Why I Believe that Virtual Staging is the “New Black” of Real Estate
Being in the real estate industry, I’ve always felt like I was a warrior waiting for his turn to fight in the arena.
You never know what will happen next, you never know what kind of giant is waiting for you at the other end of the gate. You hear the cries of the defeated echo through the Coliseum and the brave chants of the victorious. You try to plan out your strategy — carefully, methodically, critically — always on the edge, but always on your guard.
You know the competition is fierce, the wins are huge, and the losses are even bigger. You get ready for battle, only to find out your sword and your shield are no longer capable of handling the weight that your enemy is able to force on you. Next thing you know, the horses are dragging your carcass away.
A little over the top, maybe. But truth be told, real estate is a ferocious world to be in. If you don’t know your way through it, the chances of losing your way is always a perfect ten and the chances of finding your way back? Well, a slim chance, and if you don’t hurry, you’re never gonna catch up.
Which now brings me to the issue I want to raise: as it is in the information technology industry, succeeding in real estate lies in your ability to ride new trends. Of course, nothing beats the foundational and traditional ways of doing real estate, but if you really want to have that competitive advantage, then adapting to new technologies and new platforms, is a must.
So if you’re still in the Neolithic era of the Real Estate Industry, it’s time to kick into high Darwinian gear.
Virtual Staging: The New Black
Virtual staging is fastly emerging as one of the latest trends in the Real Estate industry. The idea behind it is this: if there’s a faster and cheaper way of achieving the results you need in order to help you make the sale and provide better value to your listing, and to your buyer, then this is it. It’s as simple as that — a low-cost solution but one that adds more value to the end result.
So what is Virtual Staging?
Simply put, Virtual Staging is a tool or software built to design for empty spaces. Through this technology, images can be filled with consumer products, such as couches, chairs, tables, beds, plants, and other furniture, mimicking the look of a well-finished, furnished space.
What makes this very interesting is how virtual staging can offer much more flexibility when compared to what traditional staging can do.
Flexibility and Scaling
Traditional staging is limited to a single concept that a designer has for a space. Factor in time, money, and resources and you only get one take with how you can stage a space. In fact, if a realtor/designer doesn’t have access to these three things, they have no choice but to settle for an unstaged house, leaving customers to imagine for themselves what they can do with a space.
But with virtual staging, it’s the opposite — time, money and resources are readily made available through the software and staging can take form with a few clicks. You are not bound by budget limitations and you’re free to add in any furniture piece you want, at any price range possible.
Each space can also transform into different styles to match customer preferences. You can easily switch from a Bohemian-inspired living room to a Traditional living room space, giving customers the chance to see the many possibilities of what they can do with their space, matching their needs and wants.
Cost Efficiency
Another reason why Virtual Staging is slowly stealing the spotlight from traditional staging is the fact that it is a cost-effective solution. The thousands you spend on buying or renting furniture to stage a house is equivalent to as low as $50 per photo in virtual staging. So to stage a whole house, you’re likely to spend only a few hundred dollars as opposed to thousands.
This puts a 90% cost difference between virtual staging and traditional staging.
Final Words
Every industry goes through pivotal changes in the way things are done, delivered, and consumed. What Virtual Staging presents is not only an alternative, but rather, a new and more effective means of achieving a critical product in real estate. So if you’re looking for that next big thing, the “New Black” of real estate, then look no further, Virtual Staging is slowly rising to be exactly just that.
About Zipp3D and Virtual Stage IO
Zipp3D is a premier real estate marketing firm based in Nevada, California, and Colorado. It was founded to bring together 3 elements to Real Estate: Creativity, Technology, and Marketing. The result is an ultra boutique media company that goes far beyond the day to day marketing needs for Top Producers.
Today, Zipp3D also hosts its Virtual Staging service, VirtualStage.io, with the goal of delivering cost-effective staging solutions to realtors and homeowners around the world.
