Cover Story - Home Staging and Digital Showcasing

COVER STORY

The VALUE of Home Staging & Showcasing

Many Realtors

® know

that to sell a home quickly, it needs to stand out from the rest. There are many tricks of the trade that showcase a home in the best possible light allowing potential buyers the ability to visualize living in that home. Taking a few extra steps such as investing in professional photography, aerial images, and staging can make all the difference in your business and your client’s experience.

According to the National Association of REALTORS

® (NAR)

2017 Profile of Home Staging, 62 percent of seller’s agents say that staging a home will decrease the amount of time it spends on the market. Less time on the market means happier clientele and the agent can move onto the next sale.

Buyers also need to be able to picture themselves living in a house, and according to the report, 77 percent of buyer’s agents say that staging makes it easier for buyers to visualize a house as their future home. Properly staging a home can also increase a home’s value. Thirty-one percent of buyers' agents reported that staging increases dollar value by one to five percent. Sellers' agents report even more value is added from staging. Twentynine percent reported an increase of one to five percent in dollar value offered by buyers, making home staging and showcasing a win-win.

Additional Highlights of the report include:

• 40 percent of potential buyers are more willing to walk through a staged home they first saw online.

• 38 percent of buyers' agents said that staging positively affects a home's value if the home is decorated to the buyer's taste, meaning that a home's staging should be designed to appeal to the largest number of potential buyers.

• 38 percent of sellers’ agents said they stage all sellers’ homes before listing them for sale.

• Only one percent of buyers' agents felt that staging has a negative impact on a home's dollar value.

• The most common rooms that are staged include the living room (83 percent), kitchen (76 percent), master bedroom (69 percent), and the dining room (66 percent).

• Buyers consider the most important rooms for staging are the living room (55 percent), followed by the master bedroom (51 percent), and then the kitchen (41 percent).1

Digital Photography, Videos & Drones

Photography has come a long way in a few short years, and quality digital images can really set a property apart from the competition. The NAR 2017 Profile of Home Staging report states that 89 percent of homebuyers who searched for a home on the internet found photos to be among the most useful, and 82 percent of homebuyers find virtual tours to be very or somewhat useful. Today’s digital photography and virtual tours allow Realtors

® to showcase properties like never before.

“On every listing I do, regardless of price, I always pay for professional photography, including 3D and aerial photography, as well as video fly-overs of the neighborhood and amenities,” said Miranda Oswald, Broker Associate with Keller Williams on the Water. “It is such a small investment but a critical one for the return. When I look at my competition, photos always stand out. They help a prospective buyer visualize living at that home. I have found that, regardless of the price, it is imperative that I spend the money upfront on photography.”

Digital images quickly and professionally showcase a home, and today's buyer or seller have come to expect quality images, so much so that a poorly showcased home truly stands out. Clients today are also more technologically savvy than ever before and appreciate the ease of a virtual tour for both long distance and local moves.

“I’ve had customers come to town ready to buy based on the 3D virtual tours alone; they are such a great tool,” said Oswald. “Sometimes when I am showing them a house that they have seen on 3D, they tell me they know what is coming up around the corner.”

6 JULY 2018 Sarasota/Manatee REALTOR® Magazine www.MyRASM.com

“Good visuals when buying or selling real estate are key in this information-saturated age," said David Benson, Visual Media Expert with Personalized Photoart. “With today's advanced technology, HDR (High Dynamic Range) photos, drones, and the 3D Matterport camera, an agent has multiple ways of showing a property in its best light. I have been told on numerous occasions that my HDR photos or drone video helped sell the house. Those who use a professional and invest in quality for their listings with good photography and videography are rewarded by higher prices and fewer days on the market," added Benson.

Matterport is an all-in-one reality capture system that provides prospective clients a realistic, interactive, 3D and virtual reality experience to give the feeling of walking through a property. 2

“The Matterport virtual tour gives the potential buyer a true perspective instantly. No waiting to arrange a showing, coordinating schedules, etc.,” said Jola Bremer, Professional Photographer of Evoke Studio. “I had a client whose listing had an unusual layout. One of the bedrooms was positioned as a separate wing with its own kitchenette, bathroom, living space, and a mother-in-law suite, but still connected to the main home, pool area, and foyer. The virtual Matterport 3D tour provided the prospective buyer the ability to determine if the layout accommodated their particular lifestyle. In addition, the home was seller-occupied, and it was not always convenient to show the home at a moment’s notice, so the Matterport virtual tour offers a great solution,” added Bremer.

Video tours are another great option for showcasing a home. “I love the simplicity of a well-produced video,” said Detlev von Kessel, Owner of PIX360, Inc. “It’s so important for buyers to be able to picture themselves living in a home, and a professional video, along with epic music, connects the prospective buyer in an emotional way. The video acts like a ‘teaser clip.’ The buyer only sees what you want them to see, in just the right order, perfectly staged with music. Also, a video is simple to play from anywhere, whereas a 3D virtual reality tour can be trickier for the user to navigate.”

Drones have taken aerial photography and videos to another level. Just a few years ago, aerial photography and video were limited to an expensive helicopter rental fee. Today, drone technology has made aerial images and video inexpensive and accessible to anyone.

However, there are risks involved in utilizing your own drones, such as proper registration and FAA clearance, insurance, range and simply learning how to operate the drone while keeping a steady video. 3 Hiring a professional, especially for higher-end homes, is well worth the investment.

Photograph courtesy of David Benson, www.PhotoArtTours.com

“I used to rely on helicopter flights for aerial images, and at the cost of $500 to $700 an hour, it wasn’t always feasible,” said von Kessel. “Utilizing drones makes aerial videos so much more accessible and affordable for a wide-range of properties. I still use helicopters for my higher-end properties, because I can use interchangeable lenses, whereas drones are typically a wide-angle, single lens. However, the technology is changing, and drones are evolving to include more lens options,” added von Kessel.

Benefits of Home Staging

According to NAR, on average, staged homes sell 88 percent faster and for 20 percent more than non-staged ones, which is significant in our competitive market.

“Home staging can give a home several advantages during the sales and marketing process,” said Carey Beychok, Broker Associate with RE/MAX Alliance Group. “Not only does it help a prospective buyer visualize how a home will live, especially in unique spaces or interesting layouts, it also adds depth and warmth to any home, and can evoke emotion during the showing process. Buyers can see themselves living in the home, and it answers their questions about how they would lay out their furniture in various rooms.”

“I had a four-bedroom listing with separate living spaces and an additional loft. The home had plenty of square footage and had been extensively remodeled with nothing left undone, but the room count and room sizes made it difficult to see how each space could be utilized. Staging gave the buyer clarity and created a homey feel during showings. Home staging is effective at all levels; removing clutter and rearranging or re-purposing items already found in the home and then supplementing where

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