.

3. Make Them Marvel at the Master

If you browse through Trulia listings, you'll quickly find out that there are master bedrooms and then there are MASTER bedrooms. Here are two tips for making sure your photos capture the master feel:

• Angle for success – When capturing the master bedroom, take your pictures from corners to really show off the room's dimensions. Also be sure that your angles don't crop out great windows, built-ins, or other sellable features like crown molding.
• Pull out the tripod – Master bedrooms are full of straight lines. That means a shaky or tilted camera can easily ruin these photos. If you have a tripod, use it.

4. Bathe the Head Bath in Style

Bathrooms are a great place to focus on when trying to add a luxury feel to your listings online. Paying attention to these small details can go a long way. Here are a few bathroom photo recommendations from street savvy agents like you.

• Close the toilet lid
• Accent with fresh towels
• Clean before you shoot

For more guidance on how to take quality listing photos of bathrooms, check out these listing photo turn-offs to learn from other agents' mistakes about what not to do.

5. Stage the Living Room like You're on a Mission

There's a difference between showing a space and showing off a space. In the spirit of the latter, the main thing that will take your living room shots from sufficient to offer-inspiring is your staging.

To make sure the time spent on prepping and shooting the living room is well spent ...

• Learn and implement these 10 hardcore staging tactics.
• When choosing your staging ammo, make sure you target your ideal buyer with the accessories and furniture. If the property would make a first time home for a bachelor, you might want to stay away from big floral couches. On the other side, if your home is great for a growing family, make sure you show off important family features like storage.

We all know photos sell homes, but the choices you make can have a huge impact on whether or not viewers click "contact an agent." Follow these 5 steps to create the photos that bring you closer to a commission.

This article was originally published on the Trulia Pro blog. You can find the original version of this article and more listing photo and staging tips here.