Florida REALTORS Magazine – Virtual Home Staging: Show Buyers A Home’s Potential

By Leslie C. Stone – August 2021 (LINK TO ARTICLE)

Here’s how one agent uses virtual staging to showcase listings and help buyers visualize the property’s potential.

PICTURE THE POSSIBILITIES

Ines Hegedus-Garcia, director of strategy and innovation for Avanti Way in Miami, says online appeal has never been more important than it is today. “If [95%] of homebuyers are starting their search online, it’s the responsibility of the agent to make sure the first few photos in the MLS grab a buyer’s attention. That’s what sets your listing apart and makes someone want to see it.”

She encourages all Avanti Way agents to think of their listings as a product and try to come up with creative ways to make them more attractive to the consumer. BoxBrownie has helped them do just that, she says. “One agent couldn’t seem to sell a condo in the Sunny Isles Beach area and asked me what to do. So, I told her I wanted her to send the photo of the view to BoxBrownie and have them change it. She did, and the property sold in two weeks. She said it was magic.”

Virtual staging helps their buyers visualize all that a property can be. “BoxBrownie lets us give the buyer several options, ” she says. “For example, we have a listing with in-law quarters that we staged in three different ways. First was an in-Iaw quarters living space, second was a home gym – since COVID-19, home gyms are one of the most requested spaces – and third was a home office. Now the buyer is seeing three options for that space in the MLS.”