Are you ready to start offering virtual staging? Before you begin, make sure you understand these basic terms so you get exactly what you’re looking for.
Virtual staging using a real estate photo editing company or online software has exploded in popularity around the world. Realtors are using the full power of the digital economy to feature photos of their properties online in order to drive more traffic and interest to their listings. They can then use the power of virtual staging to digitally add furniture to space in order to provide more value for both buyers and sellers. At the end of the day, this entire digital marketing process helps to sell properties faster and more efficiently than ever before.
The results that you get when you work with virtual staging companies are a far more effective use of your resources than attempting to physically stage a home for an open house. By working with such a company, you’ll get a fully furnished hi-resolution image of a room within 24-48 hours that you can use in multiple marketing channels (online listing, listing flyer, single property website, etc.) to help draw attention to your listing. Not to mention, the cost of staging virtually can start as low as $20 per image.
So, if that sounds like something that will be valuable to your real estate photography business, then read on as we discuss some of the most important terms you need to know to become efficient and effective at virtual staging.
Home Staging vs Virtual Staging
Before you begin, make sure you know the difference.
Home staging involves furnishing a physical space with real furniture that clients are going to come and visit during a showing. You will probably work with a home staging professional who will charge you to rent all their furniture and accessories, get them to the location, and set them up, then take them away afterward.
Virtual staging means working with the same property but instead of staging with physical pieces of furniture, you take images of the empty home and then use digital furniture to show potential buyers how the property will look when it is fully furnished.
What you need to do is:
- Take professional photos of the property. We suggest using a professional real estate photography company.
- Search online and choose the best virtual staging company to work with.
- Select virtual furniture from an online catalog of virtual furniture sets and individual pieces.
- Upload your images and furniture selections to the virtual staging company.
- Receive your virtually staged images within 24-48 hours!
It stands to reason that virtual staging is much faster, more affordable, and more effective in the digital-first environment that we are operating in today.
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12 Virtual Staging Terms You Need to Know
- Virtual Home Staging – Working with a digital artist and/or real estate photo editing team to create a fully furnished image using digital furniture and digital decor.
- Virtual Furniture – Digital renderings of furniture and accessories you can choose from when virtually staging a room.
- Virtual Staging Online Catalog – An online repository of virtual furniture and individual furniture pieces that real estate photographers and realtors can select from when staging a room or property. Click this link for an example of a virtual staging online catalog.
- Uploading – As the real estate photographer, it’s up to you to work with a real estate photo editing company, a virtual staging company, or preferably both. Uploading refers to the process of sending the unprocessed images over to your real estate photo editing company and/or virtual staging company.
- Furniture Set – Matching pieces of furniture that are used to create a certain look or style within a set of virtual staging images, e.g Modern, Scandanavian, or Beach.
- Turnaround Time – How long it takes your virtual staging company to complete a final virtual staging image.
- Revisions – The virtual staging company takes your requests or recommendations and revises the virtual staging image according to your feedback. Some virtual staging companies charge for this service. Others, like PhotoUp, do not charge for revisions as long as you let us know about the revisions before you give your final approval.
- Virtual Staging Artist – Someone who is experienced in virtually staging rooms with the use of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and other photoediting software like Photoshop and Lightroom.
- CAD (Computer-Aided Design) – The act of using computers to create or modify an online design.
- Virtual Staging App – A mobile application you can download onto your device that lets you do virtually stage a room yourself.
- Virtual Staging Companies – Businesses that provide virtual staging services to real estate photographers and realtors looking to virtually stage their properties.
- Rendering – The time it takes to actually produce the finished image once all the creative choices have been made and the software begins to put it all together.
Should You Use Virtual Staging?
Regardless if you’re a realtor or real estate photographer, the evidence seems to be overwhelming that you should be using virtual staging as part of your real estate marketing strategy.
It’s fast, it gives you a huge reach into the online market of prospective buyers, and it’s so affordable that you can afford to get multiple images and multiple looks for the same price as a few days of home staging.
Try virtual staging today and start to build a beautiful web portfolio of your properties with PhotoUp.
