Traditional vs. Virtual Home Staging:  Which One Should You Choose?

What is home staging and why do you need it?

In recent years, the housing market has gone into a state of urgency as people more than ever are wanting to buy versus rent homes. This trend is not only bringing up the value of homes but also putting pressure on real estate agents for an efficient process as inventory is low. But even as the market is hot, home staging offers a way to help ensure you get top dollar for your listing in the most efficient timeframe. 

Home staging is the act of enhancing your listing by adding furniture and decor into a room and allows clients to envision themselves living in that space.  There are two different methods of staging that you can choose from, Traditional and Virtual Home Staging.  Both options are effective when it comes to increasing the value of your home. So as the market drastically changes, which option is right for your listing?

What are the benefits and disadvantages of traditional home staging?

Traditional Home staging brings the space to life by physically piecing together furniture and decor that people can see in person. This process can be very tedious and labor-intensive.  You will not only have to hire a professional stager that will need time to design and move-in furniture, but homeowners will have to put in the time to deep clean, paint walls, and sometimes move out all their existing furniture and decor.  Another disadvantage is that there could be limitations on what design styles are available with the staging company or there could be limitations based on where the listing is located.  Overall, this entire process could take weeks to get the home ready for buyers and costs can quickly start to add up. On average, the cost of a consultation, labor, and rentals can be over $6,000 which is an automatic deal-breaker for a majority of agents/sellers. As traditional home staging can be ideal when providing an in-person experience that presents customers with the chance to immerse themselves in their ideal home, the costs, inconvenience, and limitations may be too much for the fast- shifting market.

What are the benefits and latest developments of virtual home staging? 

On the other hand, virtual home staging is a digital version of traditional staging that electronically furnishes and decorates a room.  In recent years, online listings have grown in popularity as the current process of purchasing a home almost always starts with an online search.  The requirements for virtual staging are simple.  First have a clear picture of your listing and send your image to a designer.  Next wait as little as 24-48 hours for results that can be almost indistinguishable to traditional staging.  Unlike traditional staging, virtual staging provides opportunities to reach many different audiences with an unlimited amount of styles to choose from and with an easy fix, you remove the results that you don’t want to see.  Costs can run anywhere from $16-$100 per image but this year there will be an even more efficient and cost-effective way of home staging, AI home staging. Stageinhome, a brand new service that began in 2022, has given their customers an even greater advantage over their competitors by using AI technology to provide home staging in less than 60 seconds. It presents multiple styles and creates around 20 photos instantly that you can skim through to find your favorite style. Once you have chosen the photos you like the most, you can purchase these for the low cost of 5 euros ($5.36) for each image. They are still in the early stages of development but have made themselves a tough competitor for the future of virtual home staging.

Which option is better for you?

Both home staging options are great for improving how fast you sell your home and may help increase the property’s value by increasing purchase offers up to 10% more.  It can help clients have an overall smooth experience when buying a new home by helping them envision themselves living in the home.  When looking to select an option, what you choose will highly depend on time and budget.  If you have more time and your budget allows, traditional home staging allows you to hold open houses so people can do walk-throughs.  If you are looking to sell or rent as soon as possible and don’t have the budget to get new furniture/decor but still want your clients to be able to envision their new homes, then virtual staging can be for you.

Keep in mind that nowadays, over 80% of home sales start from someone finding a listing online.  First impressions are important as people’s attention span and decision-making is less than 10 seconds. You will need to get people excited about the listing and see the potential of even the smallest and less desirable spaces. If you want to know how the artificial intelligence is used in the real estate sector, you can visit this post.