In an online world, where the shop window is a small screen, this property in Deansgrange illustrates how to catch buyers' attention with virtual staging.
Address: 24 Grange Terrace, Deansgrange Road, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, A94 F6R6
Asking price: €695,000
Agent: DNG
We all know that well-presented homes get more views on property portals.
If the property is within budget and draws your eye enough, it will push you to move to the next stage.
And if the home doesn’t disappoint when viewed in real life, then you’ll likely place a bid, and often competitive bidding will ensue.
Technology drives every step of this process. It now allows buyers to do so much more, starting with conducting the search from the comfort of their own home.
Good photography is crucial, so too is a decent Ber-rating. Many buyers will only consider homes with a C, B, or A rating.
Location also plays a role.
And a home that is in walk-in condition, where you don’t have to deal with builders at all, is what’s on every house hunter’s letter to Santa this year.
Number 24 Grange Terrace, on Deansgrange Road, is one such property.
In walk-in condition, the three-bay, three-bedroom, two-bathroom, end-terrace cottage has a B2 Ber-rating and extends to 101 square metres.
Situated opposite the cemetery, it isn’t overlooked and has a garden that extends to about 60 square metres.
It’s perfect for families or traders-down as everything is at one level. All that buyers need to do is book a removal van and unpack their bags.
At first glance, this house looks to be in showhouse condition, but as you scroll through the images online, you will see before and after shots of each room, showing how the house is, and how it might look, for the property is virtually staged.
Some buyers will already be familiar with this presentation form.
The developer, IFL Construction, sees the value in showing both.
It is his experience that Irish people are very good at visualising empty spaces, but he feels the technique "helps them get a perspective on each room in the house”.
Virtual staging defines the purpose of the rooms and shows the property off to its true potential, explains Ross Killeen, a former estate agent turned photography, videography, and floorplan provider to the industry through his company, MediaPro.
“This is something that can be hard to see when a room is empty and is particularly useful in interconnecting rooms.”
While AI has entered the general market in a big way since Kileen launched the service some five years ago, it doesn’t offer the kind of changes his clients want. At least not yet.
Virtual staging makes no physical changes to the rooms or to the house structure.
The service can cost from €200 to €600, depending on the size of the house, which is a lot more affordable than the cost of hiring an interior stager to rent furniture and fixtures for a fixed period of time to help present a home for sale to buyers.
This is a cost that is in addition to the usual package of video, floorplan, and photos that estate agents offer as part of the marketing fee. This can range from €250 to €500, depending on the size of the house.
Most vendors want to opt for a contemporary look. Even in period properties, they will choose something like mid-century rather than antiques.
Some have strong ideas about what they want, others are more suggestible, so to save time and money, Kileen’s team sketches up a mock-up to suggest where they feel the furniture, lighting, and furnishings should be.
Vendors can help streamline this part of the process by creating mood boards or gathering images to visually show what they’re looking for.
Virtual staging is a concept that’s easier to sell to Millennials and Gen Z, Kileen says, noting that all vendors have become very price sensitive.
Some will pay to have the place physically staged but won’t pay the additional €50 to €600 to take additional photos to best show off that staging, an exercise he says might net them an additional €30,000 or €40,000 in sale agreed price.
“It’s like frosting the glass on your shop front, obscuring the view.”
What the imagery here doesn’t show is how the house has been transformed since the developer bought it.
Previously a two-bay, two-bedroom house of 82 square metres that had an E1 Ber rating, it has been extended out to the side and to the back by almost 20 square metres to deliver a large, dual-aspect kitchen living room that opens out to the garden.
Previously a two-bedroom property, it now has three bedrooms, two doubles and a single, which are to the front. All the hard work is done.
All you have to do is move in and unpack your bags.
