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Is Virtual Staging Effective?

Wednesday February 27, 2019

Real Estate Agents

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Staging can be a major asset when selling a home.  An effective staging job will help potential buyers envision themselves living in a space.

Staging typically entails an initial consult with stagers. From this consult, they then declutter, rearrange and add or remove furniture to a space to cast a home in its best light.

As we move into more of a digital age of real estate, virtual staging is becoming an option many sales representatives offer to their clients. Although staging is Staging your homedefinitely a must in 2019 for many homes, is virtual staging a better alternative?

Buyers Can Be Deceived

“We find that although virtual staging can be a cheaper option for sellers, it can ultimately lead to bad taste in some buyers’ mouths,” says Jayne Woolcott, sales representative with Re/Max Escarpment Woolcott Realty Inc.

“With a true stage, the pictures match what a buyer is going to see when they view the home in person,” says Woolcott. “However, when a home is virtually staged, everything from the paint colour to the flooring and light fixtures can be changed digitally, which can be a little deceptive for buyers.”

Woolcott says she also notices that rooms can look larger than they actually are, based on the scale of the ‘digital’ furniture being placed in the room.

Buyers don’t like a bait-and-switch, which virtual staging can sometimes appear as. It would be a similar situation to going to see a four-bedroom home, but upon entering, finding out that it is really a three bedroom with a small den being counted as a bedroom.

Exceed Buyer Expectations

Simply put, when something doesn’t live up to a buyer’s expectations, it disappoints. When selling a home, sellers want to ensure all potential buyers are excited upon arrival, not immediately discouraged.

That’s why Woolcott Real Estate believes in the power of staging, so much so that the team employs two-full time stagers and has a full inventory, from couches to beds, and artwork to décor, to make the best first impression to buyers both online and in-person.

Curious as to how staging can help your home when selling? Call Woolcott Real Estate at 905 689 9223 today!