RECOMMENDED READING: October 2022
When tenants or sellers move out of your listing and the home is vacant, it’s time to consider staging. It may be counter intuitive, but vacant homes actually look smaller than homes that are furnished. Staging gives consumers the visual information they need to see how the home would look when fully furnished. And staging makes for more attractive photos of the home than a series of empty rooms.
Traditional staging is considered the gold standard when it comes to staging, but it comes with some significant pitfalls. Traditional staging involves extensive logistics: Furniture must be sourced, stored in a warehouse, selected for your listing, delivered via moving van to the listing, and placed in the home by someone with an eye for design.
Given how many things have to go right, it’s rare that there aren’t delays caused by things like trucks breaking down, movers calling in sick, and a host of on-site issues. And when the job is done, sellers may dislike the furnishings selected by the stager which can result in having to swap out furniture causing further delays.
Traditional staging is also expensive and it usually comes with a recurring monthly rental charge. If listings don’t sell right away, that can lead to unexpected listing expenses. It also explains why some stagers are running short of inventory as more of their furniture is staying out in the field longer.
Virtual Staging eliminates many of the pitfalls of traditional staging. Virtual Staging requires no logistics in the field as the photos are digitally enhanced after the appointment. This saves you time on site and there are no worries about delays. Virtual Staging is ideal for online marketing purposes, and prospective buyers can easily see how the home would look when fully furnished. The best part is that Virtual Staging costs a fraction of traditional staging and does not include recurring charges of any kind.
The only limitation of Virtual Staging is that the home is not furnished for showings and open house dates. It’s a good idea to bring a laptop or a tablet (or just your phone) so you can show visitors the photos that are digitally staged. If you have not tried Virtual Staging yet, check out this article that discusses the increasing adoption of this innovative and cost-effective solution.
Oh by the way, we are on a quest to attract 1,000 subscribers to our f8 YouTube channel. We cover a variety of topics in the fascinating world of real estate media, and we are convinced that understanding this are of the business adds tremendous value to you as a real estate professional. Just click on the Help Us Reach 1,000 subscribers banner below. Thank you!
(c) 2016-2022, f8 Real Estate Media LLC, All Rights Reserved.
Comments