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What photos does a rental listing need?

DoorKeeping team

3 min read

A rental listing needs a photo of every room, the kitchen and bathroom from the doorway, the outside, and any shared space a renter will use, such as laundry or parking. A phone is enough. Clean and empty the space, turn on every light, shoot in daylight, and put the photos in the order a visitor would walk through. Show the unit as it is: a photo that hides a flaw only moves the disappointment to the showing.

The shot list, in order

Renters scroll fast. The first photo decides whether they open the rest. Take these, then pick the order.

  1. The front: the building or door a renter will see on arrival.
  2. The main living space from the corner, so the whole room fits.
  3. The kitchen, from the doorway, then one close shot of counters and the stove or fridge.
  4. Each bedroom from the doorway, showing the closet and a window.
  5. Each bathroom, with the tub or shower in view.
  6. Laundry (in unit or shared), storage, and parking or the street spot.
  7. Outdoor space: patio, yard or balcony.
  8. One view from a window, if it is a good one.

Put the strongest of these first, usually the living space or kitchen, then follow a walk-through. Write the number of bedrooms and bathrooms in the listing itself too; do not make a renter count photos.

Prepare the unit before you shoot

  • Clean first: floors, counters, mirrors, the inside of the oven. A dirty photo is a fact the renter keeps.
  • Remove personal items, trash cans, cleaning supplies and cords from view.
  • Replace burned-out bulbs and open the blinds.
  • Fix what you can. A broken cabinet door is cheaper to repair than to explain.
  • Shoot in daylight with the lights on. Avoid the flash.

Hold the phone at chest height, level, in landscape. Stand in the corner so the room looks as large as it is, but do not use a wide lens effect that changes how big it looks. A renter who finds a smaller room at the showing leaves.

Photographing a unit that still has a tenant

If the current tenant is still there, you need their cooperation and, in most places, advance written notice before you enter. Rules differ, so see how much notice before a landlord enters. Ask the tenant to tidy up, and do not photograph their belongings, papers, photos of family or anything personal. A better choice is to wait until move-out and shoot the empty unit; if time matters, use photos from the turnover walk-through and say in the listing that the unit is occupied until the move-out date.

People in your photos, and a fair housing check

The ad rule at 24 CFR 100.75 covers photographs and illustrations, not only words. Using photographs or symbols that convey that a home is available or not available to a particular group, because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status or national origin, is a discriminatory notice. The simple habit: show the home, not people. If a person appears (a neighbor on the lawn, a staged family), ask whether a reader would think the home is meant for that kind of person. Cut the photo if so.

For the words around the photos, see fair housing words to avoid.

File names, captions and alt text

Google recommends describing each image accurately in its alt attribute and placing images near the text they relate to (Google Search Central). On a page of your own, write "Kitchen with white cabinets and a gas range" rather than "photo1". Short captions ("south-facing bedroom, 11 by 12 feet") also answer questions before they are asked, if the numbers are measured.

How DoorKeeping handles it

When you build a listing in DoorKeeping you choose which of your photos go on it, and the listing page on doorkeeping.com shows them with the rent, the available date and an apply link. Your AI assistant can draft the description to match what the photos show. DoorKeeping does not take the photos or give legal advice.

Sources

  1. HUD, 24 CFR 100.75, Discriminatory advertisements, statements and notices (Cornell LII), read Oct 30, 2026
  2. Google Search Central, SEO Starter Guide, read Oct 30, 2026
  3. Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604 (Cornell LII), read Oct 30, 2026

Questions

How many photos should a rental listing have?
Enough to show every room once, plus the outside and any shared space the renter will use. There is no magic number; completeness and order matter more than count.
Can I use photos from before the last tenant?
Only if the unit still looks that way. Old photos of a room that has changed set up a bad showing. Re-shoot after a repaint or new floors.
Should I stage a rental?
Light staging such as a clean, bare room with working lights is enough. Furniture that makes a room look bigger than it is can mislead, so keep any staged photo labeled.

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