Anyone trying to sell their home during the COVID-19 crisis knows that staging their home can be challenging. At a time when many companies are closed, it’s hard to find someone to help make your house picture- and video-ready.
But a new trend called virtual staging is gaining popularity with home sellers and agents alike. Here’s a quick overview of this super convenient technology:
Why stage your home?
When selling a house, first impressions matter. And during this pandemic, your home’s photos will be the first thing a potential buyer will see of your property. The question is: will those photos compel them to take the process further or cause them to look elsewhere?
This is what staging is for. In a nutshell, staging a home means preparing it so that it looks as appealing as possible to buyers. At the very least, it involves cleaning and decluttering the house to make it look more spacious. But for those who have the budget, it could also mean repainting entire rooms, purchasing additional furniture, and even doing renovations.
However you look at it, though, staging a home will take both time and effort—two things a seller may not always have. What if there was a way to stage a home without the hassle?
Enter virtual staging.
How does virtual staging work?
As the name implies, virtual staging utilizes technology to digitally manipulate the photo of a room to make it appear as if it’s been professionally staged.
In many ways, it’s the intersection of traditional staging and digital photo enhancement. As in traditional staging, the goal is to make the room as appealing and saleable as possible. On the other hand, it involves compositing elements onto an existing photo to achieve the desired effect.
Your agent can take a high-quality photo of an empty room and superimpose the desired design elements via software such as Photoshop.
For the ultimate in photorealism, your agent may also propose that you hire a company that specializes in virtual staging. You might pay quite a bit more for their services, but you’re sure to benefit from your access to proprietary software that isn’t available to non-subscribers.
However you procure your virtual staging, the end result is the same: a home that’ll be sure to catch the eye of potential buyers.
Why should I consider virtual staging?
Staging a home virtually offers sellers quite a few advantages, such as:
Increased chances of selling. ​Staging a home, even if it is done virtually, can increase your chances of finding a buyer. Moreover, staged homes tend to sell for more $ than a non-staged home.
Save money. ​While there’s no such thing as a ​free home staging​, virtual staging offers a considerably more affordable way of preparing your home for sale. Even better, you can allocate the money you save elsewhere, such as for moving fees or home inspections.
Save time. ​With traditional staging, expect to spend the better part of your day or even an entire weekend cleaning and dressing up a room. When you opt for virtual staging, you can customize and stage a room in a manner of minutes because everything is done digitally. This is especially helpful if you need to move ASAP and simply don’t have the time for extensive staging.
Target different buyers. ​Different buyers have different tastes. The great thing about virtual staging is that you can customize the look and feel of your home to better suit a specific prospect’s wishes. If one buyer likes neutral wall colors while another loves lively hues, you can change the color palette of a room on the fly.
Stage while you’re still at home. ​If you’re still living on your property and don’t want the hassle of rearranging everything just to stage it, virtual staging is a great option. It’s less disruptive to your family, but no less effective.
Thanks to the technologies available today, home staging itself is getting a makeover. And virtual staging surely looks to be the way of the future.
If you need expert ​home staging consultation​, give our team at ​The Groesbeck Group​ a call at ​360.899.5027 or send an ​e-mail to Info(at)JeanGroesbeck(dotted)com.
With our expertise in all aspects of home sales, your property will find its new owners in no time at all.