For people investing in residences to rent to others, it's crucial that these homes, condos, or apartments spend as little time vacant as possible. One of the best ways to reduce these vacancy down periods is to make the home look appealing, and "staging" is one of the best ways to do this. There are three ways to stage a residence.

Vacant Staging

The most common and easiest form of staging, especially popular for apartments. Vacant staging presents a home without any sort of furnishing or artifice. While deep cleaning and repainting may have been, this form of staging presents the home as an empty space, a "blank canvas" on which potential residents can imagine.

Occupied Staging

This form of staging has grown increasingly popular in recent years, especially for detached homes going up for sale. In occupied staging, a home is presented as if someone already lives there. For an occupied home, this may mean decluttering. For a vacant space, however, this may mean bringing in furniture and setting it up to give potential residents an idea of what the space is like to live in when furnished. This is often a more expensive alternative.

Virtual Staging

This is a more recent trend, but incredibly important in a world where so much emphasis is placed on online interaction. Virtual staging is when images of a residence are "digitally decorated." The actual physical location may be empty, but online listings show furniture in place to give people browsing online an idea of what the space can look like when furnished. However, when they arrive at the physical space, they can see it without any furnishing, so they can imagine what their own belongings may look like here. This is a comparatively inexpensive way to "decorate" a home for the many potential residents looking online.

If you want to make sure you're getting the most out of your property rental investments, contact Occupancy Solutions and let us help.