Teaching Homeowners How to Get Their Homes Ready for Virtual Staging

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In the cutthroat business of real estate, initial impressions are tremendously important. Most people who want to buy a property start their search online, so it’s really important to have good listing photographs that grab people’s attention and make them want to learn more. Virtual staging is a game-changing tool that turns empty or messy rooms into welcoming houses that are ready to move into. This helps purchasers see their future in the property. But how effectively a location is set up before the images are taken has a big effect on how well virtual staging works. This detailed tutorial, made possible by PixelShouters, a top real estate photo editing company, will teach homeowners the most important things they need to do to get their homes ready for virtual staging so that they look their best and sell faster.

What is Virtual Staging, and Why is it Important?

Virtual staging is a digital process that employs a computer-cooperative design (CAD) software to add furniture, decorations and other items to the pictures of empty or scattered rooms. Virtual staging is cheaper, more flexible and faster than traditional staging, which means putting furniture in the property. It can be less than 24 to 48 hours. National Association Real Feltters says that 95% of buyers can better portray the stage with a stage of their future home. Stage homes sell 73% more faster and up to 25% more than unsteaded homes.

PixelShouters are a well-known name in real estate photo editing. They specialize in virtual staging, which turns into empty rooms beautifully decorated homes. They know how to edit photos, fix colors, and create 3D models, which help the list listed in the listed market. But the best virtual staging also needs a place that is ready to go to look real in the photo. If you do not prepare rooms well, you will have to make adjustments that do not look authentic or pay more for them, which will make the final photographs less effective.

This blog will explain why it’s important for homeowners to get their homes ready for virtual staging, what areas to focus on, how to get ready step by step, and get expert advise from PixelShouters to make sure your home looks great in selling images.

Why It’s Important to Get Ready for Virtual Staging

Virtual staging makes a home better, but it will not correct every problem with a snapshot. Virtual staging will look fake or if the room is not well-prepared, such as not messy, impure or poorly illuminated, many may need to be edited. This increases costs and takes longer the process. If you prepare properly, virtual staging will show great parts of the house, put it together, and appeal people in a wide range. Here are some of the reasons why it is important to prepare spaces:

  • Improves Realism: Virtual staging depends on high-quality pictures to make things look as real as possible. Things like clutter, personal things, or damaged surfaces might take away from the staged items or make them look out of place. PixelShouters’ editors can add furniture and furnishings that go in well with the room in a clean, neutral atmosphere.

  • Saves Time and Money: Getting a location ready properly means you won’t have to spend a lot of time and money on photo editing, such removing clutter or addressing flaws. PixelShouters says that staging images is easier when they are well-prepared, which keeps prices down to as little as $20 per image and speeds up delivery.

  • Appeals to Buyers: Buyers want to see themselves living in a property, not the way the existing owner lives. When you take out personal belongings and make the area neutral, virtual staging can make it look good to everyone, which makes buyers more interested. According to industry research, staged homes get 87% more views online than homes that aren’t staged.

  • Showcases Functionality: Virtual staging can show how a place could be used, such turning an extra room into a nursery or home office. This only works if the room is clear and free of clutter, so purchasers can easily see how big it is and how it is set up.

  • Enhances Outdoor Spaces: Virtual staging may help improve the look of outside environments like patios and yards. PixelSouters may look pleasant and useful to the outside space by adding beautiful furniture or landscaping ingredients when clean and cluttered.

Home owners can make sure that virtual staging gives them beautiful, market-prepared photographs that attract more buyers and help them sell their homes quickly by spending time preparing time.

Important Things to Do Before Virtual Staging

Some parts of a house have a bigger effect on how buyers see it than others. Virtually Staging Properties says that 68% of purchasers think the kitchen is the most important room to stage, followed closely by the living room and master bedroom. The outdoor areas, baths, and dining rooms are all quite important. We list the most important areas to focus on below, along with some recommendations for getting ready for each one.

1. The Living Room

The living room is generally the first room buyers see, and it sets the mood for the rest of the house. It should feel big, friendly, and useful.

  • Depersonalize: Get rid of personal things like family photos, keepsakes, or bold art. To make the room a wide range of people more attractive, take any outfit that is very bright or unusual.

  • Clean Thoroughly: Make sure the space looks impaired by cleaning everything, including windows, carpets and surfaces. Virtual furniture looks more lifelong in a systematic room.

  • Optimize Furniture Placement: If the space is not empty, move the furniture to make it feel more open and airy. Do not place furniture against the walls as it will look small to the room. Instead, put things together to provide a nice place to talk.

  • Remove Rugs and Floor Mats: Pillows and floor mats out. The wide angle lens used in the real estate photo will look distorted to the floor mats, which will look small. Raise them so you can see the whole floor.

  • Maximize Natural Light: Open the curtains and blinds as the natural light as possible. Photographers like this because those pictures look more real and colorful. To prevent the colors from messing up, turn off the lights.

2. The Kitchen

The kitchen is a big deal for consumers because they want spaces that are bright, clean, and useful.

  • Clear Countertops: To clear the countertops, take off any appliances, dish racks, or personal belongings like magnets or recipe books. Virtual stagers can add nice decorations like a fruit bowl or vase on a countertop that isn’t cluttered.

  • Deep Clean: Use a scrub brush to get rid of stains and grease from sinks, appliances, and cabinets. If you can, replace old hardware to give your home a new look.

  • Neutralize Decor: Take away bright-colored decorations and use neutral towels or dishes instead to make a clear slate for virtual staging.

  • Check the Flooring: Make sure the flooring are clean because filthy floors can get in the way of virtual staging. Take out any rugs to show off the flooring material.

3. The Master Bedroom

The master bedroom should feel like a peaceful getaway that makes purchasers want to relax there.

  • Simplify Bedding: Make Bedding Simple: Use bedding that is a neutral hue and get rid of-too many cushions and throws. It’s easy to stage a bed that is clean and uncomplicated.

  • Clear Surfaces: Take all of your personal things off of dressers and nightstands. A simple design makes it easier for virtual stagers to incorporate current, stylish furniture.

  • Clean Closets: Even though closets aren’t often staged, a clean closet in images shows buyers that you take good care of your home. Make your closets look bigger by organizing or emptying them.

  • Optimize Lighting: Make the lighting better: Open the curtains and clean the windows to let in as much natural light as possible. This will make the space feel bright and welcoming.

4. Restrooms

Bathrooms should feel like a spa, with a focus on cleanliness and relaxation.

  • Remove Personal Items: Take Away Personal Items: Get rid of your toothbrushes, toiletries, and shower supplies. Keep them out of sight during the photo shoot.

  • Add Subtle Decor: If the room isn’t empty, add some neutral towels or a tiny arrangement of flowers to make it look better without making it too busy.

  • Clean Thoroughly: Thoroughly clean: Polish tiles, mirrors, and faucets to get rid of wet marks and dirt. For virtual staging, a clean bathroom is more attractive.

  • Update Fixtures: If your fixtures are old, you can make them appear better by buying cheap new shower curtains or cabinet handles.

5. Dining Room

A staged dining room can highlight how great it would be to have family around or have a party.

  • Clear the Table: Take everything off the dining table so that you have a blank canvas. Virtual stagers can provide a nice centerpiece or table setting.

  • Ensure Space: Make sure there’s enough room: Arrange the chairs so they don’t look crammed. Make sure there is enough room around the table for buyers to see having guests over.

  • Neutral Decor: Use neutral tablecloths or placemats and stay away from bright colors that can take away from the virtual staging.

6. Places Outside

Curb appeal and outdoor spaces are very important since purchasers are putting more and more value on outdoor living areas that work.

  • Clean Surfaces: Sweep and clean: Get rid of trash, leaves, and dirt from patios, decks, and sidewalks. Power-washing surfaces will make them look new.

  • Remove Clutter: Get Rid of Clutter: Put away hoses, tools, toys, and trash cans in a garage or shed. It’s easy to stage a clean outside setting with virtual furniture like patio sets or lounge chairs.

  • Maintain Landscaping: Keep up with the landscaping by mowing the lawn, trimming the bushes, and getting rid of dead plants. A well-kept yard makes it easier to stage outside locations virtually.

  • Clear Driveways: To keep the focus on the outside of the house, move cars or other things off the driveway.

How to Get Your Home Ready for Virtual Staging in Steps

Follow these steps to get your home ready for a successful virtual staging session with PixelShouters or any other professional service now that you know what to focus on.

Step 1: Get rid of things and make them less personal.

  • Put Away Personal Things: Pack up family photos, awards, religious trinkets, or strange decorations. Buyers should be able to view a neutral environment that they may make their own.

  • Minimize Furniture: If the house isn’t empty, only keep the furniture you need so it doesn’t look messy. Think about getting a storage container for things you don’t need.

  • Clear Surfaces: Take all the non-decorative things off of your counters, tables, and shelves, like mail, appliances, and knickknacks.

Step 2: Clean every room thoroughly

  • Interior Cleaning: To make sure the inside looks clean, vacuum the carpets, mop the floors, dust the surfaces, and clean the windows. Make sure to keep the kitchen and bathroom clean, as this is quite important.

  • Exterior Cleaning: Cleaning the outside: Use a power washer on decks, walkways, and siding. Take care of your outdoor furniture and wipe any dirt or cobwebs on your patio.

  • Odor Removal: Get rid of odor: Use air fresheners or baking soda to get rid of a pet or cooking odor. Buyers can come to see the house after seeing the stage.

Step 3: Make lighting better

  • Maximize Natural Light: Open all the curtains and blinds as the natural light as possible. This will improve the quality of the photos and the rooms look large.

  • Turn Off Artificial Lights: Turn off artificial lights: The photo can have yellow or blue colors with artificial lighting, which hardens virtual staging. Let photographers change the lighting as needed.

  • Add Brightness: If you need more light, use high-attage bulbs (100 watts per 50 square feet) to make the room brighter.

Step 4: Fix items and make updates

  • Repair Damages: Fix some problems by filling the wall holes, touching the paint and fixing the scratches and scratch ch. Virtual staging cannot disguise the structure or major problems of damage that is easy to see.

  • Update Fixtures: Update fixtures: For a polished look, chop old cabinet hardware, fa AU or light fixtures for new, neutral issues.

  • Neutralize Colors: Neutralize colors: To create a flexible background for virtual staging, paint dramatically or over old walls with neutral colors like white, non-cloth or light gray.

Step 5: Get ready for photoshoot

  • Remove Pets and People: Pets and people out: Make sure there is no home during the shoot so that no interruptions or motion in the pictures are unclear. Keep dogs in a garage or somewhere else.

  • Check Window Treatments: Check your window treatment: Get rid of old blinds or draps and replace them with clean, neutral people. If you want to look bigger, hang the curtains from the ceiling to the floor.

  • Stage Sparingly: Rarely on stage (if not empty): If there is still furniture in the space, adjust it in a way that shows how the room works and flows. Add small decorations like pillow or vases, but do not overboard so they do not collide with virtual staging.

Step 6: Talk to Your Stager and Photographer

  • Communicate Preferences: Tell your photographer and PixelShouters about the rooms or design styles you wish to show off. For instance, say if you want a spare room to look like a home office or a nursery.

  • High-Quality Photography: Take High-Quality Pictures: Hire a professional photographer using a wide-angle lens to get pictures that are big and well-composed. PixelShouters says that the best virtual staging effects come from using high-resolution pictures.

  • Follow MLS Rules: Check the MLS Rules: Make sure your virtual staging follows local MLS rules, like marking staged photographs as digitally enhanced so they don’t look like they’re real.

PixelShouters’ Advice for Good Virtual Staging

PixelShouters has a team of professional editors and CAD designers who can help you make sure your virtual staging project is a success:

  • High-Quality Photography: Take High-Quality Pictures: PixelShouters says that for realistic virtual staging, you need high-resolution, well-lit pictures. To get bright, balanced pictures, use a professional photographer who knows how to use HDR to take multiple exposures.

  • Neutral, Modern Styles: Choose Neutral, Modern Styles: When you choose virtual furniture, go for modern, neutral styles that will appeal to a lot of people. PixelShouters has a wide range of design styles, from simple to farmhouse, to fit different markets.

  • Prioritize Key Rooms: Start with the Most Important Rooms: The living room, kitchen, and master bedroom are the most important rooms to stage since they have the biggest effect on buyers. PixelShouters can stage more rooms if they need to, but starting with areas that get a lot of foot traffic is the best way to get the most out of your money.

  • Subtle Accessories: Use subtle accessories: virtual staging isn’t only about the furniture. PixelShouters can make rooms feel more lived-in by adding modest things like vases, artwork, or throw pillows without making the area feel too full.

  • Stage Outdoors: Think about staging outside: don’t forget about yards and patios. PixelShouters can turn barren exterior spaces into welcoming places with virtual furniture, which makes the property look better from the street. Before the shoot, make sure that the outdoor locations are clean and clear of debris.

  • Maintain Honesty: Be Honest: To keep consumers’ trust, be sure that listings clearly mark photographs that have been staged. PixelShouters makes sure that staged images are MLS-compliant and seem like real photos, so there is no chance of misleading anyone.

PixelShouters’ Virtual Staging Has a Lot of Benefits

Working with PixelShouters for virtual staging has many benefits for both homeowners and real estate agents:

  • Cost-Effective: PixelShouters offers virtual staging services starting at $20 per image, which is much cheaper than real staging, which costs $2,000 to $2,400 per month for a 2,000-square-foot property.

  • Quick Turnaround: PixelShouters sends staged photos in 24 to 48 hours, so listings can go online right away.

  • Customization: Their staff may setup rooms in a variety of designs or layouts to show off how flexible a space is and how it might appeal to different buyers.

  • High-Quality Results: PixelShouters makes photorealistic photos that make listings more appealing and get buyers more interested. They are experts in photo alteration and 3D rendering.

  • Comprehensive Services: PixelShouters is a one-stop shop for real estate marketing since they offer more than just virtual staging. They also offer image improvement, floor plan conversion, and panoramic photo stitching.

Things You Shouldn’t Do When Getting Ready for Virtual Staging

Homeowners sometimes make mistakes that hurt the outcomes of virtual staging, even if they mean well. Here are some typical mistakes and ways to avoid them:

  • Not Cleaning Up: Not Cleaning Up After Yourself in Photos: Messy areas need more editing, which costs more time and money. Before the photo shoot, make sure to clean up completely to make things go more smoothly.

  • Using Poor Photos: Using Bad Photos: Photos that are too dark or low-resolution might make the staging look bad. Get clear, high-quality pictures by hiring a professional photographer.

  • Overstaging: Overstaging: Putting in too many virtual things can make a room look fake. Get help from PixelShouters to choose the right amount of furniture and decorations.

  • Ignoring Outdoor Spaces: Not Paying Attention to Outdoor Spaces: Not taking care of patios or yards means missing out on a chance to show off how great outdoor living can be. Take as much care while preparing these areas as you do when preparing interiors.

  • Not Labeling Staged Images: Not marking images that have been faked can make buyers suspicious or cause legal problems. Always include digital improvements in your listings.

What Virtual Staging Does to Home Sales

There is a lot of evidence that virtual staging helps sell homes. According to numbers from the industry:

  • Staged homes sell 88% faster and for 5% to 23% more than the asking price.

  • 41% of people who see prepared images of a home online are more willing to go see it in person.

  • Compared to regular images, virtual staging can get 87% more views online.

  • Staged homes sell for an average of $11,306 less and stay on the market for six more days than vacant homes.

Homeowners may use these perks to sell their homes faster and for more money if they prepare their homes appropriately and work with PixelShouters.

In Conclusion

Virtual staging is a great way to turn empty or old areas into cozy houses that make buyers want to buy them. But for it to work, you need to plan ahead. Homeowners can make a blank canvas for PixelShouters to perform their magic by getting rid of clutter, cleaning, improving the lighting, and fixing small things. Virtual staging works best when you focus on important areas like the living room, kitchen, master bedroom, bathrooms, dining room, and outdoor spaces.

PixelShouters is a reliable partner for retouching real estate photos. They offer virtual staging services that are both reasonable and high-quality, and they can get results in as little as 24 hours. With their knowledge and careful planning, they can make your listing images better, bring in more purchasers, and help you sell your home faster and for more money. This tutorial will help you get the most out of virtual staging and stand out in today’s competitive market, whether you are a homeowner or a real estate professional.

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