Is virtual staging effective vs actual staging?

Question

My business partner and I are wrapping up our first ever fix and sell property in St. Paul, MN and are getting ready to put it on the market. I'm curious about people's experiences with virtual staging and would like some opinions on whether people who have done it found it to be comparable with physically staging a property with regard to effectiveness. Do people ever have adverse reactions to walking through an empty house after seeing it furnished in photos?   I actually haven't even looked into costs yet but I'm assuming it's far less expensive than actual staging. Any thoughts or opinions would be much appreciated!

John Woodrich · Answer

Haven't heard of virtual staging...  To me there are two impressions given to people when they look at a house.  First is on the MLS - do I like this house or not.  Second is when you show up to the house - I liked this house, does it meet my expectations.  If I saw a fully staged house on the MLS and show up to a vacant house with gaps in the trim, etc, it would not meet my expectations.  I would think the buyer will leave somewhat disappointed which isn't good.  If it is priced right it may not matter but I think it gives the wrong overall impression.

We stage houses but we have our own staging furniture so it is a matter of moving things around.  Have to be careful with this as my wife loves doings this and shopping for more items.

If this is your first flip I would recommend staging at least the main rooms.  If your finishes are not 100% perfect this will help you "hide" some of it or remove the attention from wandering eyes.

Good luck!

John Woodrich · Answer

@Cory Johnson Better list it soon!!!

Cory Johnson · Answer

@Christopher Phillips

@John Woodrich

Thanks for the input! I have the same concerns about virtually staging furniture. People might be disappointed when they walk thru. I think we're going to skip staging entirely and just price the property aggressively so we can move it quick. We'd like to have it sold before we start getting snow.

Account Closed · Answer

Hello all - I operate a virtual staging company here in New York.  The way that we minimize a prospective client not being disappointed when they walk in the house: we rent tablets to the agents we work with...  The agents walk the clients through the home, changing picture slides for each new room.  It gives them the visual there on site.  We also sometimes do 2 designs (1 modern, 1 traditional) to give them different perspectives.  Aside from a great visual, clients love the use of technology and it leaves a lasting impression on them.  If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to contact me!  Thanks!

Cory Johnson · Answer

@Jesse Herndon Sorry for the delayed reply. I haven't checked in for awhile. We broke even on this project. It took our GC double the amount of time he said it would to finish the remodel and so when we finally got it on the MLS we were in the winter market. We may have been able to hold onto the property until spring and turned a small profit but we really wanted to move onto the next project ASAP so we decided we were fine with just breaking even and using it as a learning experience. We plan to GC the next one ourselves. No idea if staging would have made a difference or not but I suspect in this particular case we likely would have taken a loss had we paid to stage it.

Brian Pulaski · Answer

I stage my houses although have had times when I couldn't stage it (had to list it after a buyer backed out and didn't have time before going out of state to stage). The not staged houses sold as fast as the staged. With that said I prefer to stage. It makes it feel like home, takes the echo out, warms the house, etc. grey walls, wood floors and white trim looks good. Add in nice furniture, curtains, art work and it looks a lot better.

As far as virtual staging, when I see it on listings I personally can tell instantly it's virtual. Not sure if most people can. I also notice every virtual staged house has both staged and unstaged photos. Not sure why, maybe to curb expectations.

Jesse Herndon · Answer

@Cory Johnson Could you let us know how it went with this first deal without the staging? We're getting ready to list one next month and I'm debating on staging or just pricing aggressively for a quick sale.

John Woodrich · Answer

@Cory Johnson good luck!

Cory Johnson · Answer

@John Woodrich We had hoped to have it on the market in early October but the rehab took longer than expected. Just went live last night. Hopefully it moves quick!

Is virtual staging effective vs actual staging?

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