Home staging today is more popular than ever and fast becoming a necessity.Almost everyone agrees that a home on today’s tough market needs to make a strong first impression with the buyer to sell quickly and for top dollar. Yet, many real estate professionals and home sellers embark on staging projects without taking into account the importance of Internet photos and virtual tours in making that crucial first impression.
More often than not, the Internet is where today’s prospective home buyers see a property for the first time. The typical buyer will scan through multiple online home listings before planning which properties to visit. That makes it all the more important for photos or a virtual tour to grab the buyer’s attention.
To accomplish this, agents and sellers need to work with a stager who is both a talented decorator and photo-smart. The stager’s choice of colors, furniture placement and lighting all contribute to a home interior that will capture the imagination of buyers, both in-person and in the online photos and virtual tour.
Accent Colors Make Photos Pop
Stagers, who must make design choices appealing to the widest range of buyers, often make the mistake of creating interiors that use all neutral colors and look drab and dreary in photos. The more successful staging solution will use neutral colors for walls, floors and basic furnishing and then balance them with exciting accent colors such as teal, red and orange that add pop to photos. In addition, plenty of lighting (preferably natural light) enhances a romantic mood that shines through in photo arrays.
The photo-smart stager will also take special care to arrange a room’s furniture and focal point to make for a great photo. The focal point—for example, a living room fireplace— is the photo’s center of interest and the first thing the buyer notices when entering, both in-person and on a virtual tour. The successful stager will imbue the focal point with color and drama and make sure that it is unobstructed in the photographer’s view.
Whether working with a stager or doing it themselves, home sellers and agents need to make design choices that keep Internet photos in mind. In the era of the Internet, staging for great photos is an essential part of the stager’s art and the key to a fast and successful sale.
