Ask the agent
What does the MLS actually need from my photos?
The MLS needs a small file she can upload without thinking. Resolution was never the problem. A rejected upload lands on her Sunday night, and she remembers whose files did it when she books the next listing.
Two sizes, every time
2048 or full res is the wrong question. The MLS doesn’t care about resolution. It cares about the file size limit, and she cares about whether the upload goes through on the first try.
Every board publishes its own upload limit. Look yours up once. It is on the MLS help page and it takes two minutes, and it is the only number in this question that matters.
Then save two export presets. Web size for the MLS, under your board’s limit. Full res for print, for the brochure and the sign rider.
If she is resizing your photos, the job isn’t finished. She didn’t hire you to send her homework. Two presets, saved once, and that never happens again.
Twenty-five to thirty-two photos on a normal three-bed
Size gets the upload through. The count is where you lose her.
Under twenty looks thin. The buyer scrolls to the end and wonders what you skipped. Over forty buries the kitchen on page three, behind two hallways and a laundry room.
More photos isn’t more value to her. It is more dragging. She is placing every one of them by hand, and so is the buyer’s thumb.
Think about it from her desk. She has a seller texting and a listing to build. Twenty-eight photos in the right order is a job she finishes before her coffee cools. Forty-three is an evening.
Number the files in the order she uploads them
Here is the part only someone who uploaded his own listings would tell you.
Walk order: front exterior, front door, living, kitchen, dining, bedrooms, bathrooms, basement, back yard. Numbered in that order, they land in the MLS that way. Camera order makes her rebuild the house by hand.
I did that rebuild for ten years. Twenty-eight photos in walk order took me four minutes on a Sunday night. Forty-three in camera order took twenty. I remembered which photographer was which.
The whole setup is ten minutes, once: one export preset at your board’s limit, a full-res copy for print, 25 to 32 photos, numbered in walk order. After that it is a template you never think about. Resolution was never the problem. The order and the count were, and both are fixed tonight.
The file isn’t done when it looks good on your screen. It’s done when she can upload it without thinking.
This week: look up your board’s limit, put it in your export preset, and number your next set in walk order.
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
- What resolution does the MLS need for listing photos?
- Whatever your board’s upload limit says, and it is different for every board. Look it up once and save it as an export preset. Send a full-res copy separately for print.
- How many photos should I deliver for a real estate listing?
- Twenty-five to thirty-two on a normal three-bed. Under twenty looks thin and over forty buries the kitchen. More photos is more dragging for her, not more value.
- What order should real estate photos be in?
- Walk order: front exterior, front door, living, kitchen, dining, bedrooms, bathrooms, basement, back yard. Number the files that way and they land in the MLS that way.
Related questions
Julian Lundgren sold real estate for ten 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.