Innovative marketing strategies usually develop under two circumstances. It’s either because the market is dormant, due to whatever reason, or it’s too competitive! Whatever the cause, an effective marketing strategy achieves two goals: Quicker sales, and higher profit (lower marketing costs).
One example of a great marketing strategy in the realm of real estate was the idea of “home staging” put forward by Barbara Schwarz in the 1970s.
Although it wasn’t immediately embraced by the community of the time, it didn’t take them too long to realize that a staged home got a lot more attention than a vacant one and consequently, didn’t linger as long in the market.
While home staging is still a common practice in many parts of the world and lots of home buyers and realtors adore it for various reasons, virtual staging, has become another available option, especially to those realtors who can’t (or don’t want to) set aside a big marketing budget when selling/renting their client’s home.
In what follows, we review how virtual staging came into play, what its unique benefits are, and its different types.
Virtual Staging: How it All Began!
As the new millennium was approaching, computers became more accessible to common people, and new software with jaw-dropping features kept coming one after another! One good example of such software is “Adobe Photoshop” developed by the Knoll brothers in 1987, which allowed users to perform certain types of manipulations in photos.
As time grew, more graphic design and photo-editing software were created, allowing users to apply yet more delicate changes in photos. With the advent of such software and the simultaneous growth of the number of people who started their home-hunting journey online, we learned yet another useful application of photo manipulation: Virtual Staging!
Soon, virtual staging became a common practice in real estate marketing. Today, there are dozens of virtual staging apps and platforms with millions of users around the world. With that being said, let’s take a look at the different types of virtual staging and find out about their merits!
Manual virtual staging
This one is for the experts working in virtual staging companies. Here, using software such as “Luminar Neo”, “Adobe Photoshop”, or other similar programs, designers create a 3D model of the to-be-staged room and then furnish it.
To stage a room using a photo-editing program, a graphic designer should create a source of light in the photo, remove the noise, and make sure that the color temperature is right. It normally takes an expert 1-2 hours to stage a room virtually which means, for a person not used to working with such programs, the job would take several hours and the result is never appealing enough!
The good thing about manual virtual staging is that, when done by professionals, the photos look almost like real photos which means they leave a better impression on the viewers.
Semi-manual virtual staging
What if you want to stage a vacant living room by yourself?
Well, all you need to do is to find an app/online platform that automatically renders a 3D model of your space. Then, you can decide what furniture should go in the room, and for that matter, what design style the room should have.
Of course, you can only choose the furniture and design styles provided by the tool you’re using. Then, you should wait for some time (not more than a few minutes) for the app to stage the room.
The semi-manual virtual staging has some advantages over the manual one. For one thing, it lets the users make their own choices which means they usually get their desired result. For another, they don’t have to wait for a whole day to see how the rooms look.
For these reasons, apart from real estate agents and property owners, interior designers may also use this type of virtual staging to come up with the right design for a given space.
AI virtual staging
The third and most advanced type of virtual staging is AI virtual staging which only requires users to choose the the room type and the design style. AI then generates the fully staged home in less than a minute! If the user is not satisfied with the result, they can go through the same process again and again. With good platforms/tools, hundreds of redos are possible!
The main advantages of AI virtual staging are its super low costs; (we’re talking 10-30 cents instead of 15-30 dollars!) compared to the other two types of virtual staging, and its ability to generate instant results
Some Benefits of Virtual Staging
Overall, the three types of virtual staging offer an array of advantages that are of great value to home sellers, realtors, interior designers, and those who want to try new decors. Some of these advantages are:
Affordability
Without making any unfair comparisons, it’s safe to say that virtual staging, no matter which type, is a wallet-friendly strategy in real estate marketing that almost anyone can go for.
Freedom of choice
As the whole thing is done in a virtual space, it is possible to try various styles with different furniture and choose the design that has a higher appeal to the home buyers/tenants. If you find that the photos don’t get enough attention, you can try a different design without having to worry about the costs or time.
Increased buyer interest
A cursory look at NAR’s profile of home staging (2023) reveals a great deal about the positive effects of home staging on buyers’ perspectives and how much it contributes to having an open house in the market.
Suffice to say that out of 1,921 realtors participating in this study, 81% of them stressed that a staged home allows buyers to visualize the place as a future home.
Remember, you only have one chance to attract house hunters visiting property listings and that one chance is the first photo of your home there. The more attractive that photo is, the higher the chances they like the house and pay a visit! With virtual staging that first look is somehow always guaranteed.
Safety
Sounds a bit odd? Maybe, but it’s true nonetheless! With virtual staging, there is no actual furniture in the house to be damaged and you wouldn’t worry about thieves or mishaps! Also, as it’s a low-budget marketing strategy, it doesn’t involve any financial risks.
Final Considerations
For those involved in real estate marketing, virtual staging seems like a proper choice. But with hundreds of apps/tools providing this service, it’s essential to choose the right tool to get the best experience! Otherwise, you may end up with subpar results, making you forget about it altogether!
