The Complete Property Marketing Checklist

Most property marketing advice covers one piece — photography, or staging, or pricing. This is the whole sequence, in order, with realistic costs and timings.

Follow it and you'll have a listing that's genuinely competitive rather than one that's merely present.

The Timeline at a Glance

Total: Roughly two weeks part-time, $100–$700 depending on how much you outsource.

Phase 1: Assessment

Walk the Property as a Buyer

Arrive at the front, walk in, and move through room by room. Note what you notice.

Look for:

• What you see first on entering
• Which rooms feel dark
• What's visibly worn or damaged
• Where clutter accumulates
• What smells

Identify the Property's Strongest Feature

Every property has one thing that sells it — a garden, a kitchen, a view, a layout, a location. Identify it now because it determines your lead photograph and your opening line.

Identify the Main Objection

Also identify what buyers will object to. A small third bedroom, no parking, a dated bathroom, a busy road.

You can't hide it, so plan how to present it honestly.

Decide What's Worth Fixing

Worth it: Cosmetic, cheap, visible. Nail holes, scuffs, blown bulbs, dripping taps.

Not worth it: Kitchens, bathrooms, windows, driveways. Buyers factor these into offers regardless.

Phase 2: Cosmetic Repairs

Time: 1–2 days Cost: $50–$200

The List

• Fill and paint nail holes and picture hooks
• Touch up scuffed skirting boards and door frames
• Replace every blown bulb
• Fix dripping taps
• Oil squeaking doors and hinges
• Tighten loose handles and latches
• Fix or remove broken fixtures
• Reseal bath and shower silicone if discoloured
• Replace cracked light switches or sockets

Consider

Neutral repaint for any room with a divisive colour. $100–$200 in materials per room.

Not worth doing: anything structural, anything expensive, or anything a survey will assess anyway.

Phase 3: Decluttering

Time: 1–2 days Cost: Free, or storage unit hire

The Hierarchy

1. Remove roughly a third of everything. Every room should have visibly less in it.

2. Clear all horizontal surfaces to one or two items maximum. Counters, shelves, bedside tables, mantelpieces, windowsills.

3. Remove all personal items. Photographs, certificates, collections, religious items, children's artwork.

4. Reduce furniture. Extra chairs, side tables, bookcases in non-study rooms, exercise equipment, anything in hallways.

5. Clear the floor entirely in any room you plan to stage digitally.

Where It Goes

A garage, a storage unit, a friend's spare room, or one designated room in the property you don't photograph.

Phase 4: Deep Clean

Time: 1 day Cost: $0 (yourself) or $150–$300 (professional)

Priority Order

1. Windows — inside and out. Affects light and photographs.
2. Floors — carpets cleaned or hard floors mopped
3. Kitchen — including inside the oven and fridge
4. Bathrooms — including grout and limescale
5. Skirting boards and door frames
6. Light fittings and switches

Professional cleaning is worth it if you're time-constrained. It shows in every photograph.

Phase 5: Exterior Preparation

Time: 1 day Cost: $50–$200

The List

• Clean or repaint the front door
• Replace the doormat
• Clear gutters and fascias
• Remove or screen bins
• Cut back overgrowth
• Weed and clear paths
• Mow and edge the lawn
• Clear the driveway
• Pressure wash paving if stained
• Consider two matching planted pots either side of the door

Highest return: the front door. Most-looked-at element, cheapest to improve.

Phase 6: Photography

Time: 2 hours Cost: Free with a phone

Before Shooting

• Every room prepared per phases 2–4
• All curtains and blinds fully open
• Every light on, including lamps
• Rooms you're staging completely empty
• Shooting between 10am and 2pm

The Technique

• Stand in a corner, facing diagonally across the room
• Camera at chest height, roughly 1.2 metres
• Camera level — use your phone's grid indicator
• Moderate wide-angle, 0.5x on most phones, not fisheye
• Two or three angles per room

What to Photograph

Essential: Living room (2–3 angles), kitchen (2), every bedroom, bathrooms, garden, front exterior

Worth including: Dining area, hallway if spacious, any distinctive feature

Skip: Storage cupboards, utility rooms, garages unless notable

Exterior

Shoot in the hour before sunset for the best light. From an angle rather than straight on. Cars moved, bins away.

Phase 7: Staging

Time: 30 minutes Cost: $0.50–$2

What to Stage

Four to six images: living room, primary bedroom, and one or two others.

Skip: Kitchen and bathrooms — already furnished by definition.

The Process

1. Upload the empty room photo
2. Select the room type — verify before generating
3. Select a style matched to your property tier and market
4. Generate three to five variations
5. Review at full size and pick the strongest

Style Selection

• Urban apartment: Modern or Scandinavian
• Suburban house: Contemporary or Traditional
• Small rooms: Scandinavian
• Premium property: Luxury or Modern

Use one style consistently across the property.

Check the Output

• Furniture sits flat, not floating
• Scale plausible against door frames
• Shadows match the real light direction
• Nothing blocking windows or doorways
• Room looks workable, not crowded

Phase 8: Copy

Time: 1 hour Cost: Free

Structure

Line 1: The single strongest feature — something photos can't convey

Line 2: Property type, size, location context in one sentence

Paragraph 2: Layout walk-through in the order someone would move through

Paragraph 3: Practical specifics — heating type and age, recent work, parking, garden orientation, tax band, service charges

Paragraph 4: Location — schools by name, transport with actual times, amenities

Closing: One line on next steps

Length

200–300 words.

Avoid

Generic openers, stacked adjectives, and euphemisms. "Deceptively spacious," "in need of modernisation," and "full of character" are read as warnings.

Phase 9: Pricing

Time: 1 day Cost: Free

The Process

1. Find five to ten sold comparables — recent, genuinely similar, same area
2. Adjust for differences — bedrooms, parking, condition, plot size
3. Check current competition — what can a buyer choose instead of yours today
4. Position within search bands — $399,950 captures more buyers than $405,000
5. Price accurately — not high with a plan to reduce

The Principle

Overpriced properties waste the first two weeks when exposure peaks, go stale, and sell for less than accurately priced ones.

Phase 10: Launch

Time: 1 hour

Photo Order

1. Best staged image — usually the living room
2. Kitchen
3. Primary bedroom
4. Second living space or dining area
5. Garden or outdoor space
6. Living room, second angle 7–9. Remaining bedrooms 10–11. Bathrooms
7. Hallway if notable 13–14. Garden, additional angles 15–16. Exterior front and rear 17–19. Unstaged versions of staged rooms

Count

15–20 images for a typical property. Minimum 10, maximum useful 25.

Labelling

Caption staged images as "virtually staged." Include unstaged versions.

After Launch

Week 1: Monitor enquiry volume. This is your peak exposure.

Week 2: If enquiries are low, review photos and price band positioning before touching price.

Week 4: If viewings but no offers, reassess price.

Week 6: If reducing, reduce enough to move into a different search band.

The Complete Checklist

Assessment

• Walked the property as a buyer
• Identified the strongest feature
• Identified the main objection
• Decided what's worth fixing

Repairs

• Holes filled and painted
• Scuffs touched up
• All bulbs working
• Taps and doors fixed
• Broken fixtures replaced

Decluttering

• A third of everything removed
• All surfaces cleared to 1–2 items
• All personal items removed
• Furniture reduced
• Rooms for staging completely empty

Cleaning

• Windows inside and out
• Floors and carpets
• Kitchen including appliances
• Bathrooms including grout
• Skirting and light fittings

Exterior

• Front door cleaned or painted
• New doormat
• Gutters clear
• Bins removed
• Overgrowth cut back
• Paths weeded
• Lawn mowed and edged
• Driveway clear

Photography

• Shot between 10am–2pm
• All lights on, curtains open
• Corner positions, chest height, level
• 2–3 angles per room
• Exterior at golden hour

Staging

• 4–6 images staged
• One style throughout
• 3–5 variations per room
• Reviewed at full size

Copy

• 200–300 words
• Opens with strongest feature
• Practical specifics included
• No euphemisms or stacked adjectives

Pricing

• Sold comparables researched
• Current competition checked
• Positioned within a search band
• Priced accurately, not high

Launch

• 15–20 photos in sequence
• Strongest image first
• Staged images labelled
• Unstaged versions included

Start with the staging. DecoAI gives 3 free credits with no card required — it's the fastest phase on this list and among the highest impact.