Selling a House

1. do necessary maintenance
2. clear out what you definitely don't want, especially
   1. furniture and items in good shape
      1. donate/get rid
         1. Goodwill or other drop-off
         2. electronic and hazardous waste
         3. large item trash pickup (3x/yr, 5 pieces max each time)
         4. dump
      2. sell
         1. craigslist
         2. garage sale
3. stage house
4. decide on price
5. sign broker papers
6. put house on market
7. have Broker's Open / Caravan
8. do individual showings, by request
9. have Open House
10. offer
    1. review offers
    2. counter offer
       1. price
       2. escrow period
       3. what's included/not included
          1. appliances
          2. furniture
    3. agreement
11. disclosures
12. open escrow
13. general inspection
    1. brokers visual inspections
    2. inspection report
    3. request for repairs
    4. negotiate/agree on any credits/repairs
    5. pest/termite inspection and remediation
14. remove inspection contingency
15. appraisal
16. remove funding contingency
17. finish inspection punch list items by a week before closing
18. buyers walk through, 5 days before closing
19. move out
20. close escrow

Real Estate Photography

Technique:

→ wear neutral colored clothes with patterns so that you are not obvious in any reflections → camera should be about 4' off the floor → make sure house is orderly - livable but lack of clutter → turn on all lights in house → when possible, use natural light - best if light outside is roughly the same as lighting inside → best lighting/color about 20 minutes before/after sunset , also good lighting if it is cloudy → set aperture about f/11 for best results in room shots → use bracketed exposure shots for best chance of getting single shot and also to use in HDR post processing (D100: pencil 11 AE, BKT AE, rotate til '3F 1.0' for 3 shots each 1 stop off) → use polarizing filter for daytime outdoor shots → use Photoshop File -> Automate -> Photomerge to put a few pictures shot down a line together panorama-style, especially useful for small spaces → use Photoshop Edit -> Transform -> Perspective or Warp to line up walls vertically, especially if using wide angle lens or if you merged multiple photos together → if sky is gray and you can't reshoot on a sunny day, in Photoshop, use magic wand to select sky, then click on styles window -> chiseled sky; then use paint bucket to fill → use Photomatix to create HDR photos

Equipment:

√ SLR camera √ wide angle lens - preferably 10mm or 12mm max √ polarizing filter √ tripod √ monopod to lift up to get 'aerial' shot of property √ 1000 watt soft box light √ up to 4 speedlights, Nikon SB-80DX recommended √ HDR software - Photomatix recommended

Pricing averages in San Diego (2013)

∞ up to 2000 ft² $150,  -> 3000 ft² $200 -> 4000 ft² $250 ∞ add virtual tour $50 ∞ add single page website incl custom domain name ($20+$10/mo), with realtor badge ∞ floor plan with links to photos

For examples, please see my website:

BlissedAbodes