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Prospective buyers want to see what a house looks like before they go out traipsing through homes and kicking people out of their beds and pajamas on a Saturday morning. It is incredibly important that you have pictures available on the Internet and most importantly on the MLS. The ability to view photos or tours of a property online helps to weed out homes that are obviously not suited to that particular buyer.

There is a trend of using virtual tours and other "tours" made up of multiple shots of the house but are marked with the title of “Virtual Tour.” In all reality virtual tours are made up of high quality still pictures taken at every angle of each room and exterior point of the house. Depending on the house size, the number of still pictures used to make up a virtual tour can climb into the hundreds. Although virtual tours are beneficial, they can also be expensive depending on the demand in the area and the size or location of the property.

While virtual tours are best, plain old still pictures are a satisfying compromise. Still pictures can often do the job when a virtual tour is not available or possibly not necessary. It is important to have at least one picture of each of the main rooms in your home, one of the front of the home and one of the back yard if you have one. Other key things to post photos of are key architectural elements, any special landscaping such as ponds, waterfalls or other ornate designs.

When choosing a Realtor®, be sure and ask, what they plan to do for pictures and/or virtual tours and how long it will take to post the pictures and/or virtual tours to the MLS and any other websites they will be advertising your home on. Typically you want to have at least the still pictures posted to all websites and your local MLS within the first 5 days.