EP. 1423 - WHAT THE HELL IS VIRTUAL FURNITURE?!

Ever looked at property photos online and fallen in love with the styling, only to discover later that none of that furniture actually exists? Welcome to the fascinating world of virtual furniture – a game-changing tool that's revolutionising real estate marketing across Australia.

Our deep dive into virtual staging reveals why empty rooms are a missed opportunity when selling property. Many buyers struggle with spatial awareness, finding it difficult to gauge room sizes or envision how they might use vacant spaces. At just $30 per room, virtual furniture offers an affordable alternative to traditional staging, which typically costs upwards of $10,000 for a complete home. The technology has become so sophisticated that even experienced real estate professionals sometimes struggle to differentiate between virtual and physical furniture in photographs!

We explore practical applications beyond just making properties look better. Virtual furniture provides elegant solutions for tenant-occupied homes where occupants don't want personal belongings photographed, eliminates the stress of maintaining hired furniture throughout a marketing campaign, and allows creative visualisation of multiple styling options for the same space. We even share how AI tools like ChatGPT are democratising access to this technology, making it possible for anyone to create stunning virtual staging with minimal technical knowledge.

The podcast features a remarkable case study of a Seaforth property where virtual furniture was so convincingly integrated that it fooled even those within the industry. As one agent explains, "A great real estate agent deletes the hurdles in the sprint" – and virtual furniture removes a major obstacle in the buyer's journey. Whether you're selling a studio apartment or a luxury home, this technology ensures potential buyers can easily visualise themselves living in your property, potentially leading to faster sales and better prices.

Ready to transform your property marketing? Give us a call today and discover how virtual staging can showcase your property's full potential without the hassle and expense of traditional furniture hire.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Ladies and gentlemen, life in the virtual world.
Yes, real estate agents, we areusing virtual furniture.
We also use proper furniture torefurnish properties.
We're going to talk about thedifference and the value that
are add station.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
I'm the ringleader, so let's hit it, whoa.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
Billy the old man stuck in a young man's body.
How are you?

Speaker 2 (00:41):
I'm good.
I'm good, how are you?

Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yeah, real good, real good.
What do do you know?
What do you know about virtualfurniture?

Speaker 2 (00:50):
I know that's taking over.
I was talking with a clientyesterday in a living room
scenario, talking aboutpreparing their property for
market, talking about styling.
Uh, virtual furniture iscertainly widely, you know, used
now and I think most peoplehave got their heads around it,
but um, still don't quiteunderstand the difference

(01:12):
between digitally putting uh newfurniture in photos and then
and then the comparison to thereal thing yeah, it's getting
big.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
It's getting big.
Uh, yeah, and and it's funnywhen when you sort of um
actually show people, then theygo, ah, that's what virtual
furniture is, um.
But I cannot believe in thisday and age that agents are
running photos of propertiesthat are vacant inside in the
day of virtual furniture totallyunnecessary, spatially silly,

(01:49):
because people can't get an ideaof what's where.
They can't look.
Half of the people have thecapacity of the brain they can
actually go.
Yep, that's a good size room.
The other half um are like uh,is that, is that a small room?
That looks like a small room?

Speaker 2 (02:03):
you don't want them to think that you could lose
your buyer yeah, yeah, and andthis is so affordable it's about
30 a room to.
If you've got a vacant room andwant to put furniture in there
really nice stuff as an exampleum, the middle, the middle
screen there, that's that'svirtual, virtual furniture and

(02:26):
doesn't have any hassle.
It also works really reallywell if you've got a tenant that
doesn't want their personalitems in any photography.
It's a good way to work aroundthat and it's also a really good
way to not have any hassle.
So if you've got kids andyou're worried about renting
furniture or you're worriedabout the hiring and then

(02:49):
looking after it for a six-weekperiod, this is a good solution
as well super smart.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
so just what it is.
Just to be sure, so people know, we have the ability to take a
photo, remove the furnitureinside the photo and replace the
furniture inside the photo.
Why would we do that?
To present the property better.

(03:19):
There may be people that havegot a loud bed cover, quilt,
bedspread, and we can actuallychange that.
We can put bedside tables in,we can put lamps in, we can warm
up a room.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
Do buyers get the shit?

Speaker 1 (03:38):
with the building Do they go?
This isn't the furniture weexpected.
Rarely, very rarely actuallyexpect it.

Speaker 2 (03:43):
Rarely, very rarely actually, in fact, as you
alluded to in the openingstatement, it actually goes the
other way around, where peopleget then some inspiration and
they can sort of visualize howthey can fit it out, because it
doesn't.
I guess the difference is youcan't abuse the power.

(04:05):
You can't put a home cinema ina small living area, otherwise
it looks funny.
So you've got to start withsomething that sort of works to
the space, and we've got prosthat do this.
So it's not AI generated, notall of it.
This is done by sort of graphicdesigner sort of quality.

(04:25):
But I'm going to show you anexample we've got this beautiful
home for sale in seaforth.
Maybe we can just touch on thisyep, yep, because I know here
the owners were looking at doingboth.
You know they wanted theircampaign up and running, with no
downtime properties vacant verysmart.

(04:46):
But in the meantime they'reorganizing, you know, some
professional styling and thenthey'll just swap out the photos
.
Genius.
So this is actually all virtualfurniture.
Every for every photo you seelies, which is great.
It's really, really clever,because otherwise, as you said,

(05:08):
it's all empty.
It's a bit a bit um, cold shellstyle billy you're not telling
the truth.

Speaker 1 (05:18):
What's the truth?

Speaker 2 (05:22):
that's real furniture oh, so you got that, you got
the new you've tricked.

Speaker 1 (05:31):
You've tricked even the real estate agent.
Look at that.
Not even the real estate agentknows the difference.
That's how good virtualfurniture actually is.
The agents can't even tell thedifference now another one.

Speaker 2 (05:46):
Another thing that we did here was actually put what
eight vehicles or six vehicleswould look like in a garage.
I think that's genius as well,just to give someone that
spatial awareness it's got to bedone and you know what people
are going like.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
Surely I'm sure people are watching the gang
look?
Surely you know?
Surely that can't add a dollar?
Um, surely that can't add fivethousand dollars?
Surely people just get an ideawhen they see a picture of
property?
I just want to see a picture ofproperty.
I don't know if I like it ornot.
I've got to say, guys, a greatreal estate agent deletes the

(06:25):
hurdles in the sprint.
So you may have a 200 metersprint line and you may have 10
hurdles in the order of a sale.
So every sale there's hurdles.
The better the agent gets atdeleting the hurdles, the better
the agent gets at making thehurdles lower, the better the

(06:46):
chance is that.
The better the agent gets atmaking the hurdles lower, the
better the chance is that, thebetter the money is going to be.
Better, better, better.
So it's the art of a fantasticreal estate agent and we see
this with our reps in the officeis they go to such an nth
degree to make sure everythingis presented as close to 10 out

(07:07):
of 10 as possible.
That's the path to a great sale, by deleting the hurdles, and
that is what people employ usfor and most of the time, we're
not charging for it.
It's about agent selection yepmike.

Speaker 2 (07:22):
Mike elter says totally agree, been in the
industry for years.
Potential buyers seem tostruggle to visualize and grasp
the concept of space.
It's a tricky concept.
Once again, the client is stilllooking at the room.
So it's it is.
It is popular, but people,people get upset when you, when
you, abuse that power.

Speaker 1 (07:44):
Yeah, look they do.
Can I say something to Mike?
Even Lisa's making commentshere, I can't click on those
comments.
Mike's on Instagram, Is he?
I've got to say to Mike Mike,go on to ChatGPT4, which is the

(08:14):
newest one, updated version, 20bucks a month.
Upload your vacant photo, Waitfor it.
Tell it what furniture you wantin there, not where to put the
furniture.
What furniture you want inthere.

Speaker 2 (08:30):
Oof.

Speaker 1 (08:33):
It'll do it for you.

Speaker 2 (08:36):
You want to see one?
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (08:38):
I'd love to.
Okay, I did this yesterday.
I was blowing everyone's mind.
I was inspired by Tiffany inthe office.
Let me show you this virtualfurniture.
I was given this photo.
You say that yeah?

Speaker 2 (09:03):
looks like this.
Yeah, look like a blank room.

Speaker 1 (09:06):
It's just a blank tiled room.
I wrote this to ChatGPT.
I said, ChatGPT, this is aNorthern Beaches property.
Can you please put a diningroom table and lounge room suite
and a coffee table with acontemporary beach finish?
I'm looking to put virtualfurniture in this room and make

(09:28):
it feel light and bright andcontemporary.
You ready kids, Give me a fullscreen, Billy Bob.

Speaker 2 (09:36):
Give me a full screen Coming up, give me a sec, you
ready, hang on.

Speaker 1 (09:45):
You ready for this?
Okay, that's good.
That's good, okay.
Okay, that's the photo of theroom.
Yep, go Hit it.

Speaker 2 (09:50):
Okay, that's good, that's good, okay, okay, that's
the that's the photo of the room.

Speaker 1 (09:54):
Yeah, go hit it.

Speaker 2 (09:55):
And in 15 seconds I'm not joking in 15 seconds chat.

Speaker 1 (10:10):
Gpt gave me the same room, boom, fantastic, fantastic
, unbelievable for freeunbelievable for free yeah,
that's astonishing so there yougo that's the future that's the
future, guys, that's the future,and you know what.

(10:31):
Red tools guys you've got noexcuse.
Commercial property guys you'vegot no excuse.
Go ham with virtual furniture,go chat gpt with furniture.
Virtual furniture, takefurniture out, put furniture in,
move furniture around all onchat gpt for free.
Pretty sure you need the paidversion.

Speaker 2 (10:52):
And I'd love to know what does it cost to style the
beautiful home in Seaforth?
What was it about 10 grand?
Yep, 10 grand, there you go.
So just going back to Lisa'scomment there, not everyone has
10 grand at their disposal.
I would suggest 10 grand isbetter spent in carpet and paint

(11:14):
If you can just do touch-upsaround the property with
property improvements and thenvirtual furniture it.
If you've got some bits thatyou can move in Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (11:26):
Yep, yep, really, bob .
Thank you everyone.

Speaker 2 (11:29):
Hope you enjoyed our expose on virtual furniture
today thanks guys if you needany help, give us a call, let us
know.

Speaker 1 (11:39):
Cheers love you, see ya, bye you.