9 Responses to “I have a real estate question for you. Should virtual home staging be allowed on MLS?” »»

1. Rich
   Comment by Rich | 07/31/09 at 6:07 am

   I don’t see much of a problem. The furniture is not part of what a buyer is buying.

   I would have a problem if the views out windows were being changed, fake appliances were added to a kitchen, or new virtual bathroom fixtures suddenly appeared. So there could be a problem with a slippery slope, but not with fake furniture.

2. JohnF
   Comment by JohnF | 07/31/09 at 6:19 am

   Rich, thanks for your quick response. I wasn’t sure how potential buyers would feel about this. I’m sure it would make a great marketing tool for developers such as 45 Province St.

3. stagingtips
   Comment by stagingtips | 07/31/09 at 7:51 am

   Virtual Staging is an unfair practice and is misleading to buyers. There has to be some kind of rules of photo doctoring when selling a product. I have stated earlier in other blogs, Is this how we sell Automobiles? Doctor the photos and hide flaws and tell a buyer this is what the car could look like if you fix it up. Real Estate has to be Realestic. Meaning what you see is not a mirage or something fake. Buyers need to see a home in real time,, virtual doctoring of photos is deception at its finest. More or less its more of a magic trick, a mirage, fake. Just another short cut out their to avoid selling a home correctly and ethically. We as a nation of consumers cant sell products that are digtally doctored, american consumers wont go for that.This practice should not be allowed and is an unethical business practice.

4. Funny
   Comment by Funny | 07/31/09 at 8:12 am

   Preying on the idiotic.

   While I have no qualms about an idiot being parted from his money, I also know what happens when many an idiot is taken advantage of.

   Brokers and homeowners are both feeling the result right now in fact very viscerally. the rest of us too in fact.

5. Rich
   Comment by Rich | 07/31/09 at 8:13 am

   Hi stagingtips,

   Let me guess. You are in the physical staging business and you see virtual staging as your competition? Do you also believe that the best way to deal with competitors is to make them illegal?

   I actually believe in something a bit different. Smart businesses follow the technology curve……. Clearly virtual and physical staging will appeal to different types of clients. Why not have products to sell to both of them?

   Rich

6. Michelle Molinari
   Comment by Michelle Molinari | 08/01/09 at 4:49 pm

   Hi Rich,

   Traditional stagers should be concerned about virtual stagers. They can show a property with appropriate furniture for a fraction of the cost and with no recurring rental fees and without inconveniencing anyone.

   Some folks really need that price break, and they, too, need to move quickly and their fair share of equity. Virtual staging is a great way to achieve the same goals of traditional staging, and in many ways, I find it MORE HONEST.

   When the buyer buys the virtually staged house, it is just as empty the day they looked at it as it would be once the traditional stager de-stages. Only, with none of the shock as a side effect.

   As a professionally trained traditional stager, I recommend and get certain things done. As a self-taught, wildly successful “virtual stager”, I show the property with the improvements I would recommend to highlight architecture and neutralize certain colors.

   So – if the bathroom has wallpaper with blue cabbage-sized roses, I depict it without said offending roses.

   Unethical is a strong accusation, especially when my product states in large letters CONCEPTUALLY STAGED across the image.

   So, if staging works, than virtual staging has to work to some degree also. After all, we are showing people the possibilities. Stagers love to say they are selling a lifestyle to aspire to, and that is why they use so many suggestive techniques and props to reinforce health, wealth, free time, and serenity.

   I show buyers the possibility not just of those things, but the far more attainable possibility of a gentle taupey-tan wall color, or of an on-trend light fixture.

   It’s just hilarious to me when the pots point to the kettles with horror. In a traditionally staged house, you will never see a banner across front door saying “This house is staged to suggest a fantasy lifestyle. Actual results when you buy this house may vary.”

   But my work says, in as concise a way as I possibly can, “This is a concept, not to be confused with reality.”

   The bottom line is that staging works, and virtual staging (or conceptual staging, as I prefer to use) is obviously going to appeal to many, many, many sellers. I predict it will become much bigger than traditional staging has already become.

   Why? Because people tend to take the path of lease resistance. As traditional staging moves into the mainstream, virtual staging will secure it’s foothold.

   It’s nice to read what you wrote, Rich. You are very pragmatic.

   ~Michelle
   Lead Conceptual Designer
   http://www.FeatureThisDotDotDot.com
   &
   http://www.CurbAppealForDummies.com

7. Boston Broker
   Comment by Boston Broker | 08/02/09 at 7:45 am

   Michelle, My thoughts are that traditional stagers need not worry. I don’t think MLS Pin will allow virtual staging photos on their site.

8. condobuyer
   Comment by condobuyer | 08/02/09 at 3:08 pm

   It doesn’t really matter to me as a buyer one way or the other so long as the specs aren’t misrepresented. After seeing many virtual tours online, I find them good for seeing if the unit is updated (e.g. kitchen/bathrooms). Size always seems distorted as so many people take wide angle pictures/videos that the space often seems larger virtually than it is in reality. More important is actual floor plans whether there is an elevator in the bldng, actual square footage and room dimensions. There are many listings that don’t have these important points. Adding fake furniture is neither here nor there. I can often tell by just by seeing a floor plan and kitchen and bathroom photos whether I would be interested or not.

9. Mike
   Comment by Mike | 08/03/09 at 4:15 am

   Speaking as someone planning on buying, I’m looking for the most accurate presentation of a property as it actually exists. Adding some furniture seems somewhat OK, but at what point does the addition of augmented reality hide important facts? What about a stain on a wall conveniently obscured by some virtual furniture? Or evidence of neglect (grime, dirt, torn wallpaper, etc.) “touched up” to show what a property could be?

   I’ll say this – if I went to see a propety based on misleading presentation, when i arrived I would be incensed that I had been “tricked” into wasting my time seeing a property. Rather than scoring a couple positive points, I’d walk out with the opinion I couldn’t trust the seller or their agent.

   Mike

Leave a Reply »»