Traditional Home Staging vs. Virtual Staging – Which Is Right for You?
Whether you’re a homeowner or real estate agent, when it comes to selling a house, there is always a lot to consider before putting it on the market. Deciding how, when, and at what price to list it can make all the difference in how successful your home sale is. One of the most important decisions to make before putting your house for sale on the market is to determine the best features to highlight and how to generate the most interest. Hiring a professional home stager has become an important step in raising both the interest level of a buyer and the number of offers made on a house or property when selling a home today.
But, what type of staging should you use? That’s a question homeowners and real estate agents have grappled with for some time. With the advent of HGTV and binge-watching house buying or selling shows, along with a growing interest in online shopping for anything and everything, we have started to change the way we look for new homes and how to market listings. Here are some of the differences between traditional home staging and virtual staging, and what to consider before choosing how to stage your house or property to best suit your home and selling needs.
What does Traditional Home Staging include?
Traditional home staging is usually done by a professional stager who comes in and “stages” a home before listing it. Home staging companies can provide furniture and home decor items needed for arranging the home to highlight its best features. Home stagers focus on design elements and layout that make the house feel and look as inviting to potential buyers as possible. Staging can also help buyers imagine what it would be like to live somewhere or visualize how their own items would fit and where to place certain hard-to-fit items. The right staging can also help to minimize minor flaws that may distract a buyer from seeing a house’s full potential.
Depending on the needs and condition of a home, the extent of staging can vary. Some well-appointed homes may only require a little decorative updating or rearranging a few items, while others may require more in-depth efforts like repainting or some minor repairs before holding an open house or viewing. If furniture or decor is outdated or the home is empty, home stagers will bring furniture and accessories in for the homeowner to rent while the house is on the market.
Virtual Home Staging:
Virtual staging is often used when a property is vacant, though it can benefit houses in need of upgrades or modernizing as well. Images of unfurnished rooms are digitally staged by adding furniture and design elements to each room. This can help buyers visualize what a home will look like with furniture and can be used to create a virtual tour of the listing online.
Virtual staging may help buyers see the hidden potential of an older home by eliminating previous design choices that are sometimes hard to overlook. Even something as simple as the wrong paint color or furniture layout can be off putting enough for some that they can’t see past it. It’s easy to underestimate what a difference a quick color fix or the right furniture layout can make. Virtual staging makes it easier to see the possibilities hidden behind a poor wall color or paint job, or ill-fitted furniture and room layout when a home is empty, or home staging is limited.
It’s also possible to virtually stage every area of the house without the same budget constraints and limits of furniture options that the traditional method can sometimes place. However, it’s important to keep staging realistic for the type of home and potential buyers you’ll attract.
You also want to be sure buyers can imagine their own furniture and aesthetic in a space, so fewer details and a simpler design may be the best option for both staging options. With an empty property or with new construction, staging becomes a key element in appealing to buyers, and can be done through both traditional staging or virtual staging methods, or a combination of both.
- Time-Commitment:
When it comes to how much time is spent on staging, it really depends on the particular needs of the home you’re trying to sell. Traditional staging often requires a minimum commitment of time for furniture rentals. If the home is still occupied, time for cleaning and straightening up before an open house or scheduled walk-through is generally required, though this is true for any lived-in property you’re trying to sell. While virtual staging takes less time initially, it may require both virtual and traditional methods to stay competitive. Most people need to see a property in person before deciding whether or not to buy it, and while virtual images and photos can help draw initial interest through virtual tours or digital imagery viewed online, relying solely on one method over the other may not be the best option.
- Cost:Â
There are a lot of variables when it comes to costs. Virtual staging is the least expensive, but again, might not be enough by itself to sell a house at the best price. Traditional staging generally requires monthly payments with three-month minimums and can accrue additional charges for initial consultations or extras like painting or minor repair work. Movers and hauling, or other service fees might also be involved. Costs range anywhere from $2500-$5000 for traditional staging with extended fees for listings that take longer to sell.
The cost for virtual staging can also vary, though it’s quite a bit less expensive. There is generally a one-time fee required upfront for each digital image of a room or area that’s been virtually staged, with prices starting around $75 per image. The number of rooms-or images will determine the overall cost.
To learn more about what High Res Media has to offer in virtual staging or how we can help with traditionally staged homes, or for more information about our other photography, videography and print services available, contact us today.