Why perfect-looking homes for sale may be too good to be real

Matthew Ping, principal broker with Porcupine Real Estate in New Hampshire, recently came across a listing for a property online with a lawn so lush that it caught his eye, prompting him to click through to the full listing. 

Once he read the property description, however, he learned the lawn had been “virtually enhanced” in the photo. Then, he realized the roof and façade of the house had also been “virtually enhanced” by the lister. If a buyer wanted to make such changes to the property, it might cost up to $100,000, according to Ping.

“So, why are you putting that on a listing?” he said. “I don’t think that makes sense. I think it would turn a lot of people away.”

Most homebuyers today first encounter properties online, making eye-catching listing photos more important than ever. Those who can afford it often bring in professional stagers to refurnish or decorate a home to make it universally appealing.

More than 80% of buyers’ agents told the National Association of Realtors this year that staging helps their buyers picture a property as their future home. Since the rise of online listings, real estate agents have used lighting and professional photography to create photos that highlight the best features of a property.

Now, AI is disrupting that process, with “virtual staging.”

How virtual staging works

New tools can digitally redesign interiors to match current trends to target specific audiences — turning a spare office into a nursery for a young family or furnishing an empty room to make it easier for would-be buyers to envision themselves in it.

“AI has really enabled sellers of any price point to leverage staging, whether it’s AI or physical, to really help market their property,” says Katy Borja, director of marketing at Dickson Realty in Reno, Nevada. “The advantage of AI is speed, flexibility, and how quickly you can go to market.”

The process of staging a home with AI is fairly straightforward. Realtors or home sellers upload photos of an existing room to an AI-powered virtual staging platform and give it prompts for the style they’re seeking The platform analyzes the image and automatically adds digital furniture, décor, and design elements, providing multiple staged options within a few hours with some tools, and in seconds with others. In some cases, users may need additional editing software for final tweaks.

Borja says agents in her firm are using AI-staged photos in their marketing materials, including in postcards, on their websites and in photos on listings on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

“The key there is transparency and making sure the photos are labeled as AI staging, versus what a house really looks like, so that buyers aren’t feeling duped into buying a property that doesn’t look the way that the AI-staged photo says it will,” Borja said.

Ping says the sellers’ agents at his firm haven’t used AI for staging yet, primarily because most of their clients live in furnished homes that do not require much staging, as…