Is Virtual Staging Worth It?

Selling a house requires a lot of work, one of which involves staging. As a realtor, you would want to show the property in the best light possible and staging can do that, but at a cost. If the client cannot afford the actual staging, this is when the virtual staging comes in.

Virtually staging a house is a more affordable alternative to spending thousands of dollars on actual staging. Aside from its cost, there are several other benefits from presenting a well-staged home virtually.

Benefits of Virtual Staging

1. It can be customized to the buyer’s vision of a home.

When you talk to potential buyers, ask them what their dream home looks like and their style preferences. Then show the virtual reality of that home. If talks with one buyer don’t pan out, it’ll be easier to start from scratch when talking to another buyer. It also won’t cost much to create another virtual stage fit for that next buyer’s aspirations of a home.

2. It can leave a good and lasting first impression.

Listing a home for sale means putting it in competition with hundreds of properties in the area. This is why the property has to stand out. With virtual staging, you can use it to leave potential buyers with a lasting impression of a beautiful home. The goal is to have them return to the listing repeatedly until they decide to buy it.

3. It is time-efficient.

Staging an entire home takes time as you shop for the perfect furniture and other decorations to make the property more appealing to buyers. But if you virtually stage it, you can save time as long as you have a virtual staging specialist working on the photo editing. Just prepare professionally captured photos of the empty property, then send them to the staging designer. Talk with the designer about what you want the house to look like. For some, it might only take two days or so for the edited photos to come out.

4. It is cost-effective.

Hiring a staging company and paying for the staging furniture will cost thousands of dollars. What’s worse is that there is no assurance when you will recoup the expenses. However, virtual staging only requires paying for a professional photographer and photo staging designer. This will not leave you hanging with an expensive staging bill that will only be reimbursed once you sell the house.

5. It can showcase a home’s potential.

By merely manipulating the images, you can show the house’s best features and what the new owners can do with it. You will not be restricted to decorating the home based on what furniture and decor is available. Everything is virtually possible with the level of creative freedom you’ll get from working with a professional staging designer.

6. It makes visualizing a beautiful home so much easier.

Looking at an empty home would require potential buyers to visualize it in their mind. However, virtual staging will allow them to have a concrete vision of what the home could look like based on their preferences. If they don’t have fixed styling choices yet, create a more generic look for a house you think buyers would appreciate. The virtual appearance of a future home is a great motivator and deciding factor for most buyers.

7. It can increase home sales.

Buyers are more likely to remember furnished and well-decorated homes rather than empty ones. Virtual staging of the property will allow you to put on a cozy sofa, a fantastic rug in the living room, an inviting bed, and a well-lit and well-equipped kitchen. It allows potential buyers to imagine how much of a home the property could be. It also allows them to see why housing costs more than similar properties in the area. This is your chance to sell more, earn more, and find your dream home for more buyers out there.

Virtual Staging Stats You Should Know About

Do you still need figures to help you decide whether to go for virtual staging or not? Here are some statistics that you might want to consider:

  • Staging can increase a property listing’s selling price. However, the staging consultation may cost around $400, while staging per room may cost about $500 monthly. No wonder realtors choose photo staging with endless possibilities and much lesser cost. This usually costs around $100 or so, depending on how much work is needed. A virtual staging service can transform an otherwise empty home into a beautiful, warm, and welcoming space. With this much lower rate, you can get quality images from professional designers, fast turnaround times, satisfactory guaranteed service, and smooth retrieval of photos via email, among others.
  • A home survey showed that around 70% of staged properties could sell for 9% more. If you consider how much cheaper photo staging is, this means getting more money out of a sale.
  • Virtual staging done by an experienced staging designer can appear like the photos are 100% real.
  • More than 80% of potential buyers can visualize a space much easier when the home is staged. But since the cost of home staging is quite prohibitive, many properties in the listings are often empty and unattractive. Fortunately, photo staging does not cost as much, so you still have a chance of attracting prospects that value the importance of beautifully staged properties.

Conclusion

Instead of blending in with the crowd of property listings on the market, you can use the power of virtual staging to attract more prospects, sell the home at a higher price, and save money and time in the staging process. This setup works best if you also partner up with a professional staging designer. Choose someone who can quickly understand the look that you need for a home and finish editing the images with a fast turnaround time. Start looking for one now and increase your chances of selling more beautifully staged houses without the usual prohibitive cost of home staging.