Virtual Staging

Virtual staging is usually a lot cheaper than traditional staging is. Here’s a quick glimpse at what you’re looking at:

• Virtual staging costs somewhere between $75 and $199 per room, depending on the contractor you use, your location and the amount of space you need staged.
  • Traditional staging can cost several hundred dollars per month, depending on the stager you use, how much furniture you need to rent, your location and the number of rooms you need staged.

Price isn’t the only sticking point, though. Each method has its own pros and cons that you’ll have to consider, particularly if you’re trying to sell an empty house

The biggest mistake a seller can make is hiring a virtual staging company that’s not good enough. Virtually staged photos should be exceptionally realistic – so real, in fact, that buyers won’t know they’re computer-generated unless someone tells them.

Other mistakes many people make with virtual staging is:

• Failing to provide prospective buyers with photos of empty rooms as well as staged rooms. Buyers may expect the home to look the same as it does in its listing photos, so provide both.
• Choosing virtual staging that makes the home look worse, not better. You have to be careful not to overdo furniture and decorative elements in staged photos.
• Using virtual staging when it’s unnecessary. Replacing furnishings and decorative elements in photos when they’re perfectly fine to begin with can be a significant waste of time (and money).

Virtual staging can help sell a home faster and for more money – but only if it’s done right. Hire a professional like Virtual Property Shotz who knows how to take great photos for virtual staging, and with a great portfolio of completed work.

Check out these side-by-side lists of the pros and cons of virtual staging to help you make the right choice:

Pros of Virtual Staging 

• Can help you showcase an empty home’s best features
• Is cost-effective when compared to traditional staging
• Attracts prospective buyers’ attention online
• Offers you the opportunity to stage any number of rooms
• Allows you to stage flex rooms in multiple ways

Cons of Virtual Staging

• Becomes more expensive when you need to remove furniture or items from photos
• Can be difficult to use when the house is occupied, unless you have previous listing photos
• Furniture and décor only exist in the virtual space – buyers will never see it in person

Traditional staging, which successful real estate agents have been using for decades, doesn’t always require a professional stager. However, it does require an eye for detail and the ability to create a space that appeals to the widest possible range of buyers.

Check out these side-by-side lists of the pros and cons of traditional staging to help you decide whether it’s a better choice for selling your home:

Pros of Traditional Staging

• Gives buyers real-life perspective when they tour the home
• Prevents buyers from having to tour a completely empty, vacant home
• Appeals to buyers’ sense of imagination
• Makes spaces appear larger and enables prospective buyers to gauge size
• Helps your home stand out in buyers’ memories after they leave

Cons of Traditional Staging

• Can be expensive, and you’ll keep incurring costs until the home sells
• Requires stagers to bring in furnishings, décor and other items
• May be unnecessary, depending on how quickly homes are selling in your market