Q: Are you in favor of faux or virtual staging in lieu of actual staging?
I see no problem with it. I do not like having a vacant house photographed … these photos go all over the world. Sets properties up for Craigslist scams.
Donna Redd Elder, RE/MAX Creative Realty, Lexington, Kentucky
I like it. Better than an empty room.
Karen Picarello, RE/MAX Fine Properties, Scottsdale, Arizona
For it, as long as it’s fully disclosed.
Brian Teyssier, RE/MAX Advanced REALTORS®, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
I prefer real staging so that actual buyers see it, not just internet lookers. However, if real staging is not an option, virtual staging can mitigate the vacant home/potential break-in issue. Agents should tell their sellers to check with their insurance agents about vacant/unoccupied home insurance issues and whether virtual staging is a benefit in that regard.
Sher Hann, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Westlake Village, California
With over 90 percent of buyers beginning their home search online, staging is very important. It helps a buyer to visualize the space in the room and [has the added bonus] of not highlighting flaws (scuffs on the hardwood floors, walls) that become extremely obvious in an empty space. Beyond the experience, there is the safety of the general public being aware of a homes vacant status. … Staging is not available in all areas and it can be cost prohibitive for some sellers. Virtual staging removes that barrier. If you are going to use virtual staging, we recommend including an 8-inch x 10-inch photo framed in each room of the home for the in-person showing. Virtual is never as effective as walking into a home that feels like a display, current color scheme, new and fresh. It is better than no staging at all.
Kimberly Cameron, RE/MAX Properties West, St. Louis, Missouri
One of the keys to selling a home today are the photos. They need to be accurate, not making the home look better or worse than it really is, but they still need to be good photos. If the photos are too good, the buyers may be disappointed when they see the house. If the photos are bad, the buyers will pass on the house without seeing it. … I would not use virtual staging in my online photos because buyers are buying the house the way it is now, and not very many buyers have the funds to make the house what it can be immediately after they purchase it. The virtual staging could cause dissatisfaction with the home in a short period of time when the buyer realizes the cost necessary to make the home look like the virtually staged home. The buyer needs to be happy with the house as it is now or how it can be with the funds they have to improve the house in the near future.
Susan Kane Carr, Charles Rutenberg Realty, Clearwater, Florida
I am a firm advocate of actually staging the home. Its web appeal drives traffic to the home, as well as creating buyer trust. Many buyers walk into my staged listings and their first comment is, It looks just like the online photosWOW! With virtual staging, the reaction would be bait and switch, leaving prospects with bad vibes about the agent and the listing. Where virtual staging can be effective is when the online display shows the vacant home, but when the prospects arrive at the property, they find pictures in frames or on easels in key rooms with what the home could look like furnished. It helps them imagine the scale of the rooms and the possibilities.
Marty Merriam, Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc., Arlington, Virginia
I am a firm advocate of actual staging as well. It can be false advertising to show photos that have been virtually retouched as thats NOT what it actually looks like. …
I think if sellers want to show a property with furniture in it and want the positive results of bringing in stagers, the money needs to be spent to make it actually look like what the buyer can see, instead of trying to spend no money and still try to get an it looks like I spent money staging look.
Jaci Woods, Seven Gables Real Estate, Irvine, California
Too fake. Makes one wonder what else in the picture has been altered. We need to present true pictures, although the best possible, of the property as it is.
Nancy Stedman, Retriever Property Enterprises, Tallahassee, Florida
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