Sellers have 'skin in the game' they need to be shown why
John Durrant
28 Mar 2026
•6 min read
The Most Expensive Mistake You Can Make When Selling Your Home Has Nothing to Do With the Price
Imagine two identical houses, side by side, going on the market in the same week. Same number of bedrooms, same size garden, same postcode. One sells quickly, above asking price, with multiple buyers competing. The other sits on the market for months, attracts a handful of half-hearted viewings, and eventually sells for less than it should have. The difference, in almost every case, comes down to one thing: the quality of the photographs.
This isn't opinion. In a 2013 blog, Rightmove tested two different images of the same kitchen as the main listing photo over consecutive 28-day periods, and one generated four times more enquiries than the other. Four times! The only variable was the photograph.
So why, given evidence like that, do so many properties still go to market looking as though they were photographed in a hurry on a grey Tuesday morning, with the washing-up in the sink and the bins still on the drive? The answer is simple: nobody had the conversation.
The Agent Is the Client's Marketing Department
One of the easiest parts of the listing process to overlook is the importance of preparing the property for its photography. Sellers aren't professionals when it comes to property marketing. That should be the domain of the estate agent. But most stand back from telling the emperor he's forgotten to get dressed that morning, not wanting to risk losing the instruction. The consequence is agents spend their own money trying to achieve the same price as the better-presented neighbour. The sale gets delayed, their brand gets damaged, and they lose the investment they made in the listing when the vendor moves to another agent and blames them for not selling the property.
So when an agent allows a property to be photographed as-found, train set in the master bedroom, half-dismantled motorcycle in the kitchen, the accumulated chaos of a busy family life on full display, they're not just doing their client a disservice. They're spending their own marketing budget trying to achieve the same result as the beautifully presented home that sold three doors down last month. It won't work. And the agent's brand takes the hit alongside the vendor's selling price.
Taking control of the pre-photography preparation isn't overstepping. It's doing the job properly.
The Good News: It's Mostly Common Sense
Over the years I photographed many hundreds of homes, I put together a preparation guide that I would share with vendors ahead of every shoot. In all that time, I can count on one hand the number of people who pushed back on it. Most vendors, once they understand what's at stake, are genuinely enthusiastic and often surprised that nobody had explained it to them before.
The guide covers everything from de-cluttering and lighting, to dressing beds, laying the dining table, and thinking carefully about what goes in and out of frame. This is a DIY approach for those who cannot afford a professional stylist or a significant outlay. It requires thought, a bit of time, and the understanding that the photographs taken on that day will be the single most powerful tool in attracting the best interest in their home.
The more people who are attracted to view a home, the greater the potential to achieve its optimal selling price. Rightmove's data shows that enquiries can quadruple with the best photography, and research from the US suggests that the best images can increase the perceived value of a property by up to 12%. Those are not trivial numbers when you consider what a few percentage points means on the sale price of a family home.
I've put the full preparation guide together as a leaflet that anyone is welcome to use and share with their vendors. You can view and download it here. Pass it on freely.
A Word on How to Have the Conversation
The one vendor I can recall who genuinely couldn't be bothered, that was, of course, entirely her prerogative. Which is why the guide I used always opened with a clear acknowledgement that everything within it was a recommendation, not a rule. The vendor is in charge of their own home. Our job is to give them the best possible information, explain what's at stake, and then support whatever decision they make.
But most people, when you explain that better photographs lead to more viewings, and more viewings lead to a better chance of achieving the asking price or exceeding it, are very willing to put in the effort. They just need someone to tell them what to do, and why it matters.
That's the conversation agents should be having, proactively, with every vendor before every shoot.
The Bottom Line
Photography is not a box to tick. It is the most visual element in your marketing. Everything else, the floor plan, the description, the portal listing, is supporting information. The photographs are what make someone want to walk through the door.
When the preparation is done well, the photographer can do their job well. When those two things come together, the results speak for themselves: more enquiries, more viewings, more competition between buyers, and a better outcome for everyone involved.
About the Author
John Durrant spent 37 years in estate agency before concluding, with the benefit of considerable experience, that the photography was the part being done most badly. He spent a further 12 years photographing country houses for the largest agency brands in the United Kingdom. He wrote the RICS Property Photography Guidance, which is the industry's standard reference on the subject and did not write itself. He founded Doctor Photo in 2012. Over the course of that time he has trained more than 2,000 agents to photograph interiors to a professional standard. These days he reserves that training for agents who are genuinely serious about being the best in their market, because those are the only ones who will do anything with it.
For more information, visit doctorphoto.co.uk
John Durrant
28 Mar 2026
•6 min read
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