Become a Marketing Superhero with Virtual Staging

If there’s a new “super-power” in the real estate professional’s visual marketing toolkit today, it’s virtual staging. Virtual staging combines skill and artistry to digitally enhance listing photographs to show off the property’s true potential. Like magic, virtual staging can update wall colors, add and update furnishings, repurpose a room, or “erase” clutter—even turn exterior daylight views to dusk.  Compared to traditional staging, which requires physically bringing in furniture and accessories, virtual staging is quick and cost-effective. And we know staging works: According to the National Association of Realtors, 13% of agents believe that staging increases selling prices by 6% to 10%.

Superheroes will tell you, though, that using a super-power well takes wisdom, experience and creativity. There are technical as well as ethical considerations to consider in applying virtual staging. Here are some tips for making this powerful digital tool work for you.

1. Start With High-Quality Images

Imagination plays a big part in home buying. Clients must be able to envision the possibilities a property holds. That can be hard when vacant rooms look forlorn. The virtual staging process starts with photographing a listing from different angles to capture room sizes and various lighting conditions. An image specialist digitally inserts whatever style of furniture, window treatments, accessories, or wall colors that add appeal and present more up-to-date design trends. Remember: It’s important to start with high-quality professional photographs. Economizing by using snapshots from your cellphone will not have an impact and might even detract from your listing.

2. Focus on the Right Rooms

Invest staging dollars where they’ll do the most good. The living room and the master bedroom are the most important rooms to stage for impact and appeal, according to the National Association of Realtors. The next most important are the kitchen, outdoor spaces, dining room, and bathrooms. The key is to help prospective home buyers visualize what could be there—and with virtual staging, that can include a variety of styles and room types, depending on the prospects’ lifestyle, family composition and life stage.

3. Try Different Looks for Different Audiences

Virtual staging allows for a range of customized features to help your unique target audience imagine themselves in their new home. For instance, if your listing is a dated, circa 1985 condominium, but is located in trendy Belleview, you’ll need to show your target audience how the space can accommodate buyers who may prefer more updated, contemporary interior designs. Virtual staging allows you to customize furnishings that match the tastes of your unique buyers.  Unlike traditional staging, which limits you to one style per space, virtual staging permits you to show off a room in many ways—as nursery or home office or teen bedroom—simultaneously.

4. Out-do Mother Nature

With virtual staging, you can take command of exterior as well as interior spaces. Always wished you could control the weather? Voila! Virtual staging lets you turn noonday into soft twilight, or change a bright blue frame house into a more neutral color exterior.  Working with a house that lacks curb appeal? Consider sprucing up the front by adding virtual patio furniture or a picnic table bedecked with a brightly colored backyard umbrella.

5. Don’t Limit Yourself to Residential Applications

Virtual staging is also valuable for exploring the versatility of commercial properties and rentals. Imagine showing prospective buyers or renters what their vacation rental property office space might look like filled with virtual desks, conference tables, café seating, cabinets and multi-media consoles.

6. Whatever You Do, Be Upfront

As fabulous as virtual staging is, it’s unethical to deploy your powerful tools to conceal a property’s flaws (like a hole in the ceiling) or camouflage issues (such as a utility pole in the back yard). Use your superpowers for good! Always state specifically that the listing has been virtually staged, and a watermark on all virtually staged photos is always best. In fact, telling buyers in advance that a home has been virtually staged can actually spark a dialogue about how it might be furnished or improved, so they can better envision themselves living in the home.

As you keep looking for ways to save time and money—and maybe even the planet—virtual staging is a powerful tool for bringing out the best in any property at reduced cost and superhero-fast speeds. After all, if almost half of all buyers are more willing to walk through a home they saw online after it’s been staged, wouldn’t you consider it?

Done right, virtual staging is the difference between a property that “can’t sell” and one that “can’t miss.”