Ask the agent
The agent won’t leave while I shoot. How do I get her out of the house?
Don’t. The agent standing over your shoulder is the person who books your next shoot, and the homeowner hovering is the person she’s trying to impress. There’s a myth that people in the house slow you down. They don’t, if your routine is set before you walk in. Send the prep sheet ahead, say one line when you arrive, and give them a job.
They’re not in your way. They’re your next booking
From the agent’s side of the table, she isn’t there to check your work. She’s there because her seller is there, and the seller is nervous about strangers in the house and about the price. The agent is managing that, and you’re part of what she’s managing.
That’s why she points at shots you were already going to take. She’s not correcting you. She’s showing the seller she’s paying attention. Let her.
The photographer who sighs and waits for everyone to leave gets the shoot done. The one who makes the agent look good in front of her seller gets the next listing.
Set the house before you walk in
Most on-site friction starts the day before. Send a one-page prep sheet to the agent and the homeowner ahead of every shoot: lights on, fans and TVs off, counters cleared, toilet seats down, cars out of the driveway. In business you’re always wrong, so set up systems so you’re never wrong again.
Never touch the homeowner’s things. If something has to move, ask. If you need to plug in, ask. I charge drone batteries on site only in vacant houses; if the homeowner is there, I ask, and they’ve never said no. Asking costs five seconds and makes you the most polite person who’s been in their house all month.
Then keep your routine fixed: the same order through the house, at least four angles in every room. When the routine never changes, a suggestion is one extra frame, not a detour.
Give them a line and a job
On arrival, say one thing and get to work: appreciate you having me out, love what you’ve done with the place, if I have questions I’ll be around. Skip the gear talk. Nobody in that house wants to hear about brackets.
Then give the seller a job. Ask what they’re proudest of. They redid the kitchen, they replaced the furnace, they built the deck. Sellers are proud of the work they put in, so shoot it, mechanicals included. The seller feels heard, and the agent gets photos of the things she’ll be talking about at the showing.
When the agent points at a shot you already had, say so and ask what else matters to her seller. Now she’s telling you what the listing needs, and you’re the photographer who listened.
Appreciate you having me out. Love what you’ve done with the place. If I have questions, I’ll be around.
The people in the house are your client and her client; give them a job instead of an exit.
This week: send a one-page prep sheet to the agent and the homeowner the day before your next shoot, and ask the seller which upgrade they’re proudest of when you arrive.
The Room Formula shot list
Per-room counts and the walk order, for your phone. Free. Then take the sixty-second roadmap quiz and I tell you what to fix first.
Get the shot listGet my roadmapStraight answers
- Should the homeowner be home during real estate photos?
- That’s their call and the agent’s. It doesn’t have to slow you down: send the prep sheet ahead, ask before you move or plug in anything, and keep your room order fixed.
- How do I deal with an agent telling me what shots to take?
- Take the shot. If it was already on your list, say so; if it wasn’t, she just told you what her seller cares about. A fixed shot list makes a suggestion an extra frame, not a detour.
- What should I say when I arrive at a real estate shoot?
- Short and plain: thank them, compliment the house, tell them where you’ll be. Skip the gear talk.
Related questions
Julian Lundgren sold real estate for nine years before he shot a listing for money. He runs Cineminn, a Minneapolis real estate photography studio, and writes these answers from the agent’s side of the table. Send a question to info@cineminn.com.