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Thinking about using online virtual staging, but not sure what to do first? This post can help you get started!

Online virtual staging is an easy, and affordable real estate marketing tool that creates stunning images and helps people visualize themselves living in a home. This, in turn, can help sell homes faster and for better prices. 

Recent statistics show that virtually staged listings get 30% more web traffic than non-staged properties. 

So, in this post, you’ll learn how to use virtual staging in your real estate business to create captivating listing photos and accelerate a sale.

But first, let’s talk about virtual staging and how it differs from regular, or traditional, staging. 

Virtual Staging vs Regular Staging

Home staging

Staging a home is a common practice when getting it ready for sale. Staging involves making the home look its best by doing some of the following:

  • Cleaning and decluttering rooms and spaces
  • Removing personal items
  • Arranging furniture to make a room look inviting
  • Adding rented furniture and decor to vacant listings

While traditional staging can be highly beneficial to the sale of a home, it can also be expensive and quite a bit of work. It can also be time-consuming, delaying the sale of the home. 

Additionally, it can be intrusive and annoying for the seller who has to endure workers coming in and out and disruptive repair work.

Here’s where online virtual staging comes into play. 

Virtual staging is a special photo editing technology allowing trained designers to change the color, style, and furnishing of any space.

Empty room before virtual staging
Before: Original Photo
After virtual staging by PhotoUp
After: Virtual Staging by PhotoUp

Using online virtual staging results in photos that grab buyers’ attention,  making the images look like the ones you’d find in a high-end interior design magazine. 

Now, you may be wondering how buyers react to virtual staging — do they feel mislead or tricked by the process? Therefore, let’s talk about this concern in more detail. 

Does Virtual Staging Anger or Upset Buyers?

Some real estate agents worry that potential buyers will feel misled or tricked by virtual staging. They see gorgeous photos of the property online only to arrive for a showing and find empty or outdated rooms.

After all, angry and upset buyers rarely make offers. 

Going further, some real estate sales professionals are concerned if virtual staging is ethical or even legal. 

These are all valid concerns. So, let’s address them. 

First, if virtually staged images are clearly marked as such, it’s unlikely potential buyers will feel misled. One excellent best practice is to include both the “before” and “after” photos.

Empty room before virtual staging
Before: Original Photo
After online virtual staging by PhotoUp
After: Virtual Staging by PhotoUp

Second, virtual staging is becoming increasingly popular, so more and more buyers understand how this works. 

In fact, many buyers appreciate virtual staging. Here’s why:

  • It shows them appealing design and decorating ideas
  • Virtual staging also helps buyers better visualize a room’s potential
  • The flexibility of virtual staging allows a buyer to see how the home would look with different decor styles or even when renovated
Empty room before virtual staging
Before: Original Photo
After online virtual staging by PhotoUp
After: Virtual Staging by PhotoUp

So, most buyers understand and even appreciate virtual staging. But what about its legality?

First, check with your local MLS to learn their policies and approaches to virtual staging. Second, follow their rules and aim to be completely transparent and open about your virtual staging. 

If you want to learn more, check out our blog post is virtual staging legal?

Now that you don’t have to worry about buyers’ reactions or legal issues, let’s take a look at the versatility of online virtual staging.

The Versatility of Online Virtual Staging

Virtual staging is incredibly flexible and its possible uses are almost endless. Let’s consider just a few examples.

Maybe the sellers have not updated their home decor in many years and the current furnishing looks drab and outdated. Traditionally staging such a home could be quite expensive and labor-intensive. 

Empty room before virtual staging
Before: Original Photo
After online virtual staging by PhotoUp
After: Virtual Staging by PhotoUp

Using virtual staging, you can completely update the entire home for less money than the cost of most easy chairs. 

How about another example? Perhaps the yard would be ideal for an in-ground pool. With virtual staging, you can easily add one and help the buyers imagine themselves swimming with family and friends. 

Twilight photo editing by PhotoUp
Before: Empty Yard
Virtual staging of pool/patio area by PhotoUp
After: Virtual Staging by PhotoUp

Or maybe the dining area would work well with a contemporary-styled table and chairs?

Empty room before virtual staging
Before: Original Photo
After online virtual staging by PhotoUp
After: Virtual Staging by PhotoUp

Again, online virtual staging makes it easy to change the decor.

Not only does virtual staging save time and money, but it’s also an effective way to show a property’s full potential.

Having learned about the many benefits of online virtual staging, let’s show you how easy it is to get started. 

Let PhotoUp Make Your Online Virtual Staging Easy

PhotoUp makes online virtual staging easy. All you need to do is take photos of your property, upload your images, and then select furniture and decor options from our large design library.

You can also add any specific editing instructions and/or choose to have each of your images watermarked with your name, logo, or icon. 

PhotoUp will send you proofs to approve within 24 to 48 hours for the low cost of $20 to $30 per image. 

Our full range of online virtual staging services include:

  • Virtually staging for vacant or furnished rooms
  • Color changes for walls, furnishings, and flooring
  • Digital decluttering, repairs, and updates
  • Virtual landscaping, sky replacement, and twilight effect
  • And much, much more!

PhotoUp Virtual Staging Demo

For more details on this easy and affordable process, take a look at this post on how to do virtual staging online or watch our virtual staging demo:

As simple as that!

And we do more than just virtual staging. Let PhotoUp meet all your real estate marketing needs with services such as:

So why wait? Get started with virtual staging today. 

Sign up for a free PhotoUp account now, and get 10 free credits that you can use to virtually stage your images.

We hope this post helped you learn about online virtual staging made easy with PhotoUp. 

If you enjoyed this blog post, you may also want to check out the following related resources as well:

Gregory Gronbacher

Real Estate Sales Agent / Professional Blogger

Gregory is a real estate sales agent and a state-certified instructor of real estate licensing and law. Originally from New York City, he's called Grand Rapids, Michigan home since 1995.

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