That photo above is from my listing last December on Ribbon in Foster City. It shows a real live staged living room. This whole house was staged at a cost of about $3000.00 Fortunately, the house sold quickly and we didn’t have to worry about paying for additional months. Most of the homes I sell have some degree of staging done to them. Many of them, especially if they are vacant desperately need staging. Without it, the house will undoubtedly take longer to sell and will sell for far less money. Even if you have an immaculate home it’s worth having a stager come out and give you tips on maximizing your home before you put it on the market.
Well, in 2009, there’s a new kid in town. That kid is the virtual stager. Several websites have sprung up that will stage your vacant home…virtually. For far less money, these sites will make your place look like they have real furniture in them. Here’s a couple of links for your viewing pleasure.
VirtuallyStagingProperties.com and VirtualStagingSolutions.com.
Interesting, aren’t they? For a few hundred dollars you have a virtual tour showing a fully staged home. Now, whether or not that helps sell the house…who knows. I suspect the buyers who preview these homes online will be a little surprised to see a vacant house upon actually going into these places, but hey! I’ve seen one of these in action at a house in Redwood City recently. I do think they are a good opportunity for many properties…particularly in 2009 when everyone seems to be conscious of saving money.
Staging has proven itself to me over the years. It’s undoubtedly worked, and this new addition is an interesting idea. I’ll be anxious to see if it really does work.
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