Dear David,

We are downsizing. We’ve moved out of our spacious 3,000 square-foot home and are getting ready to put it on the market. We left a few large pieces of furniture in the house. Hopefully these will help the stager (and perhaps a buyer will want to purchase them).  We’ve heard about virtual staging and think it would be a great way to fill in the gaps. Is it something you would recommend? – SETTING THE SCENE

DEAR SETTING: For those who may not be familiar, virtual staging is a digital editing process that enhances listing photos with computer-generated furniture and decor. I suspect it was popularized by builders who wanted to show how furniture could be placed in an open-concept unit with lots of windows and no delineation between rooms. Because the method is relatively inexpensive, it’s catching on in other areas of real estate.

Home staging is about bringing scale and flow to a property. When a seller is living in the house, the staging process typically involves decluttering, then rearranging the furniture. If the house is empty, there may be wide-open spaces that need context. Often I’ll bring in a designer to add artwork to the living areas and personality to the kitchen and bathrooms, in a process known as “empty staging”. Empty staging gives the home a more cohesive look and makes for prettier online photos. It’s also an affordable approach, since you don’t have to rent a truckload of furniture to fill a vacant house.

When it comes to virtual staging in particular, size matters. In a large and spacious home like yours, no one needs help figuring out if their couch will fit in the living room (it will), but there are some important considerations. Once you start down the virtual staging path, how far do you go? Do you stage certain rooms, or the entire house? If a buyer falls in love with your photos and arrives to find the house looking different than expected, will they be disappointed? If so, you may end up doing more harm than good. Leaving random pieces of furniture behind may also work against you. Too often, puzzled buyers give in to curiosity and end up checking out the abandoned hutch or grandfather clock, instead of looking at the house.

PRO TIP: Puzzles and surprises seldom work in your favour. Virtual staging has its place, but buyers may be confused when they see one thing online and something completely different in person. Accuracy is paramount, and we never want to mislead buyers about the size and layout of a house. It’s important not to embellish or use visual tricks to make a floorplan seem different than it is, and when using digital editing tools, this may happen unintentionally.

I often compare real estate to dating, so think of your MLS listing like an online dating profile. If you’re using photos that represent you fairly, it’s much more likely you’ll make a great first impression. #Advice #AskDavid #TheNegotiator

David is a top-selling Broker in Kitchener-Waterloo Region. He works personally with you when selling or buying your home. Call or text today for your free home evaluation! 519-577-1212.