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No, the room doesn't have to be empty. The virtual staging programs can remove anything from a picture. It costs more, as it's more labor intensive, but it's worth it.
Very interesting, thanks for the info!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coloradomom22
This is really cool, but I wonder how many people will be disappointed and disillusioned when they see the actual house in person? Will it be such a negative that it sours them on the home? There was a house for sale recently here that looked amazing in pictures and I couldn't understand why it had not sold. Then we saw it in person and the place looked a lot worse in real life.
I think it depends on how it's used. I didn't pour over the photos in the example I linked and I haven't seen it in person, but it looks like all they did was add some furniture and decor items, not change the actual characteristic of the home. I'm one of those people who prefers viewing staged properties when I'm house hunting, because I don't have a good sense of sizes and have a tough time picturing how much furniture can fit in the room. Seeing a photo of a furnished room helps give some sense of proportion even if the house itself is vacant when I see it in person. Actually, that happened with my last place. It was a relo and the owners had been gone for almost a year but the listing photos were a fully furnished home. I have no idea if that was the owner's stuff or if it had been professionally staged once they moved out, but either way, it was completely empty by the time I saw it. So looking back at the photos helped me visualize my own furniture in it.
On the other hand, they had some awful paint colors and if the photos had a nice neutral instead of the horrid dark green and metallic gold sponge painted master bedroom, I would have felt like it was fraud. As it was, I knew going in, when all I had seen was the photos, that I would have to paint the whole place before moving in, and was able to take that into consideration right from the start in terms of deciding whether and how much to offer. I definitely think trying to hide flaws would backfire just like it did for you.
False advertising just like breast implants and plastic surgery.
Wrong.
Breast implants and plastic surgery are alterations to "fixtures."
Fixtures convey.
Furniture is "personal property."
It is only negotiable, and not assumed to convey.
Virtual furniture presentation would be no different than viewing photos with existing furniture, and the seller then packing and moving out.
The real property is not impacted by the presence or absence of non-conveying personal property.
I feel it is "cheating" because it makes the natural lighting look better than it really is. The artwork all looks back-lit. Nothing is in shadow. Also, the opening high up on the wall between the living room and kitchen might not be possible to create at a reasonable cost.
This is really cool, but I wonder how many people will be disappointed and disillusioned when they see the actual house in person? Will it be such a negative that it sours them on the home? There was a house for sale recently here that looked amazing in pictures and I couldn't understand why it had not sold. Then we saw it in person and the place looked a lot worse in real life. Seems like what matters most is how a buyer feels when they walk through a house.
You're a woman after my own heart! I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets soured on a house if I walk in the front door and see the photo-shopping was overdone. That's a real pet peeve of mine.
But, FWIW I think this program has a neat feature gets around that issue. You can turn the virtual furniture on and off (and presumably the "off" option shows photos that weren't edited). In other words, you can see the rooms with it and then without, and I think that actually gives this program a lot of potential.
Advantages:
1. Sellers can move all their furniture at one (No need to leave some pieces behind to serve as staging).
2. A lot less expensive than renting staging furniture.
3. No worries that the staging furniture will be damaged or will scuff up the newly refinished hardwood floors.
4. No need to move the staging furniture back out of the house after the place sells.
5. The buyer can bring up the virtually staged image on his cell phone while touring the vacant house. This allows him to see how furniture might work in the room, yet also allows him to see any imperfections in the room that would have been hidden by real furniture.
One thing I'm curious about is how you'd prevent sellers from scaling the virtual furniture to make it appear that a 3-piece sofa would fit in a room that is actually just big enough for a love seat. Other than that, though, I think this is a great idea.
I think I'd like to have this feature on the listing for my house. How would I find a realtor that uses it? Is this something you would advertise, or just something people find out about through word of mouth?
I think I'd like to have this feature on the listing for my house. How would I find a realtor that uses it? Is this something you would advertise, or just something people find out about through word of mouth?
So I would just find a realtor I liked and then ask them to do this?
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