Photos that sell your rental

Shoot in daylight, with curtains open and every light in the room turned on to fill in shadows — a room photographed on an overcast afternoon with the lights off looks smaller and less inviting than the same room photographed well, regardless of how good the camera is.

Lead your photo set with the single most distinctive feature of the property — the view, the pool, the unusual living room — not with the exterior or the driveway. The first photo decides whether someone keeps looking at the rest.

Show the whole space a guest will actually use: every bedroom, every bathroom, the kitchen, any outdoor space, and at least one photo that shows the view from the property if there is one worth showing. Owners who show only the best-looking two rooms and leave guests to guess about the rest create exactly the kind of uncertainty that makes someone book somewhere else instead.

Avoid heavy filters or editing that makes colours look unrealistic — guests notice the difference between the photos and the real room within minutes of arriving, and that gap shows up in reviews. A straightforwardly well-lit, accurate photo outperforms a dramatically edited one that doesn't match what's actually there.

Refresh photos when the property changes — new furniture, a renovated bathroom, a different season if the outdoor space looks very different in summer and winter. Photos from a previous version of the property set expectations that the current version won't meet.