3 Ways to Virtually ‘Marie Kondo’ Your Condo

By Sarah Anderson, vice president marketing, VHT Studios

Have you found yourself in the past month mysteriously decluttering and refolding your clothes, all the while holding each one in your hands and pondering if they truly “spark joy?”

Since the release of Netflix’s newest hit show Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, decluttering and reorganizing our homes has become a virtual overnight sensation. It seems everyone around us is in a tizzy decluttering and reorganizing their belongings and proudly posting their results on social media.

But the KonMarie method of tidying up applies not just to keeping your drawers neat and organized. KonMarie can also be applied during this spring’s real estate season. That’s why now is the perfect time to “Marie Kondo” your condo – whether it’s a starter home or townhouse, or a luxurious mansion or penthouse with downtown or ocean views.

Tidying up a real estate listing and preparing it for sale doesn’t have to be stress-inducing and labor intensive either. One of the hottest trends in real estate – virtual staging technology – can certainly help.

“Marie Kondo”-ing your condo or home doesn’t have to involve identifying, and purging clothes, books, knickknacks, or kitchenware and hauling them to the resale shop. Popular virtual staging tools used by the most successful real estate professionals are a powerful way to apply the KonMarie method to help home owners “spark joy” by selling their homes quickly and at the best price.

1. Virtual Declutter

Virtual Declutter is photographing each room in a condo or home and combining science with an artist’s eye to eliminate clutter from walls, floors, and countertops. It will impress buyers, without the added labor and cost of decluttering, furnishing, and renovating a home.

Virtual Declutter can magically remove personal effects and knickknacks from surfaces in a photograph and present a more spacious and visually appealing

home. And of course, that will help to “spark joy” among prospective buyers.

For instance, many older Americans in downsizing mode have accumulated a lot of stuff that will be passed down or donated so they can move into a more compact and clutter-free home. If they’ve procrastinated in sorting out their belongings for showings, offer the Virtual Declutter tool as part of their real estate photography package. Whether a home has stunning architectural features that are lost in clutter, or it’s a starter apartment or studio, Virtual Declutter can be applied to any listing photograph and dazzle prospective buyers.

2. Virtual Paint

Real estate professionals may want to consider other virtual tools that are presenting a listing in the best possible light too. Walls covered with faded paint or outdated wallpaper won’t elicit feelings of joy for increasingly discerning buyers. That’s where Virtual Paint can refresh any wall and eliminate hassles of hiring a painter and waiting for project completion.

3. Virtual Stage and Furnish

For vacant listings, or those with outdated furniture, Virtual Stage and Furnish can fill a vacant room with furnishing without the expense or inconvenience of having to rent and move in tables, chairs, sofasm or beds. Let’s face it – not everyone’s design choices will put smiles on today’s buyers’ faces. They’re not interested in seeing the owners’ tastes in furniture and décor.

Virtual Stage and Furnish alters the décor of a room, based on the likely style preferences of potential buyers and how they may use each room in a home. Virtual Stage and Furnish can even transform a bedroom into an office, or a nursery into an exercise room or library.

Also, there’s no joy in a vacant home, which is often devoid of personality. Even worse, it’s hard for buyers to visualize how their furniture will fit in a vacant living room or bedroom. By virtually staging and furnishing it, you can provide a frame of reference for where the sofa will go, or the available space for nightstands or a comfy chaise in the bedroom.

Buyers want to envision their own lifestyle in their next home and increasingly expect a real estate listing to appeal to their tastes and preferences. Virtual tools may help clients better envision the possibilities of properties and spark some joy as they view the homes. And remember, that’s what the KonMarie method is all about.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sarah Anderson is Vice President Marketing at VHT Studios, the nation’s leading real estate photography and visual marketing firm.

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