Today, just about everybody starts their new home search (buyers or renters) on the Internet at sites like Trulia or Craig’s List. Real estate listings of unfurnished homes, apartments and properties that show empty rooms in 2 inch wide Internet photos have a distinct disadvantage. That’s why conventional home stagers have become so numerous in the past few years – because by now it’s widely known that staged homes sell much faster than empty ones.

But new home searches start on the internet, not in the homes for sale.

That’s why there is another trend gaining hold of the home staging industry – virtual home staging. Technology seems to be catching up with this kind of business as it has with so many others; virtual property staging has become the newest option to consider when Realtors, owners and landlords need to market the best images of their unfurnished listings.

With virtual effects so common in so many venues (Hollywood, TV, ads, news, etc.) why should home sellers or landlords have to get conventional home stagers to physically furnish their property, when virtual staging can do the job faster, easier and cheaper? The virtual version of decor and furnishings is not only photorealistic, but often as good as or better in it’s choice of furniture as conventional home stager’s efforts. And, it is not limited to the furniture that the conventional stager owns – many styles of furnishings can be found in the virtual stager’s portfolio.

Those wanting to advertise their unfurnished properties need only take some good quality digital photos, email them be digitally staged with room dimensions and preferences, and then wait a couple days for attractively furnished real estate photos that they can use on MLS listings and other real estate marketing efforts. Real estate ads and handouts should show the unfurnished and virtually furnished photos for an honest and complete understanding of the property.

Any notion that virtual staging is not honest or real is dispelled when one considers that “real” staging is not real either – that’s why it’s called staged. When buyers or renters see the actual home, they can see how it could be lived in, and they can also see the whole house or apartment as well. There’s no screen hiding a cracked wall, no carpet to disguise a floor spot that needs refinishing. When the property is bought or rented, there’s no need to get rid of someone else’s furniture.

Virtual staging, home staging’s 2.0 – seems to have finally arrived.

Tags: Advertising, Better, Home, Property, Staging, Unfurnished, Virtual —