Friday Fun Tips: Getting your home ready for real estate photos

1. Make a good first impression with cleaning up outside. Mow the lawn, rake leaves, clear out dead plants, add florals. If you don't take care of your lawn and landscaping, people are likely to assume you don't take care of the inside, either.

2. De-clutter! Clear the counter tops, coffee tables, dining table. Put away children's toys (in the backyard, too). Make sure shoes and coats are cleared out of the foyer.

3. De-personalize! Put away the picture frames. People want to be able to picture their own families in a potential new home.

4. Park cars in the garage or across the street.

5. Tidy up hoses, pool accessories, lawn tools. Skim the pool.

6. Make sure all lights have working bulbs. All lights will typically be on during a photo shoot.

7. Hide your valuables. Remember that photos placed onto MLS will be available online for public view.

8. Clean mirrors, oven doors, etc. Gleaming surfaces photograph much better!

9. Corral the animals. Love them as I do, they don't belong in real estate photos and tend to follow me around from room to room. Despite the fact that you may be super clean, you don't want someone to see a pet in your photos and wonder if the house smells like cat litter.

10. Open all the blinds and curtains for the exterior photo. You want a home to appear inviting, not closed off to the world!

Bonus tip: Hire a stager! They know how to make a space look brighter, bigger, and better!

Real Estate Photography with Team Sastoque

In 2008 I got married, and in 2009, my husband and I were ready for the next big step. No, not kids yet - we wanted to purchase our first house! This is when I first met Bettina and Juan Sastoque. They were so patient with my 5,000 questions, and really cared about finding us a new home that we would be happy with. Seeing how passionate they are about what they do, I am honored to be a part of their team, and would love for you to get to know them as I have!

JJP: What do you love most about what you do?

Bettina Sastoque: The reason we love our job is two-fold. First, we love working as Realtors because it allows us to work together as a family and as a team towards one common goal. Second, we love the opportunity to be a part of one of the most important ventures in most peoples lives. For most of our friends, the most impactful time of their lives is getting married, having a baby and purchasing a family home. It's a great honor when someone allows us to be a part of that.

JJP: You were definitely an important part of a huge step for us as newlyweds looking for our first home. We feel so lucky to have had you there to lead us through it. What do you think sets you apart from other real estate agents?

BS: There are a lot of great real estate agents that we get to work with, but the thing that sets us apart is that we both work actively together in real estate. I think that there is really something special about a husband and wife team. In this business, you really need the support at home, so that you can support your clients as they go through their selling/buying experience. We are able to tag team and make sure that our clients are well taken care of. More importantly, outside of the two of us, we have a phenomenal support team, including lenders, title company, escrow officers, stager, photographer, and more that help us successfully take care of our clients... I guess, in answer to your question about what sets us apart from other great Realtors, we have each other and a great team to help our clients reach their house selling and purchasing goal.

JJP: How has having a real estate photographer on your team helped your listings?
BS: Oh my goodness! Changing to using you as our photographer has definitely increased the number of times someone looks at our properties online. Plus, we have more showings on our properties than the average property listed. The reason photography is so important is because over 90% of homes are previewed online. Buyers first input the criteria of the property they are looking for, typical criteria include price, location, and square footage. From there, they check out the picture(s) online to decide whether to view the property or not. I know, from working with buyers, that they will more likely look at a house with great photos than a house with yucky photos. Also, Realtors take more seriously properties that have 25 photos than properties that only have a few photos.


JJP: If you are in the Collin County area and looking to buy or sell a home, I highly encourage you to give them a call. I find the challenges of real estate photography to be incredibly fun and interesting. If you know any other motivated real estate agents or someone selling their home, I would love to hear from them.

Click here to read about my current $99 Real Estate Photography Special Offer!

Friday Fun Tips: Photographing Fireworks

As many of us will be heading out to 4th of July celebrations this weekend, I thought I would share a few tips on how to get better photographs of fireworks.

• Turn off your flash!
• Do most of your photography during the first part of the show. Smoke builds up from the fireworks, and can make pictures hazy as it gets later. Try to avoid being downwind of the display for the same reason.
• Consider your location before the show. Do you want the skyline as a backdrop? Or do you want to be close and shooting up toward the sky?
• Shoot frequently! It's the digital age and those shots don't cost you a dime. You never know what is coming next that might be dazzlingly awesome. And once you've seen it, it may be too late for your camera to catch it.
• Bring a tripod if you can. This will help with using slower shutter speeds to capture the nighttime color.
• Play with shutter speed. Try slowing it down and opening the shutter just before the firework explodes.
• Shoot in landscape or infinity focus mode. Some cameras will have difficulty auto focusing on fireworks and you may need to manually focus if you have the option.

Have fun, be safe, bring mosquito repellant!