Rooomy brings 3-D virtual staging to empty rooms everywhere

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The pitch

Rooomy is 3-D virtual staging software.

Platform(s): iOS for iPad
Ideal for: Agents who sell new homes or require a listing to be staged

Top selling points

• No special cameras or scanners are needed to create 3-D environment.
• Home shoppers can be quickly engaged by easy staging interface.
• Major furniture manufacturers are integrated to offer additional realism and credibility.

Things to consider

In order for prospects to fully interact with your listings on the staging tool, they must download the app. Agents aren’t yet able to track user interaction with their Rooomy listings.

The close

Rooomy is fun to use.

The software creates impressive 3-D environments from standard photos. It’s really quite slick.

Listing agents don’t have to invest time or energy in high-end cameras or specialized on-site equipment to create a fully immersive 3-D environment.

Once a picture is uploaded, a drag-and-drop grid appears over your empty room according to the number of walls visible.

Pull each anchor point to its respective room corner, estimate the ceiling height, and you’re done.

This is not Matterport or iGuide. Rooomy isn’t really built for whole house tours.

Think of it this way: your new Stingray can certainly pick up a kid or two from hockey practice, but that’s not really its bread and butter. (Unless your late.)

Listing agents don’t have to invest time or energy in high-end cameras or specialized on-site equipment

Primarily, Rooomy is for placing 3-D renderings of well-known furniture companies’ actual products into empty rooms. That’s where the software got its start.

It has the capability to alter viewing angles, zoom in and out and offer top-down perspectives.

Listings in Rooomy are assigned a unique url and the company will offer up its API for brokers to integrate all of their listings.

Agents can also purchase a high-resolution image of the staged room(s) for use in their own website or the MLS.

There isn’t a way to embed a Rooomy property view in your own website. That feature will come with a pending browser viewer sometime before December.

There are some compelling arguments for virtual staging, especially for out-of-market investors and luxury home buyers.

Staged homes sell faster, and virtual staging is clearly much more affordable and hassle-free.

I fear that Rooomy’s model isn’t set up for mass adoption. Requiring your prospects to download the app for their own decorating ideas with a listing seems like a barrier to widespread buyer adoption.

If a listing agent uses Rooomy to stage a room, they need to ensure

I can’t help but believe listing agents, the app’s most prominent type of user, are challenged in getting a represented buyer to download the app for a single property.

I envision buyer agents being inclined to have their client use the app.

But again, that’s two parties between a single staged room and the buyer.

This may be why listings agents are primarily using Rooomy’s 2-D images. They’re significantly more portable and would be great for new construction brochures and vacant condos.

My fear is that the company is trying to shoehorn the product into real estate

Rooomy does 3-D really well. The interface doesn’t lag, it renders quickly and in terms of giving people the experience of a fully furnished interior, it’s a sure winner.

The app looks great, too.

My fear is that the company is trying to shoehorn the product into real estate simply because it involves interacting with houses.

There are several updates on the way that will address the publishing process, lack of user metrics and requirement to download the app to view rooms. An eraser tool is also in the works, controlled by swiping your finger over pieces of furniture.

Have you used Rooomy? — what do you think? Leave a comment and let me know!

Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe.