Does Virtual Staging actually work?

What is Virtual Staging vs. Traditional Staging?

As a Home Stager, I specialize in helping homeowners prepare to market and sell their homes. You might call me a visual marketing expert for residential real estate.

Staging is all about setting up a home in a way that highlights the fixed assets and best features of a home primarily using the principles of interior design. The goal is to appeal to the largest number of potential home buyers, create value in the mind of the buyer and maximize the sale price of the home. There are a lot of elements that go into perceived value including furniture and décor, paint, lighting, flooring, hardware, finishes and curb appeal.

There are 3 types of home staging

• Occupied Staging – The seller declutters, prepacks, rearranges and styles the home, often using the guidance of a professional stager specializing in occupied homes. That’s ME!

• Vacant Staging – The seller removes all their furniture and personal belongings and hires a vacant staging specialist to bring in new, trendy furniture and décor and style the home to appeal to buyers.

• Virtual Staging – The seller removes all their furniture and personal belongings. Photographs of the empty home are then edited to insert trendy furniture and décor. The home remains empty, but the online photographs reflect the virtual staging.

There are pros and cons of all types of staging – occupied, vacant or virtual. And there are options in between. Sellers are often limited by budget and usually cannot move out of their home to sell, even if they wanted to. The best staging is the one that accounts for the seller’s time frame and budget, as well as the home they are selling.

The Pros and Cons

Occupied staging is extremely effective at showing a home at it’s best utilizing the current homeowner’s furniture and décor to create the model home look. It is usually the highest return on investment. The expense is relatively low but there is often a big investment of time and effort on the part of the homeowner.

Vacant staging is the most expensive but also the most effective staging. Most homeowners do not have a professionally decorated home with new, trendy furniture, art and accessories. The cost runs from ½ - 1% of the list price of the home and may be more than the seller is willing or able to spend up front. The out-of-pocket expense may be high, but the effect on the buyers’ impression of the home and its value is maximized.

Virtual staging is the most economical with edited photos running approximately $50 each. The impact can be great with online photos portraying high end furniture and accessories and an ideal layout that may or may not work in real life. Excellent photos should get buyers to schedule showings, but the goal of staging is to SELL the home. If buyers walk into a vacant home and are disappointed, they may feel duped.

Selling a vacant home

When a home is vacant, the seller has options. They can choose to leave the home empty, stage the home with trendy furniture and décor or they may choose to have the photos of the empty home edited to show what the home MAY look like furnished.

When the seller moves out before entering the market, it is much easier to prepare. There is no need for a professional stager to come in to advise them on what exactly to prepack, what to purchase and where things belong. There are no interruptions to the work from home schedule, the kid’s naps, cooking and mealtime and no need to hide the pets. Living in a staged home is difficult and being ready for showings all day, every day is stressful!

There is a downside to selling your home vacant.

There is one extremely important issue that many homeowners neglect when selling their home vacant and something they may not consider “staging.”

When potential buyers walk in the door of a vacant home, the buyer’s online first impressions are either confirmed or dashed. Online photos can hide the reality of the condition of a home.

There is an unintended consequence to moving out before marketing a home.

When I talk to homeowners about selling their home vacant, I always describe their homes as “naked.” I think it’s an excellent analogy. Most of us look better in a favorite outfit rather than our birthday suits. I know that I’m pretty good at covering up my flaws with fashion. A home is no different, so when selling “naked” it is important to fix the flaws!

In a vacant home, every scuff and stain stands out. There is nothing to look at besides the walls and flooring, (scuffed, scratched, stained?), light fixtures (new or dated?), cabinetry, counters and hardware. Looking at a blank room hardly induces an emotional reaction unless every element is updated, new, trendy and beautiful.

Selling vacant does not mean the sellers should skip professional advice on what to fix, paint, update or change.  Vacant homes require marketing expertise, and a professional stager has the experience to recommend the most effective strategies for preparing to sell – vacant or occupied.

When a buyer feels that the photos “tricked” them, the value of the property instantly goes down.

So, Should I do Virtual Staging?

Recently, I have seen many more listing photos of vacant homes with “virtual staging.” On the one hand, these photos DO look much better than a photo of an empty room. If buyers are more likely to visit the home based on these edited photos, then the staging was effective at getting buyers in the door. Great photos drive more showings.

Ultimately, the goal of marketing a home is to get it sold. Virtual staging may get buyers in the door, but that’s all they do. If showings increase, virtual staging might be worth it, but if the photos only serve to disappoint and frustrate buyers who see something completely different in person, the photos may hurt the marketing efforts in the end.

Buyers are driven to make offers based on what they see. (That’s why staging works!!) If buyers see empty rooms, not real staged furniture, the marketing investment didn’t do its job.

Realtors and sellers have many marketing tools and virtual staging is just one of them.

Some in my staging community are adamantly against virtual staging, arguing that you are lying to buyers. All staging is meant to help the buyer imagine themselves in the home and help them see the value in the property. If a seller makes the beds, dusts the blinds and puts everything away only because the house is for sale, they might be lying about how they normally live! No one would argue that it isn’t the right thing to do when selling though.

When a home is sold vacant, the first and very best marketing tool is to hire a stager to advise on the condition and finishes in the home.

It is most effective to also hire a stager who specializes in vacant homes, and has a warehouse of trendy, updated furniture and décor to transform the home into a builder’s model. The cost of the service will more than pay for itself. Perceived value drives buyer’s offers, so whenever possible, it is worth it to invest in furniture staging.

When bringing in a truckload of furniture isn’t feasible and virtual staging seems like the next best thing, be sure to utilize your other marketing tools to get a home sold! Let me know if I can with a consultation to advise on how best to move forward.