We’d like to thank our guest contributor Lin Nulman from Homelight for writing this blog!
In ‘Take Advantage of VR in Real Estate’, we looked at some of the advantages of using VR in your listings. But how does using VR in virtual staging work?
Key Aspects of Virtual Staging (and Selling!)
First, a scanner captures 360-degree, 3D photographic images throughout the home, and then projects it into a virtual reality space. A house tour becomes available to anyone, anywhere, who accesses a headset. Buyers can walk around the home at will, while the agent conducts the tour remotely. Buyer, agent, and house can all be in different parts of the world.
And here’s something: the house can change in real time. If buyers dislike the kitchen cabinets, they can choose and see other options on the spot. If a buyer would like to see a room painted her favorite color, with furniture like hers in it, the agent can show her that.
Virtual staging increases interaction and enables one’s imagination, allowing buyers to make a space their own. In effect, virtual staging can win buyers over and make the sale.
For sellers and agents, it opens the home to more showings and more offers. In our global society, why not include buyers elsewhere on the planet who would appreciate the chance to see what they’re buying?
Virtual staging is also great for buildings and homes under construction, allowing buyers to tour the “finished product”. It’s even possible to include outside views on the tour.
The Cost of Virtual Staging
Virtual Staging can be an expensive tool. The set-up will cost at least a couple of hundred dollars, and CNBC reports virtual staging costing in the thousands to create. Other ‘costs’ of virtual staging include the loss of personal interaction between agents and buyers. Although costs may make virtual staging inappropriate for some homes, it is likely worthwhile for large buildings, for high-end homes, and for areas where international buyers search.
As cutting edge technologies become the difference in getting homes noticed and sold, sellers will choose brokerages that have the right technology to make the sale. Do you have experience using VR and virtual staging at your brokerage? Would you recommend these technologies to your peers? Let us know in the comment section below!
Ready to make the jump into employing virtual staging at your brokerage? Check out this great guide reviewing three of the best virtual staging services for real estate in 2018.
