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Are you looking into virtual staging for real estate photos and want to know how and why to use this incredible marketing tool?
Then, this post is for you!
With virtual staging, you can bring life to photos of vacant listings or empty rooms while saving valuable amounts of time, money, and effort.
In this post, we’ll share how to make your real estate photos stand out and appeal to more clients with the help of virtual staging. We’ll also cover how the virtual staging process works and the main reasons why you should leverage this marketing tool to grow your business.
Alright, let’s get into the nitty-gritty details!
How to Make Your Real Estate Photos Stand Out
If you’re a photographer, you know that the real estate photography industry can be one of the most rewarding industries to work in.
For starters, there’s no better feeling than knowing that your realtor-client was able to sell a home because of the top-quality real estate photos you provided them.
Second, your photos will help bring potential buyers through the doors, making your job extremely important.
In other words, it’s your job to capture buyers’ attention with professional real estate photography and make them want to take a second look.
There is a but…
Because the real estate photography industry is becoming more and more competitive, there are many photographers to choose from, meaning that you need to make sure your images stand out!
Real estate photographers need to always be on the lookout for the next best and newest thing to add to their list of services.
So what’s the next best thing in real estate photography?
Let’s answer that question next.
Virtual Staging for Real Estate Photos
Virtual staging has taken the real estate marketing scene by storm.
And especially with the pandemic, which is forcing us to be more cautious of exposing ourselves and our loved ones to the virus and taking unnecessary risks.
With that, virtual staging has “blown up” and is becoming one of the hottest real estate marketing trends.
The fact that people can get a feel for a property without even physically viewing it, and can easily imagine themselves living in the home, gives virtual staging its well-deserved spot in the limelight.
Fast & Affordable
Virtual Staging Service
Interiors. Landscapes. Commercial. Virtually transform any space.
The Process of Virtual Staging
(Click on the video to see virtual staging by PhotoUp in action).
For those who don’t know, virtual staging is a special computer-assisted design (CAD) process wherein virtually designed furniture is added to a photo of an empty room, much like traditional home staging.
And the great news about virtual staging is that you don’t need to be a wiz in Photoshop or an interior designer in order to get amazing results.
You can just sign up for a virtual staging service like PhotoUp to start working with a team of 3D furniture modelers and staging specialists.
All you need to do is send over your images, pick furniture set from the online furniture library, add special instructions, and PhotoUp will take care of the rest.
Quick and Easy Order Process
To give you a quick overview, this is how the order process works:
- Once you’ve uploaded your images and made your furniture selections, the real estate photo editors at PhotoUp take over using CAD software to place the furniture into the room, adjust the lighting, and make final edits to your photos.
- You can then download your virtually staged images directly from our software, and voilà!
As simple as that!
For more information, you can check out our post on how to virtually stage a room in less than 5 minutes, or check out this tutorial video:
Best of all, prospective buyers will not even be able to tell the difference between a real room and a virtual staging image.
Why Use Virtual Staging for Real Estate Photos?
With new faster, better, and more realistic tools and techniques, virtual staging continues to become more and more popular in real estate marketing.
Here are 5 reasons why:
1. Gives Warmth and Soul to Empty Spaces
You should use virtual staging because it’s one of the best marketing tools for real estate agents and realtors on the market and can help sell a home faster and for top dollar.
The simple reason for this is that homebuyers want to be able to feel what it would be like to live in the home they’re exploring. They don’t want to see an empty room with white walls and a bare floor.
In other words, an empty room doesn’t convey a homey feeling, but a beautifully furnished and decorated room adds extra warmth and soul to the space.
Furniture, pictures on the wall, plants on the counters, and books on the shelves are all the kinds of things that give a home life.
And that’s where virtual staging comes into the picture.
2. Saves Money on Costly Home Staging
On average, staged homes sell 88% faster, and 85% of staged homes sold for 5% to 23% percent over list price when being staged.
This means that staging a home before selling it is crucial to sell it fast and for top dollar.
However, the average cost for a home staging consultation is $300 to $600. According to real estate professional Crystal Leigh Hemphill, “staging a 2,000-square-foot home costs around $2,000 to $2,400 a month,” if using regular home staging.
On top of that, most professional home stagers also require a 3-month minimum staging contract, even if you sell the home in 24 hours, which could bring your final staging bill to $7,200.
As you can see, the cost of home staging can really start to add up. So, the even better and cost-saving staging option is virtual staging.
With PhotoUp’s expert real estate photo editors at your service, you can get your virtually staged images back in less than 48 hours for only $20 per image.
That’s a lot more money in your pocket!
3. Can Help Sell a Property Without a Physical Showing
Nowadays, prospective buyers spend a lot more time doing their research online, rather than visiting properties in person.
Regular drive-bys are not as common anymore since people are either buying places that are too far away to visit in person or they are too busy to see the listing for themselves.
For instance, the housing market in Florida exploded after the pandemic hit because many New Yorkers bought properties directly from the listing, without even visiting the home.
Virtually staged real estate photos showed them the potential of the property and helped them imagine themselves living in the home.
Hence, why virtual staging has become the next big thing in today’s digital age.
4. Realtors/Agents Can Cater to Any Market or Niche
The good news with virtual staging is that realtors and agents can dress a room exactly the way they want it and cater to any market or niche of people.
With PhotoUp’s extensive furniture library, you can choose between 11 room styles and present realistic virtual staging photos of the property immediately to any type of buyer.
In other words, virtual staging allows you to directly target the needs and wants of your market.
It makes listings more appealing to the specific buyers that your realtor or agent-client wants to reach.
Fast & Affordable
Virtual Staging Service
Interiors. Landscapes. Commercial. Virtually transform any space.
5. Saves Time and Effort
Realtors, agents, and photographers can save a lot of time and effort using virtual staging.
Imagine this…
First, you have to search for professional home staging companies and compare rates. Then, you have to deliver the furniture and get everything set up and photographed.
Just think of the extra time all of this takes in comparison with having a room virtually staged in 24 to 48 hours.
When choosing the latter, you can photograph your vacant rooms one day and have the images delivered back to you the next.
Seems like a no-brainer, right?
Wrapping Up
As you can see, there are so many benefits to virtual staging. And it’s no surprise that this is one of the most popular real estate marketing tools of today.
Not only is it way more affordable than home staging, but it’s also much easier and quicker than regular staging.
And like mentioned earlier, buyers are willing to pay more for a staged home than an empty one since they can see the value and potential of the property.
So, if you’re ready to leverage the power of technology in your real estate photography business or as a realtor/agent, then sign up with PhotoUp and start providing even more value for your clients.
We hope this post helped you understand why you should use virtual staging for real estate photos and how to quickly get started using this excellent marketing tool.
Wait! Before you go, you may also find the following resources useful:
