Virtual stage versus virtual renovation: the difference will soon become apparent
Everyone loves good things, and when it comes to good things, usually more is better. So what is virtual renewal and how is it different from virtual staging?
Instead of starting with the differences, let’s start with the similarities. Both arts are ‘virtual’, which means that you can see them, but they have no real material reality. Like a rainbow, you can see it but you will never run into it.
The virtual staging is bought by people interested in selling properties “as is”. Virtual renovation is paid for by people interested in improving a property, often with no intention of selling the property in the short term, at least not before the renovations take place.
Virtual staging replaces “real” staging, which consists of furnishing an empty property with rented furniture to make it more attractive to potential buyers. Virtual staging solutions are achieved by adding pixels to boring ‘white box’ images of empty real estate that are for sale. Photorealistic furniture is added to create cozy and comfortable environments intended to attract potential buyers, such as bees, to honey.
Virtual set designers generally draw the line by injecting certain elements into photos provided by the client and refuse to fix the issues revealed in photos provided to them. They will not add windows, skylights, wood floors, recessed lights, or anything else that could be considered part of the property.
Next category: virtual renovators. These people pick up where virtual assistants left off. They will unapologetically change anything in an image or even start without an image. Your clients do not want to see the property as it is but as it could be. The possibilities are endless and restraint is exercised only to the extent that budget or structural realities apply limits.
Want to see ribbed bamboo walls and ruby-inlaid celery green woven tile floors, not a problem. Like a genie from a bottle, your wish is his command. And there are no shouts of “cheating” as the same methods could be applied to the same property prior to the “open house” exhibits.
The objectives of the two operations are not the same, just as the objectives of the owners are not the same. The owner preparing to sell “as is” calls the virtual developer, and the owner preparing to renovate calls the virtual renovator.
Could the virtual set designer do a virtual renovation? Yes, but it won’t. Can the virtual renovator make a virtual staging? Yes, and he will, but since he’s not limiting himself, it’s not hard to imagine his kind gaining the upper hand in the future.
Henry Ford once dominated the automobile market with black as the only available color. Everyone thought black was cool until someone else showed up with red, and then the game changed. In our opinion, the future belongs to those who handle technology without limits. Those that operate without restrictions will lead the way that consumers will choose to follow, which is why we expect to see most virtual set designers expand their offerings and become virtual renovators as time goes on.