How to Prepare a Home for a Drone and 360° Virtual Tour Shoot

A well-prepared home produces better listing media than a home with better bones that wasn't set up right.

The camera sees details you walk past every day — a charging cable on the counter, a ceiling fan with the blades out of sync, a garden hose coiled by the garage door. This guide covers exactly what to do before a US Atlas Visual shoot: what helps, what doesn't matter, and what we handle ourselves.

Interior Prep (360° Virtual Tour)

The 360° camera captures a full spherical view at every position. That means everything in the frame matters — not just what's in front of the lens.

Lights and Windows

Turn on every light in the home. Every room, every closet, every stairwell. Under-cabinet kitchen lights, bathroom vanity lights, fireplace flames if it's gas. The more interior light, the better the tour looks at positions near windows.

Open the blinds and curtains. Natural light reads well from inside. If direct afternoon sun is blasting through a west-facing window and creating washed-out glare, you can leave one or two closed — but err toward open.

Surfaces and Clutter

Clear kitchen countertops entirely. Toasters, dish racks, knife blocks, coffee makers — move them out of frame or into cabinets. The goal is the room, not the appliances.

In bathrooms: toilet lids down, towels straightened, countertops clear of toiletries. Close all cabinet doors and medicine cabinets.

Living areas: fluff couch cushions, remove throw blankets, straighten pillows. Push chairs fully under the dining table. Remove extra chairs that make the room look crowded.

Personal Items

Remove personal photos from visible surfaces and walls. Not because they'll hurt the listing, but because 360° tours are interactive — buyers click through and zoom in. Personal items interrupt the focus.

Same rule for refrigerator magnets, children's artwork on walls, and personal documents left on desks or countertops.

Pets

Secure or remove pets before the shoot. A sleeping cat in a corner will end up in the 360° tour. Dogs that approach the camera during a shot create an interesting problem in the stitched result.

We love dogs. They're still a liability in listing media.

What We Handle

We stage small items in-frame as needed — straightening a stack of books, adjusting a lamp angle, aligning pillows that are slightly off. We don't move furniture, remove fixtures, or stage rooms from scratch. If a room needs that level of prep, consult a staging professional before the shoot.

Exterior Prep (Drone)

Driveway and Parking

Move all vehicles out of the driveway and off the street in front of the home before the shoot. Cars in the frame compress the aerial shot and date the media. If there are multiple vehicles, move them to a nearby street or parking lot.

Yard and Landscaping

Mow the lawn at least 24 hours before the shoot — ideally 2–3 days before. Freshly mowed grass photographs clean. Avoid mowing the morning of the shoot; wet clippings and tire tracks don't read well from above.

Pull obvious weeds from garden beds near the front of the home. Roll up garden hoses and coil them out of sight. Move garbage cans to the side yard or behind the gate. Patio furniture should be arranged, not stacked. Remove tarps, pool covers that don't photograph cleanly, or temporary structures.

Weather

We monitor weather the morning of the shoot. Drone flights require wind under approximately 15–20 mph, no active rain, and ceiling above 400 feet. If conditions are borderline, we'll call the shoot by 7 AM and offer a direct reschedule.

Clear or partly cloudy is ideal. Overcast mornings produce flat but clean aerial light — often better than harsh direct sun.

Day-of Logistics

One person should be on-site to grant access. You don't have to stay — but someone needs to let us in and be reachable if we have a question about a locked room.

Typical time on-site: 90 minutes. Interior 360° tour first (45–60 min), drone exterior second (30–45 min).

We do a walkthrough first. Before we set up the camera, we'll walk through each room once to confirm lighting and identify any last-minute items to move. This takes about 5 minutes.

After the Shoot

Delivery in 24 hours: photos and 360° tour link in one email, along with MLS upload guides and social reel instructions.

If something looks off in the tour — a light we missed, a room that needs a retake — flag it within 24 hours of delivery and we'll address it.

Questions before your shoot? Email contact@usatlasvisual.com or call (585) 478-5023.