Differences and common things between virtual and home staging
Virtual staging is an innovative solution that has contributed to the efficiency of the realtor job. Homes and commercial property that can’t attract much attention in the listings acquire a new lease of life with the help of digital staging. This approach has become a cost-effective and time-efficient alternative to home staging. But what exactly differs virtual staging from actual or real home staging? Let’s find out.
Home staging explained
A science that teaches how to prepare a home for sale in the most efficient way is called home staging. This term was originally invented by Barb Schwarz, a realtor from the American rural area, in 1970, and he became the first stager who founded an artistic direction devoted to making homes more appealing to buyers. Currently, it is very popular all over the globe. Therefore, many realtors use this technique to get more successful deals and satisfied clients.
The main role of staging is to develop a universal interior that will meet any average potential buyer’s expectations. Usually, an interior designer creates a project with universal furniture and decor that makes space more interesting and memorable. In most cases, home staging solutions are applied to empty and highly personalized property that spends more time in the market.
Virtual staging
The process of staging empty rooms with the help of professional computer software is known as virtual or digital staging. This service has become useful in many spheres but the biggest contribution is being made to the real estate industry at the moment. Images of vacant homes and offices are virtually staged by professional designers and architects to be added to the listings. Their appealing look serves as a magnet for inquisitive buyers who fall in love with the estate at the stage of viewing listings. Experts say that virtually staged photos increase sales of vacant homes by 42%, so this service is gaining popularity with incredible speed in the real estate market.
Top 5 differences between actual and virtual home staging
Both processes are known as home staging but there is some difference between them. What are they? Let’s have a closer look.
- Actual or real home staging is performed with the help of real furniture and decor while digital staging solutions are developed with the help of professional software.
- Real staging is very expensive and usually takes several thousand dollars for one project while virtual staging can cost only several hundred dollars. When a client orders real home staging services, he should pay not only for the furnishing and decorative details but also interior designer services. Companies that deal with digital staging usually set a price per one photo and do not have any hidden fees.
- Actual staging is a time-consuming process that may take weeks or even months to complete while the average processing time in virtual staging is one-two days. It can be challenging to find special furniture pieces and deliver them to the property, so it may require extra time and money to complete the order. Digital staging experts have a wide collection of furniture and decor models to meet the expectations of the most demanding clients.
- Traditional home staging services may increase the home value more significantly while virtual staging shows the benefits of the empty property without changing its price. At the same time, actual staging requires more investment, and not every seller has this big amount of money upon sale. Though virtual staging does not increase the initial property price, it speeds up the selling process and decreases the amount of time property spends in the market. It prevents the last one from price drops and money losses.
- Buyers can touch the result of home staging solutions with their hands and see them in reality while the result of digital architects’ work can be seen on photos and images, sometimes on videos. One more important aspect is notifying potential buyers about virtually staging solutions applied to photos since many of them take images for reality and get disappointed seeing empty space on showings.
- It is impossible to try on different interiors in one project with real staging since it can cost a fortune. Virtual staging offers multiple approaches to one space with a minimum investment. Clients can specify what style they want to see, provide examples, share expectations, and a designer will fulfill all these wishes in reality. Furthermore, it is possible to apply changes to virtually staged photos as many times as necessary to get 100% customer satisfaction.
- Home staging is an outdated solution that is ordered by sellers less frequently nowadays while virtual staging is a new innovative solution of boosting sales that keeps on growing in popularity due to its affordability, simplicity, and efficiency.
It is clear that virtual staging has evolved from actual home staging and has become an alternative to this costly and time-consuming service. Currently, it is a number-one trend in vacant property sales, and more real estate professionals prefer it when they need to attract more attention to a listing and close the deal as fast as possible.
