Halstead Property

Diane M. Ramirez
President
dramirez@halstead.com
(212) 381-3203

Matthew J. Leone
Director of Web Marketing & Social Media
mleone@halstead.com
(212) 381-3338

Lisa Rose
Sr. Vice President
Park Avenue Flagship
Tel: (212) 381-3262
lrose@halstead.com

Virtual Staging Heps Sellers Save Expenses

By Jill Urban

Most brokers will tell you that a well-furnished home always appears larger than an empty one. That's why staging is such an important step in the selling process.

For those who do not want to go through the trouble and the expense of staging their home, there's a new option – virtual staging.

“Virtual staging is taking an empty apartment and digitally inserting furniture into it to make it appear staged,” explains Matthew Leone, director of web marketing at Halstead Property.

Halstead Property is one of the only companies in the city to implement virtual staging. Leone says this concept is changing the way brokers market properties.

Virtual staging is when professional photos are taken of the empty home and fed into the computer. Then, a broker can go online and design the space.

“We have 50 different décor options to choose from. Once they choose that option, they can choose the different wood colors and fabric colors for it, as well,” says Leone. “Then, based upon their choice, we digitally insert that imagery. To make it look realistic, we add correct shadow and lighting to the photo, to make sure it looks like a realistic image.”

They also add all the finishing touches – flowers to put in a vase, books for the bookshelves or pillows for the couch; anything it takes to make a house look like a home.

However, Halstead does disclose on listing photos if the home has been virtually staged.

Leone says since Halstead started offering virtual staging, it has seen a 20-percent jump in online traffic from when the listings were unstaged, and brokers like Lisa Rose say it’s making a huge difference.

“I put an apartment on the market March, and it was empty and I was not getting a lot of traffic on it,” says Rose. “As soon as we virtually staged it, within the first week of staging it, I had nine showings, and shortly after that, I have a signed contract.”

Virtual staging is also a big savings. Real staging can run up to thousands of dollars in furniture rentals, stagers, and movers. But for this, brokers just pay a nominal fee.

While virtual staging is a great tool, the only drawback is the furniture is just virtual and not for sale. So you can buy the apartment, but when it comes time to decorate, you’re on your own.

Friday, October 29, 2010