Every real estate professional has seen the house with the décor that just won’t sell. Or the current owner or tenant’s belongings strewn around the house like a tornado had just passed through. These places can be hard to move, because clients often have trouble seeing beyond the clutter and yes, the bright red walls that some people like but drive others to despair, to see themselves in the space. And all the “it’s cheap to change the paint” comments in the world won’t help.
It’s the same reason staged homes sell more quickly and for higher prices. Because they are usually done in neutral tones, with classic décor that most buyers would love to live with. And of course, there’s no clutter or horrendously colored walls.
Duplex Living Room – Godrej Platinum, Bengaluru by Elemental Crafts
But it is often impractical, impossible or outside the budget to stage a space. Especially for homes that are stuck on the market, expensive furniture rentals can push the cost up, or current tenant’s style doesn’t match buyer’s lifestyle aspirations. But all is not lost. You can showcase a home – and change those red walls – easily and cost effectively. By staging the home digitally.
Digital staging is becoming a more popular option because it can be very cost effect compared to regular staging, and because it can enable you to showcase more than one style for a range of buyers.
One way to stage digitally is to take photos of every room you want to stage, and then digitize the shots. A professional photographer can easily do this, but look for one with experience in tools like Photoshop. Most good real estate photographers will have experience with this or similar software.
Living Room – Godrej Platinum, Bengaluru by Elemental Crafts
Once digitized a virtual stager can manipulate the shots and add furniture and décor, even change the paint colors, so that buyers can see through the current condition and see themselves in the home. You can even stage a living space with multiple design styles, so buyers can see what is possible.
Another way to stage is to create a 3D render of a space and create the entire room digitally. Then end result can be photo-realistic and provide the same flexibility as photos, but it also works for properties that might be currently tenanted and full of clutter that is difficult to remove from photographs.
Either way these sorts of images or walk-throughs can present the home at its best, and given most buyers do their research online, can be used to create a great first impression.
Living Room – Godrej Platinum, Mumbai by Elemental Crafts
You can also create a slideshow or include the shots in an app that you feature on your iPad for when buyers actually tour the home, so there isn’t a great disconnect between what they saw virtually and how the home appears in person.
You might still have to explain away those red walls, but just like on those home renovation shows, you can back it up with shots of how the home can look in the new buyer’s hands.
