What is virtual staging?

I'm always going to recommend first that you do real staging when trying to sell your property.

You want buyers to fall in love with your home the second they walk in.

Staging will allow the buyer’s emotions drive their purchasing decision.

If you refuse to have your home staged, virtual staging is the next best thing.

I have even had my graphic designer work with the current furniture that is in the home.

The designer can use their digital furniture in conjunction with your real furniture.

That way you don't have to move a single piece of furniture at your home and your marketing pictures will still end up looking great.

Virtual staging is better than showing an empty room

If you are getting ready to sell your property, you should consider staging your home.

That is when a home stager comes in and furnishes your house with modern, new, clean furniture. It makes your home look like a model home.

The problem with staging is that it costs money. The minimum cost will be around $3k.

If you refuse to do that, you should consider virtual staging.

This is where you take a picture of an empty room in your house, then a graphic designer edits the picture and ads computer-generated furniture.

In most cases, your marketing pictures will end up looking great.

You will definitely get a lot of attention to your online listing and will bring people in to see your home.

The problem arises when the buyer shows up to tour the home.

They came to see a beautiful model looking home and they end up taking a tour of a bunch of empty rooms.

This is not the ideal situation to put a buyer in.

But, virtually staged photos are better than showing a vacant room or a room filled with furniture from the 1980's.

The most famous home to sell this week in Los Angeles

The Ennis House just sold for $18,000,000 in the Los Feliz hills.

The home was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Charles and Mabel Ennis and was built in 1924.

The design of the house was based on the ancient Maya Temples and its notable detail is the relief ornamentation on its 27,000 perforated and patterned decomposed granite blocks.

Filmmakers flocked to its location. The home shot to fame when the exterior façade was used for the House on Haunted Hill in 1958, but it is most known for being in the movie Blade Runner and the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer (one of my favorite shows growing up!).

The house was included as one of the top ten houses of all time in Los Angeles Times, and is a designated California Historical Landmark, and a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.

Homeowners are feeling, "house rich, cash poor"

One in five U.S. homeowners say they feel house rich but cash poor, according to the newly released Hometap Homeownership Study.

With home prices continuing to climb up, nearly 20% of 675 homeowners surveyed classify themselves as feeling “house rich, cash poor” most of the time, according to the study produced by Hometap.

Seventy-three percent of respondents say they feel “house rich, cash poor” at least some of the time.

I bet if they surveyed renters they would find similar numbers.

I believe we all face similar challenges.

After all, I think being worried about how you are going to provide shelter and food for your family is a feeling all humans have had since the cavemen times. @hometap_

5 days before closing, lender denies the loan

This is my 8th real estate transaction over at 4610 Densmore Ave.

The buyers insisted on using their lender to purchase the condo... big mistake!

The lender failed to come through with the loan.

Luckily, I always have a back up plan.

Best condo to sell this week in Encino

6 offers for my 6th listing at this Encino complex!

The sellers wanted to move the property as quickly as possible, so they took my advice and had the unit painted and staged.

It came out looking like a model unit!