The conventional wisdom is that staging a home entices buyers. But it also costs money, and represents a kind of gamble that the stager chose the most appealing design. Staging a house to appeal to a young family, for example, may prove to be a turn off for retirees.
But 3D imaging company GeoCV believes there is a better way: virtual staging, which involves placing computer-generated furnishings inside the interactive image of a real space. And this week, the firm announced a new partnership with BoxBrownie to make virtual staging more accessible to consumers.
The partnership means that consumers — so, in this case, both homeowners and their agents — can have GeoCV render a 3D tour of their property, then have BoxBrownie fill it with photo realistic renderings of sofas, art, rugs and everything else that makes a house feel like a home. The staging costs $64 per 360 degree “image,” which in this case essentially means a vantage point within a virtual space.
The 3D tour below shows what the product looks like; clicking the chair button in the upper right of the image toggles between staged and un-staged views of the home.
In a statement, BoxBrownie said that it guarantees it can create the staged spaces within 48 hours. The company also lets consumers choose from a handful of different styles, and believes that the service provides an array of benefits including faster home sales, increased buyer interest and lower costs compared to traditional staging.
Jonathan Klein
Jonathan Klein, GeoCV’s managing director, told Inman that his company decided to partner with BoxBrownie because the firm provides consistently high quality results.
“Their filters and automation and machine-like process helps them turn out more content better and faster,” Klein added.
GeoCV’s prices to render 3D spaces vary depending on factors related to the property itself and what a particular customer wants, but Klein said that on average consumers can expect to pay around 10 cents per square foot for the interactive spaces.
Klein said that the virtual staging technology works best with spaces that are already empty. BoxBrownie did not immediately respond to Inman’s inquiries about the service, including with regards to what happens if a property is already outfitted with furniture and only needs partial virtual staging.
BoxBrownie is based in Australia, and offers a variety of virtual imaging services geared toward residential and commercial real estate, online retail and other industries.
GeoCV is headquartered in New York, and has worked to make 3D home tours more affordable to average consumers. Perhaps most notably in that regard, the company lets users shoot the images that will become a rendered, interactive space with a cell phone.
Meanwhile GeoCV’s main rival Matterport has historically required users to shoot spaces with a camera that costs thousands of dollars. Earlier this year, however, Matterport debuted low-cost subscription plans and began supporting consumer grade cameras.
Matterport has also recently been expanding its own offerings, including just this week via a partnership with computer vision firm Arraiy, and has 3D staging capabilities of its own thanks to a partnership with Rooomy.
However, Klein argued that GeoCV’s version of 3D staging via BoxBrownie is unique because it’s targeted at a consumer market, which means affordable prices for single spaces.
“If you want to get it done one time for one listing you can’t go through those companies because they just don’t allow it,” Klein said.
In a statement, Box Brownie strategic relationship manager Peter Schravemade praised GeoCV this week, saying that “we are delighted to be partnering with” the company.
Klein indicated the feeling is mutual, telling Inman Friday that in addition to producing high-quality work the team at BoxBrownie is “just really enjoyable to work with.”
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