I’ll start with what I feel is probably the most important one, exposure.
I see too many photos like this.

And it just reinforces my belief that some agents do not put as much time into this crucial part of the process as they should.

Does this accurately get the “bright clean sparkling white” bathroom message across?

Does this photo allow a member of the family to say “gee I’d love to be preparing a meal in there – just got to have a look at this place?”
For some photos, its not hard to spot the “get this over as quick as I can” type of mode straightaway.
How to fix?
Well the good news is, its easy.
Step 1
If your camera has “fill flash” or “synro flash”, enable it.

Failing this take two shots, one with flash and one without.
Step 2
Go over to the window area, aim digital camera at the outside, and make sure at least 70% of the outside light fills the frame. Press the shutter button half way down, it won’t take a picture but it will memorise the light settings……….while keeping you finger in the same place walk back into the room, recompose yourself, maintaining finger pressure on the shutter button all the time. When ready, Press shutter button all the way down, some modern cameras will have an AE Lock………

and this allows you to do all the above much easier – you go across to the window as before, aim out and fill the frame with about 70% of the outside light, then press the AE Lock button.

It will now memorise the “light” settings and you don’t have to maintain that pressure on the shutter button as before.
Step 3
Review, or if you are lucky enough to have a histogram on the camera, really find out what they mean.

These really are an indispensable aid in reviewing a photo while still on site.
Step 4
If you really want to be creative then spend 5-10 minutes learning about bracketing. Many of todays cameras will do this automatically. There are two main methods. One where the exposure is bracketed itself in degrees of EV. The second is where it actually brackets for different lighting conditions, and is a feature of digital cameras.
Step 5
And if you want to get really really creative after you have taken your 2-3-4 shots in the bracketing mode, then head on over to read my series about HDR.
If in doubt as mentioned before take a shot with flash on. However with the earlier mentioned method #2 above, most modern cameras should take consideration of the outside light and even if they fire the flash inside, you will get a much more balanced “light” photo.
And surely in most photos its the inside of the home that you want to be shown the best.
Just to show how common the issue of exposure in photos is, all of the first 4 photographs have been uploaded to a Real Estate site in the last 48hours. If you want to see more uncollectable examples of “what not to do” in Real Estate Photography, then check this out.
NOTE: All of these tips are assuming you have the camera in its normal default exposure mode, commonly refered to as either “center weighted metering” , “multi-segment metering” or “matrix metering” but definitely not “spot metering” unless you know what you are doing.