Real Estate Staging during a Pandemic
You may have noticed that times have changed. 2020 has not gone as planned. Just when the economy was blazing and the spring real estate market had shifted into high gear for those of us in the business, COVID-19 tore through the world and turned everything upside down.
It is not lost on me that people are suffering with illness and death, fear, uncertainty and unemployment. Sensitive to these issues, the needs of my clients, Realtors and homeowners, remain and my business is to serve these clients. So, I’ve been creative, shifted and accommodated.
Virtual Staging Consultation
The primary tool I utilize to stage homes is an Occupied Staging Consultation. Meeting with sellers who will live in their home while it is for sale, I recommend ways to strategically edit, alter and update homes in order to best present the home in MLS photographs and for showings. When instructions are followed, sellers maximize the value of their home and Realtors are able to sell these listings quickly.
In 2020 and beyond, the utilization of technology to maximize time and minimize expenses will be the lasting shift to our business environment, including how real estate is marketed and sold. During the past 2 months, I’ve met sellers for staging consultations via video chat. It is safe, convenient, economical and extremely effective in creating a customized Staging Plan for the seller.
At a Virtual Staging Consultation, sellers connect with their mobile device while I connect via computer at my home office. With two screens operating, I use one to “see” into the seller’s home directing them to move around each room to visualize the space from multiple angles. I ask questions, give instructions and create a plan to present each room at its best for both the MLS photographs and for buyers walking through the home in the future. On my second screen, a checklist is created for the seller to be delivered post consultation via email. Sellers receive their customized Staging Plan, video chat recording, and a Seller Staging Packet within the hour.
A valuable add-on service I offer to sellers is the Photo Styling and Showing Prep service. It is a hands-on staging service that happens just prior to the photography appointment where each detail is examined. Furniture, art, accessories, window treatments, linens and bedding are adjusted and styled so that the seller gets magazine worthy photographs. This service can be achieved via video chat as well with willing and motivated sellers.
The future of home staging consultations
Is it the same as being physically in the home? No. It might be better though. Sellers generally cannot see their own home through the eyes of a buyer, but during this process, they become engaged in the process, answer questions, physically move things themselves and examine their home in a new way.
Virtual Staging Consultations and Photo Preps are not just a solution to a short-term (we hope) problem. The innovative use of technology will create new efficiencies and opportunities for those that embrace them.
Before / After Staging
In this before and after you can see how the sellers were using their dining room - an emergency pandemic office! Work from home was necessary, but for selling, it was important to show the buyers this formal dining space.
Dining Room After - Add a table and chairs!
Dining Room Before - Pandemic Office
