Staging homes is an important part of the real estate industry, and while real estate agents have traditionally physically staged homes before listing, it is an expensive and time-consuming process. A startup called Virtual Staging AI is making it possible for real estate agents to virtually stage a home with the help of generative AI.
Virtual Staging AI, part of Harvard Innovation Labs, currently has 4,500 monthly paid subscribers and seeks to transform the real estate and staging industry. The startup reached $1 million ARR in the last 10 months and is generating over half a million renders per month.
The startup's co-founder and CEO, Michael Bonacina, told TechCrunch that during his search for an apartment in Boston to attend Harvard, he came across a listing that allowed viewers to imagine what the furnished space would look like. Bonacina, who was interested in computer vision, decided he wanted to improve that experience and make it easier for real estate agents to include it in their listings.
After taking a class on startup research and development, Bonacina and fellow Harvard student Mikhail Andreev decided to create a virtual startup to help real estate professionals and home sellers save time and money.
Image credits: Virtual Staging AI
The startup's tool allows real estate agents to add furniture to images of empty rooms in a matter of seconds. Instead of having to share images of empty rooms in a listing, the tool offers real estate agents realistic images of furnished rooms. Real estate agents can choose to convert an empty room into a bedroom, living room, office, game room, etc.
Real estate agents can also use the tool to remove furniture from images and replace it with different furniture. For example, if an image includes mismatched furniture, the startup's tool can remove it and replace it with modern furniture.
If you don't like how an image turns out, you can review it as many times as you want.
Bonacina recognizes that while there are many artificial intelligence tools on the market for generating images, they cannot be applied to real estate or virtual staging because you can only change a limited number of things in an image while still staying true to the image. real property.
“If you put an empty room in DALL-E, I could turn the window into a wall painting, or I could add an extra door or something like that,” Bonacina said. “That is obviously a misrepresentation of ownership. “Something very specific is required for the needs of the real estate sector.”
The Virtual Staging AI model is capable of analyzing the 3D structure of a room and understanding where the floor, ceiling, mirrors and doors are located. The AI model then chooses the best-fit furniture based on the real estate agent's preferences.
Image credits: Virtual Staging AI
While real estate agents could hire someone to digitally stage a room using tools like Photoshop, Virtual Staging AI promises a cheaper and faster way to do it. The startup's cheapest plan costs $12 per month and includes six photos, while the most expensive plan costs $69 per month and includes 250 photos.
Bonacina also says it was important for the startup to create something that was easy to use compared to other generative AI tools. According to the National Association of RealtorsThe average age of all real estate agents in the association in the United States is 60, which is part of the reason the company wanted to create an easy and accessible tool for all real estate agents.
Virtual Staging AI has yet to raise outside funding, but Bonacina and Andreev raised $250,000 in funding from themselves and their friends and family to get the startup off the ground.
The real estate industry has continued to evolve over the years, going from only offering in-person viewings to facilitating virtual tours. It's no surprise that artificial intelligence, which has transformed industries like healthcare and robotics, is also bringing advancements to the world of real estate.