Snap - the photo is taken prior to putting a home on the market.

Crackle - what is this?  Virtual staging...  Did they just insert virtual furniture into a vacant house?

Sucker - did you just get suckered into seeing a house that you would have otherwise passed on?

 

Virtual staging basically takes your vacant home and inserts pictures of staging furniture and items without ever physically putting them in the house.  Then these pictures are used to market the home online and in flyers.

 

Is this good marketing and the way of the future or unethical?  Professional photos and good staging is a MUST to get the maximum foot traffic and ultimately the maximum price for the seller.  But virtual staging?  I have witnessed, many times, a seller takes pictures with their furniture in a house and then they move out.  The pictures still reflect the furniture, but when a potential buyer shows up, it is a vacant house.  Is virtual staging any different?  They are simply inserting in furniture into a vacant picture to help generate real foot traffic.  It is much cheaper than actually staging, but is it ethical?  In a recent Seattle Times article, they said the virtual staging company went so far as to change the 'condition' of the house.  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2012589283_harney15.html Is this ethical?  Is the agent helping a buyer see the home's potential or is this a form of fraud?  Is there some form of virtual staging that is acceptable and others that is not?  This is a very new topic, but I think it is one we will see and hear a lot about in the months and years to come.  Is it the wave of the future or a passing trend?  I would love to hear your feedback and thoughts - Ethical or Not Ethical?

 

Photos of before and after - http://virtualstagingsolutions.com/gallery