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Looks like you’re the only show in town this evening, so here goes…and you are welcome to take it with a grain of salt.
Consider putting knobs or pulls on the kitchen cabinetry (less wiping of prints and gummy residue from where guests would grip at the corners and edges. Plus that, knobs add “jewelry” to the plain look of the cabinets.
Include a towel on the bar next to the bathroom sink for your next picture-taking, and maybe an artificial flower in a vase on the sink.
Pillows need to be shown on the bed in the master bedroom, and how about a picture or wall art above the desk.
Fix the rumpled cover on the twin daybed and retake photo, and add a print or picture above the twin XL bed. Add a pillow and use the orange décor pillow as the accent. Add a reading lamp.
Add pic above desk in the 2nd bedroom; add little potted plant (phony or real) on the window ledge.
Consider adding a grill to the patio area so it looks usable and not so empty and bleak.
Knobs or pulls- I don’t know why I didn’t think of that!
Towel is on the to-do list for tomorrow morning’s photo shoot!
Same deal with pillows…I was in a hurry to get the listing up so I took photos before the towels and pillows I bought had arrived!
Wall decor also going up tomorrow. I still need more but fingers crossed I find some things yard saling tomorrow. I have some mirrors and potted plants to put in.
We do have a grill for the patio as soon as my husband puts it together. Or maybe I will attempt to build it tomorrow. We have been working in shifts since its a pain to bring the kiddos with us.
And you don’t have to say sorry! I know they arent great photos. It would have been nice if the afternoon I took those photos had not been so dreary! Maybe tomorrow will be better. At the very least the yard will be cleaned up a little.
I totally get that you’re trying to manage people’s expectations, and I think you achieve that. I’m fairly confident that if I booked your place, I’d have a pretty good idea of what I was getting. That being said, don’t let the negatives monopolize your pictures, because there are a lot of positives about your listings, and you should definitely play those up.
Here are my thoughts:
Generally, the more light in your photos, the better. Take a new set on a bright sunny day, and turn all the lights on. It makes a huge difference.
Some of your pictures are slanted, which makes the photo look a little strange. Consider buying or borrowing a tripod - it will help a lot.
The photo of the TV - I would suggest closing the cupboard door. My eye is drawn to all the items inside, and it looks untidy. Overall, eliminate clutter whenever possible, such as the garbage can, the dish soap, etc…
I would remove the close up picture of the desk. It took me a second to figure out what I was looking at, and your photo of the whole room shows the desk anyway.
You do need to straighten the bed linens. It creates a better impression.
Well I updated the photos. At least probably one more round of photos is in order, but they do look a little better now with art on the walls and the suggested improvements made.
Okay. This is really anal, but if those bar stools are going to stay and you are going to photograph them from the back, they have to be at the same height. Right now, they are just slightly, drive-the-OCD-folks-Nuts, off.
Haha yes I noticed that later and figured I would get called out for it! I am hoping to eventually change out the barstools, but it will depend if I can return them and also it has to wait til I have time.
Well and it is harder than you would think to get 2 barstools to be the same height! You have to sit on them to adjust so you have to hop on, go down, then its just a bit too high so you do the other one, then that is too low, and so on. Until you get tired and decide they are close enough…only to realize later by the photos that they were not, in fact close enough.
I just looked at the new-and-improved…good job!! Such an improvement with all your cosmetic additions and the lower angles of picture-taking. (Photo #2 should probably be removed…but only because the barstools are smack dab next to the other…who sits that way?..and it emphasizes their different heights).
These pics are an improvement. Remember to take pictures when everything leafs back out. That deck picture showing dormant plants and the house next door is going to look so nice when that’s a wall of green.
I’m still getting last minute bookings for this week. My Friday cancelled and didn’t get rebooked. Then I had Sat and Sun open. So it was looking kind of slow. Then Sat AM got booked, cancelled and rebooked late yesterday afternoon. Tonight got booked this morning. I know we have some differences in our markets but you don’t have to lower your prices all the time if you can handle last minute bookings. I never put off turning over the room if I can help it. That is, I turn over the room as soon as someone checks out, even if I’m not booked for that night so I’m not rushing around if I get a last minute booking.
Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. I’ve been looking at a lot of airbnb photos lately as I’m trying to plan some travel of my own. Your pictures and your place are well above average so don’t stress too much.
thank you K9 that means a lot. I am probably obsessing way too much. We are booked now through this friday, and a couple of stays in April so I think things are going about as well as expected. I imagine it will help once I get a few reviews.
But there is another new listing in town only $68 a night and she literally has a photo of a security system as the main pic and had previous listing of the exact same place with 3 1-star reviews (that I think she just took down and put back up?) and she is getting bookied so I got stressed.
Don’t worry about folks like that. If anything it helps you because it shows someone not familiar with your market that prices are high there. I’m at the point where I don’t worry about reviews but I would perhaps just talk to my guests a little about how important good reviews are for someone just starting out. If you are as friendly and engaging in person as you are online I’m sure everyone is going to love you and your place.
Both her listings are showing. Hopefully people will take a second to look around before they click book. She also appears to require a 3 night minimum and other than oil workers there probably aren’t a ton of people who want to stay there that long.
Oh, I thought you’d be checking them in in person. You have a camera outside to watch for problems, correct?
And yes…her listings bother me lol because I feel like she isn’t trying! Plus her neighborhood is just like mine and she called hers “quiet and safe”…which I guess it is but still…
Don’t worry about her. She doesn’t seem to realize her listings are linked? Honestly anyone who would chose her over you is probably not that bright and maybe not the kind of guest you need anyway. Don’t worry. Remember you weren’t even going to go live until tomorrow? You already have enough bookings to pay for all the linens and those barstools. LOL.
great angles, and now the bar stools don’t bother me and I like them!?