Realtors already use the Web to showcase their listings online, where buyers peruse them before hitting the home tours. Now comes virtual staging.
Here’s how it works: A real estate agent e-mails photos of a vacant home to a stager, who digitally adds tables, chairs, lamps, art work and other items to make the space look more inviting. The agent uses the enhanced photos for his Web site, the Multiple Listing Service, flyers and other advertising.

Virtual staging is gaining ground in today’s distressed economy and real estate market. Many for-sale homes are vacant because they’re in foreclosure or because the owners have had to move before being able to sell them.

Meanwhile, falling prices mean less or no profit for sellers, who might not be inclined to spend money on traditional staging. Realtors earn less, too, because their income is derived from the sales price.