First let me describe what virtual home staging is. The idea works like this, a real estate agent sends in a photo of an empty room to Virtual Staging Properties and they send the photo back digitally staged (see photos below).
Electronic staging consists of scaling pictures of home furnishings to fit into the photo you provide; sofas, bedroom sets, drapes, artwork, dining tables, etc are re-sized to fit into the room. This allows potential buyers to envision themselves living in the space, before they even enter it.
The Chicago’s Multiple Listing Service (called MRED) allows digital staging but they have had complaints about photo editing that had gone too far and misrepresented the property.
I called our local MLS to see if they would allow virtual staging photos. The response was “We have not made a ruling on it” but they expressed a concern that there’s a fine line between virtually staging photos and doctoring them.
What are your thoughts?
