Virtual staging for real estate photographers
You already shoot the empty rooms. Agents with vacant listings often ask whether you can "put some furniture in." RoomGenix lets you say yes in a minute or two per photo, at a cost low enough that you can price it as an add-on and keep the difference.
Why photographers add staging
Your clients already trust you with how their listing looks online. When a home is vacant, the photos you deliver are accurate but bare, and the agent then has to find a separate staging service, send the files, wait, and pay again. If you can deliver staged versions with the rest of the shoot, you save the agent a step and add a line item to the invoice.
Hand-edited virtual staging can take a day or more and is priced per image. RoomGenix runs in the browser and returns a staged photo in a minute or two, so you can stage while you edit the rest of the set and deliver everything together.
Studio examples, not a client listing.
The numbers
RoomGenix costs $49 for 25 photos ($1.96 each) or $99 for 60 photos ($1.65 each). There is no subscription and credits don't expire, so a slow month costs nothing. What you charge agents is up to you and your market. As an example only: if you charged $15 a photo and staged five rooms per vacant listing, you would bill $75 and pay roughly $8 to $10 in credits. Price it in whatever way fits your packages, per photo, per listing, or bundled into a vacant-home package.
A workflow that fits a shoot
- Shoot the vacant rooms as you normally would. Wide, level, well-lit frames give the best results.
- Edit your HDR or flash-ambient set as usual.
- Upload the finals you want staged, pick a room type and style, and download the results.
- Deliver both versions. Agents usually need the unstaged originals too, for MLS rules.
Studio examples, not a client listing.
More than furniture
The same credits cover other edits agents ask for: a day-to-twilight conversion of an exterior, and decluttering an occupied room so it reads as clean and open. That gives you a few extra services to offer without hiring an editor.
Studio examples, not a client listing.
Keep it accurate
Agents are responsible for how a listing is advertised, and many MLSs require virtually staged photos to be labeled and the original included. The studio is designed to keep walls, windows and floors as shot, but review each image before delivery and never use staging to hide a defect. Point your clients to the MLS photo rules reminder.
Try it on your own photos
A new account gets 3 watermarked previews without a card. Run them on frames from a recent vacant shoot and judge the result yourself.
How to pitch it to agents
Keep it simple. When an agent books a vacant shoot, mention that you can deliver staged versions of the key rooms with the rest of the photos, and quote a price per room or a flat add-on. Show one before-and-after from your own work rather than a stock example; agents trust results from homes in their market. If an agent hasn't used virtual staging before, remind them that they will need to label the staged photos and include the originals, and offer to deliver both sets clearly named so the MLS upload is easy.
Getting the best results from your frames
- Shoot from a corner at roughly chest height so the floor area is visible.
- Keep verticals straight; heavy wide-angle distortion makes furniture look off.
- Leave the floor clear of equipment, cords and boxes.
- Deliver the staged photo at the same size and crop as the original, so the pair lines up in the listing.
Questions
Can I resell virtual staging to my agents?
Yes. You pay for credits and decide your own price to agents, per photo or as part of a package.
How much does it cost per photo?
$2.99 for a single photo, $1.96 each in the 25-photo pack ($49), or $1.65 each in the 60-photo pack ($99). No subscription.
How fast is it?
Usually a minute or two per photo, so you can stage while editing the rest of the shoot.
Do the files carry a RoomGenix watermark?
Only the 3 free previews on a new account are watermarked. Paid photos are not.
Should I give agents the original photo too?
Yes. Many MLSs require the unstaged original alongside a virtually staged photo.