The exterior shot is your thumbnail — get it right
Short answer
Move cars, bins, hoses, and toys out of frame. Shoot a three-quarter angle showing the front and one side so the house has volume, plus a straight-on frame. Keep the camera level at chest height and back up rather than tilting. Put the low sun behind you, landing on the face of the house.
Everything upstream of a showing — the portal thumbnail, the social post, the email, the flyer — is usually one exterior photo. It is the highest-leverage single frame in the entire listing, and it is often taken in ninety seconds from the driveway.
Move these before you shoot
- Cars, including yours, out of the driveway and off the street in front
- Bins, hoses, and recycling out of sight
- Kids’ toys, bikes, and yard tools away
- For-sale sign either straight and deliberate, or out of frame
- Garage door closed unless the garage is a feature
The angle
A straight-on shot shows the facade but flattens the house into a wall. A three-quarter angle — standing off to one side so you can see the front and one side of the house — gives it volume and depth. Shoot both. Lead with whichever shows the home’s best feature most clearly.
The height
Chest height still applies, and level still applies. If you tilt up to fit the roofline in, the house leans backwards. Back up further instead. If you physically cannot back up far enough — a narrow street, a tight lot — that is one of the few cases where the ultra-wide lens earns its place, kept level.
The sun
Sun should be behind you and low, landing on the face of the house. Sun behind the house puts the whole facade in shadow and produces a silhouette against a bright sky. If that is the only time you can shoot, an overcast day is a better choice than backlit sun.
The sky
A flat white overcast sky drains a listing photo. This is the most common and most accepted post-shoot edit in real estate: replacing the sky with a clear one. It changes nothing about the property, and most MLS rules treat it as acceptable so long as digital alteration is disclosed. Check your local rule and disclose.
Landscaping
A dormant lawn or bare beds cost more clicks than most agents expect, because the eye reads a brown lawn as neglect. Mow and edge before you shoot. If the shoot is in winter and the lawn is genuinely dormant, say so in the listing — an honest note beats a buyer feeling misled at the curb.
Common questions
Should the garage door be open or closed in listing photos?
Closed, unless the garage itself is a selling feature — a workshop, an oversized bay, a finished space. An open garage door is a dark rectangle in the middle of your most important photo.
Is sky replacement allowed on exterior listing photos?
It is the most widely accepted post-shoot edit in real estate, because it changes nothing about the property. Most MLS rules still want digital alteration disclosed, so check your local rule and add the note.
What if the lawn is brown or dormant?
Mow and edge regardless. If the lawn is genuinely dormant because of the season, a note in the listing is better than letting a buyer feel misled at the curb. Buyers read a brown lawn as neglect, so it is worth addressing directly.
PropWalk swaps a grey sky for a clear one, greens a dormant lawn, and cleans up the driveway — same house, better weather. Free for your first 7 days.
Fix an exterior free →