Virtual Staging Brings Empty Homes to Life
October 16, 2009Submitted by Bill Rawlings, REALTOR®
By Katherine Tarbox, REALTOR® Magazine
Even vacant listings need to look their best. But what if neither you nor your client can foot the bill for staging? To professionally stage an occupied house can cost from a few hundred dollars to more than $1,000, says Barb Schwartz, a staging pioneer and founder of StagedHomes.com. The price tag is even higher for vacant properties; add rental furniture and the costs can skyrocket.
That’s why some salespeople are turning to virtual staging-using computer technology to add furniture and other décor to photos of their listings. Since many buyers today narrow their choices based on online photos, virtual staging is an economical way to show the potential of a vacant property.
Practitioners have been hesitant in the past to use virtual staging solutions because the images looked computer-generated (similar to the virtual world of Second Life). But a new generation of these services allows you to create realistic images using photographs of actual furniture.
One option is Virtually Staging Properties, a program developed by professional stagers Krisztina and Jay Bell of Atlanta. The husband-and-wife team photographed more than 1,000 pieces of furniture, creating a virtual database that they use to lay out a room with images.
Cynthia Temple, a sales associate with First Weber Group Inc. in Middleton, Wis., used the service to create staged images of a vacant condo. Turnaround time: less than one week. Cost: less than $225. “The images are stunningly realistic,” Temple says. “It’s hard to believe they’re computer-generated.”
The company also provides its customers with high-resolution 8-by-10-inch images, which the Bells recommend leaving in each room of the house.
Before virtual staging, Temple’s condo listing had been on the market for more than two months without a showing. Within days of uploading the new photos, she says, traffic increased significantly and she quickly had six showings.
Virtually Staging isn’t the only show in town. VitualStagingSolutions.com offers its lifelike photos through a partnership with Ashley Furniture. Obeo (http://www.obeo.com/) offers Obeo StyleDesigner, which enables you to change wall colors, countertops textures, and type of flooring, and Obeo SpaceDesigner lets you create drawings of a room with furnishings. Other do-it-yourself options include Home Design Studio (http://www.punchsoftware.com/) and Live Interior 3D (http://www.belightsoft.com/).
While there will always be strong demand for traditional home staging,” says Krisztina Bell, “this virtual technology is an affordable solution for cash-strapped sellers.”
Posted in Tips for Sellers | Tagged ashley furniture, atlanta fine homes sotheby's international realty, barb schwartz, bill rawlings, cynthia temple, first wever group inc, home design studio software, jay bell, katherine tarbox, krisztina bell, live interior 3d software, obeo space designer, obeo style designer, obeo.com, realtor magazine, second life virtual world, stagedhomes.com, virtual staging, virtually staging properties, virtualstagingsolutions.com |
Thanks for featuring Virtually Staging Properties and our recent article in the October Realtor mag on page 14. We are proud to announce our patent pending virtual staging process. We have already done business with the fabulous Sotheby’s Atlanta Fine Homes agents here in Atlanta and hope to work with more of you in the future! Please check out our latest article in the November issue of Kiplinger’s Finance Magazine or currently online at http://bit.ly/4i8LNv. Thanks and remember our Patent-Pending virtual staging service will
by kriszbell October 20, 2009 at 11:16 amhelp drive traffic to your vacant property …
Because without traffic, it may never sell! KRISZTINA, http://www.virtuallystagingproperties.com