As much as possible, avoid photos that date your listing. The poinsettia, Santa, and holiday ivy on the railing may be festive, but this photo was on a real estate listing slide show in July!

Also, while it is traditional to turn on lights for real estate open houses, in a photograph, too many lights actually emphasize how dark the room is. It is better to buy or rent basic photography lights than to depend on the room's artificial lighting.