‘Zillow, show me this house with mid-mod furniture’

Consumers shopping for a home on Zillow can now virtually stage properties in their specific design style, as long as those properties are using Zillow Showcase. The listing portal giant announced the integration of Virtual Staging with Zillow Showcase on Wednesday.

The integration enables homebuyers using Zillow to view rooms — in listings that are part of Zillow Showcase — fully staged in a variety of design styles. 

“Many buyers struggle to picture themselves in a home, especially when it’s empty or styled differently from their own,” the release states. “Virtual Staging gives them a quick, interactive way to see how it could look and feel in a style they love.”

The launch of Virtual Staging is the first major integration Zillow has made since its acquisition of Virtual Staging AI last October. By enabling consumers to virtually stage listings in their own style, Zillow says it is moving closer to its goal of personalizing the home shopping experience for consumers and making things easier for consumers. 

“Buying a home is an emotional decision as much as a financial one,” Amanda Pendleton, Zillow’s home trends expert, said in a statement. “Too many buyers overlook what could be the perfect home for their family simply because they can’t see past the furniture or design choices.”

Combined with SkyTour, which Zillow launched earlier this summer, the company said it feels it is setting a new standard in how listings are shown online. 

“Virtual Staging is the latest example of how we’re bringing our AI strategy to life for consumers and agents,” Josh Weisberg, senior vice president of AI at Zillow, said in a statement. “It’s the next chapter in Showcase’s evolution and a step forward in making home shopping more immersive and personal.”

According to Zillow, these additions further enhance the advantage agents using Zillow Showcase already have. Zillow’s data shows that agents using Showcase on the majority of listings already win 30% more listings than non-Showcase agents, and Showcase listings sell for $7,000 more on average than similar non-Showcase listings.