When preparing a new listing for the market, a great deal of energy, time and money is often spent on staging, and rightfully so. According to the National Association of REALTORS^®, 77 percent of buyer's agents reported that home staging made it easier for their clients to visualize a property as their future home. You want buyers to feel at home when they walk through your listings, and properly staging each room in the house is a big part of that.

One area where staging is often overlooked is the exterior property of a home. The yard is often the very first impression potential buyers have of a home — whether in person or online — and can taint or enhance the overall feeling they take with them after viewing it. Sometimes a messy or unattractive exterior will turn a buyer off to the point where they won't even bother to look at the inside.

Sometimes a full-blown makeover of the yard is not an option, whether due to weather or cost or time restrictions. One option many agents are choosing in these situations is virtual landscaping using the iScape app. Similar to interior virtual staging, users can start with an existing image or take one from right within the app, and then add various design elements in moments to create the outdoor oasis they desire. This is perfect for giving a "boost" to your listings with "less than desirable" curb appeal or helping your buyer clients envision what the exterior of their dream home could be.

Features of the iScape app include:

• Use a saved image from your device, take a new picture or use the augmented reality feature to design right within your space.
• Replace brown, dry, patchy lawn with lush green grass.
• Create areas, drawn by hand, of mulch and straw, pavement, rock and other ground cover options.
• Add landscaping items such as trees, shrubs and flowers, garden benches, water features, gardens and even holiday decor.
• Easily edit the image — including removing unattractive elements from the original photo — using tools such as crop, cut-out, duplicate, flip, resize and clone.
• Save and/or share your work in moments.  

You can try iScape for free at first — after creating a free account, you will receive storage in the cloud for one design and access to a limited number of images. Upgrading to a consumer subscription ($4.99/month) unlocks access to more than 150 images and cloud storage for up to two designs per month. The iScape app is currently available for iOS only.