Staging Your Home to Sell: Physical vs. Virtual

Categories: Home Selling Tips Selling Your Home Staging Your Home



We live in a visual world where seeing is believing and believing is seeing imagery that excites each person’s individual tastes. Nowhere more is this true than with the staging of a home to sell.


In fact, 81 percent of buyers argue that staging a house helps in visualizing a property as a future home. The keyword there is home. A place that looks polished but lived in, laughed in and loved.


Staging plays a vital role in prepping a house for market. While the practice can be time consuming and costly to sellers, virtual staging has changed that by transforming how buyers can envision the home of their dreams. Let’s take a look at some key differences between physical and virtual staging.

Cost

The physical staging of a home will typically involve the clearing of clutter, furniture rearrangement and occasionally, replacement. If a home is completely empty to begin with, a design expert will sometimes be hired to gauge the feel of the house with decor to match. All in all, this process can be extremely costly to the seller, ranging anywhere from $350 per room on the low end to over $200,000 for luxury homes.


However, virtual staging is a fraction of the cost. Most rooms can be fully furnished—virtually, that is—for about $100 per room.

Time and Flexibility

The coordination it takes to physically stage a home far outweighs that of a virtual stage based on the convenience factor alone. For a physical stage, clients must consult with a designer, clear out and move decor around accordingly, have new items moved in and then capture the look with a photography session.


Virtual staging, on the other hand, is done without much contact at all between consultant and seller. With the exchange of some photos and guided direction, stagers are able to arrange and rearrange virtual furniture throughout a room many times over within a matter of a few short hours.


Seeing is Believing

It can certainly be argued that seeing is believing, and when a potential buyers view images online that don’t sync with the views in real life, it can be a bit jolting. On the other hand, walking into a completely empty space (or one with opposite design taste aesthetics) can be difficult to imagine as anything other than that. As Danielle Schlisser of the Corcoran Group in New York City says, “In an empty space, people can’t really understand how big a couch or bed is… They’ll come in and think they’ll never fit their furniture in there because they really don’t have an understanding of scale.”


Whether looking to cut costs or re-envision your home decor with ease, virtual staging has opened the door to new possibilities for sellers and buyers alike. Choosing the best option comes down to understanding what works best for your goals, timeline and overall asking price.

 

Need help deciding on whether to opt for physical or virtual staging when it comes to selling your home? Contact Janet McAfee Real Estate today for three decades worth of home buying and selling insights you can count on.

“To Stage or Not to Stage? That is the Question”

Categories: General Our Stories Selling Your Home St. Louis Luxury Homes Success Begins Here Staging Your Home

Sellers often ask me if there is a benefit to staging their home.  The answer is a resounding YES!  Research from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and our “real world” local experience is indisputable: staging adds value, reduces the time on market and produces a positive ROI.   Here are the 10 Reasons to Stage Your Home for selling:

1.       You will make more money.   A 2015 NAR survey found the majority of buyers were more likely to offer higher prices for a staged home compared to a similar home.

2.       Your home will sell faster.  Professionally staged homes spent 72% less time on the market, according to a survey from the Real Estate Staging Association.

3.       Buyers can visualize themselves in the home.  81% of buyers it was easier to visualize the staged property as their future home.   

4.       Your online photos will look better.  Over 95% of home buyers look online.  This is where you make your first impression and where potential buyers decide whether to make an appointment.  Professional staged homes stand out and generate more buyer interest. 

5.       Staging helps defuse other property flaws.  2015 NAR survey revealed 28% of buyers viewing a staged home overlook other property faults.  The eye is naturally drawn to clean, well-appointed furnishings and away from minor imperfections.

6.       Personal photos and memorability distract your buyer from viewing the home.  Remember, you are trying to help a buyer see themselves living in this property, not as a guest amidst your family’s personal life story.

7.       The cost of staging is less than your first price reduction.  Some sellers will say “I’ll give it a try without staging and then if it doesn’t sell, I’ll stage it.”  This is a huge mistake.  Days on market tick on.  By the time you have determined you need to stage, your best prospects have already seen your home and formed their opinion.   You are looking at a price reduction just to attract new interest.

8.       Sellers are not objective about their own homes.  The chinoiserie fabric you selected to match the floral chintz may be your pride and joy, but the buyer may not share your design style.  A professional stager will select a neutral pallet which appeals to a broad range of prospective buyers.

9.       You will save time and reduce your anxiety.  Selling your home can be stressful and time consuming.  A professional stager will manage the process for you so that you can devote your energy into your new home.

10.   Your Realtor will support you 100%.  Real estate professionals know that staged homes attract higher offers and faster sales.  We are delighted to help facilitate the process, make appointments for you, meet painters or handyman at your home and help you arrange an estate sale.

Janet Horlacher

Principal

Janet McAfee Inc.

(Property in photograph is 9044 Clayton Road, professionally staged by Property Enhancements LLC)