By Colleen Bennett, Longtime La Verne Realtor —
Today, 87% of buyers start their home search on the Internet. Itâs also true that vacant homes donât show as well, and as a result, are at a distinct disadvantage to furnished or staged homes when it comes to getting the attention and offers of buyers.
To address this problem, professional stagers for years have creatively and tastefully transformed these empty boxes into attractively-designed interiors with furnishings, accessories and artwork. Staging fees can typically run into hundreds and even thousands of dollars given the cost of furniture rentals, moving costs and, of course, the stagerâs expertise and design time. Despite these costs, traditional home staging has long been recognized as one of the most effective ways to market a property.
But in these lean times, not everyone can afford traditional staging. New times demand new solutions. In response, a creative Atlanta-based couple, Jay and Krisztina Bell, have created a patent-pending process that produces virtually staged rooms that are virtually indistinguishable from physically decorated rooms.
Whether youâre home is a colonial, a mid-century modern, craftsman or new construction, the Bells, and their business, Virtually Staging Properties, can make your home look as realistic as the real thing. Sellers or their agents will send them photos of the rooms they want virtually staged, along with relevant details and instructions for each photo, such as âplace bed against the right-most wall in the photo.â
âThe more input we get on the front end — in terms of style, preference and demographics — helps us tremendously,â Jay told me. âWeâre going to stage a home differently for a new home buyer versus a 50-plus buyer.â
For three virtually staged photos, Virtually Staging Properties charges $225, four run $280 and five are $325. âWe usually recommend four,â Jay said. Typically, these areas could be the living room, dining room, master bedroom and a kitchen or bathroom.
Virtually Staging Properties can usually return virtually staged photos in three business days that sellers and their agents can use on not only their website, but also flyers and a host of other helpful marketing materials. The enhanced photos also can be placed at the property to further help visualize their new home.
âWhile there will always be strong demand for traditional home staging, this virtual technique is an affordable solution for cash-strapped sellers who want to turn listing views into real buyer traffic,â Krisztina Bell said. âItâs a perfect example of how new technology can help sell homes, even in todayâs difficult market.â
Jay and Krisztina still physically stage scores of homes each year, but their virtually staged homes are also appearing nationwide ⌠and itâs awfully hard to know the difference.
âWe get jobs from just about everywhere,â Jay said. âVirtual staging is not better than traditional staging. Itâs just a less expensive model.
And these days, staging on a dime is a nice alternative for sellers who want to affordably drive buyer traffic into their home.
For more information,
visit www.virtuallystagingproperties.com.
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