In case you've ever wondered if I just woke up one day and thought, "I'll start a virtual staging company today and call it Arrange!" I'm here to tell you that's not quite how it happened.
The Problems It Is Solving
Both in my business and in the real estate industry in general, virtual staging emerged to solve a few problems. More often than not we are all ultimately trying to save time and money, right? If you've ever been on any side of a real estate transaction then you know that the listing agent is appropriately named since there is a seriously long list of to do's when it comes to getting a property ready for the market.
Time
It's no secret that virtual staging has made quite the splash in the traditional staging pond, if you will. Traditional home staging typically takes a minimum of 1-2 weeks in terms of turnaround and that's before any setbacks regarding supply chain if you know what I mean. This is also before considering time it takes to book a consultation for your listing. On the other hand, virtual staging often happens in days. Something I decided to offer from the get-go in this business is my rush service. For just $50 per project, you can get your virtually staged photos back in 24 hours or less!
Money
It's not personal, it's business and as an entrepreneur it's vital to consider effective practices when it comes to spending your hard earned money on your next venture. When comparing traditional vs. virtual staging, you can count on spending thousands or hundreds of dollars. However, so many agents debate on the worth of virtual staging and whether or not it will pay off to incorporate it into the listing process. Perhaps these statistics will help:
The Real Estate Staging Association says,
"Homes staged before going on the market sell 73% faster, on average, than non-staged homes."
NAR says,
"31% said that home staging greatly decreased the amount of time a home spent on the market."
Also stated by NAR is that agents said they saw:
"1% to 5% price increase on offers for staged homes."
Empowering Realtors and Homebuyers With Vision
After leaving my corporate job several years ago to reconnect with my passion for residential interior design, I began pitching the concept of online home styling to anyone that would listen. Eventually I realized that my target client was shared by real estate agents: homeowners! As I was sharing my idea of an all-digital interior design process to real estate agents, they would constantly change the conversation from home styling to home staging. This called for a pivot, one in which led Arrange to the ever-evolving, ever-exciting world of real estate.
Home Styling Ideas
Because virtual staging is the process of overlaying room photos with 3D furniture and accessories based on either the prompt of the agent or the existing interior architecture of the home, it is an automatic design map for the new potential buyers.
Do you know your home style? You should take the quiz!
What Is Coming
I'm not the only one who shares the obvious opinion that virtual staging is a "race to the bottom" in terms of pricing. You can easily get virtual staging done from an overseas freelancer for less than twenty bucks or even try your hand at the DIY approach and only spend in the single digits. You can already guess my next statement, which is: YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. But what you may not realize is that using those methods to get the job done, also means you're losing out on the opportunity to keep things local by supporting a small business - which is more important now, than ever.
If I have anything to say about it, virtual staging will continue to evolve and not just in quality. The 3 things I've been aggressively working on for the last 5 years are the following:
Making virtual staging more automated.
Making virtual staging [even] more affordable.
Making virtual staging dynamic by making it shoppable.
If you want in on an even bigger secret of mine, I've got it at the top of my list to have my own software that empowers you to "try before you buy" and while you're at it, create a beautifully staged home photo that is ready to be listed and draw in potential buyers.
Okay, so last thing I want to do is circle back to what I believe will make virtual staging come full circle. Remember how I said I built out my own style quiz? Well, that was just the beginning of the process I put together for HOME STYLING. Recently I launched ways for anyone to purchase a package or book a session depending on their needs when it comes to interior design. Feel free to take a look and reach out with any questions at all!
AUTHOR: Christa Rainey is the founder of Arrange who works with real estate professionals to provide digital interior design solutions for their marketing endeavors. She believes in the value of elevating property listings to attract home buyers by telling the story of a home's potential. Combining interior design principles with cutting-edge technology,
Christa puts her Bachelor's Degree in Interior Design to use along with her 10 years of industry experience to work with and support both real estate brokerages and photographers all across the US - providing them with quality solutions in virtual staging.
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