Why Staging, Virtually is Worth It 

Guadalupe Garza

Guadalupe a professional architectural photographed based in Dallas, TX and is the founder and co-owner of The Property Snappers and Twin Shoot LLC. She has extensive exepriece working with a wide range of clients from architects to high end designers.

July 7, 2018

Most realtors know that home staging can truly make an impact when it comes to selling a home. In fact, 96 percent of realtors claim home staging has an impact on the buyer. From a buyer’s standpoint they want to see a home they could picture themselves living in. If the house looks empty and/or dated it is hard for them to imagine their life in that home. Additionally, homes that are staged get a significantly higher view rate than non-staged homes. In a comparison of homes that were staged versus non-staged there was a 30% increase (average) in web traffic for staged homes. More importantly, according to the National Association of Realtors, 52% of realtors surveyed said home staging has a positive impact on the dollar value of the home.

So knowing that a staged home gets better results we can ask ourselves why staging is not used more often. Two main reasons are effort and price. One solution is virtual staging, which is a great way to still leverage the benefits of staging but without all the effort and the high cost of physically staging a home.

real estate photography of wood deck and patio area

1. Less Hassle  

To  physically stage a home you have to move furniture in and out. If it’s a two-story home it means  moving furniture up and down stairs.  On top of that there is set up and tear down  time.  This can create some hassle when home sellers are in the middle of planning a move. Virtual  Staging  allows your photographer to stage a home digitally which saves you time and headaches.

2. Virtual Staging is Cheaper Than Actual Staging

Normally a stagger will charge a consultation fee between $300 to $600 and then charge anywhere between $500 to $600 per room, per month. So for an average home (2,000 sq-ft), that could run around $2,000 to $2,400. Once you factor in that most stagers have a minimum contract time of three months and you could be looking at $7,200 to stage a home. With virtual staging the average price per-photo is $75 and normally you will only stage the main areas kitchen, living room, dining room and master bedroom. So if we figure two photos per room, eight photos total, virtual staging will cost you $600! A huge savings over traditional staging. We always recommended to our clients that they tell the buyers the home was virtually staged so that they are not surprised when they view the home. 