Is Home Staging Worth It?

It’s no secret that home staging has become a significant part of the home buying and selling process. In fact, 82% of buyers’ agents reported that home staging made it easier for their clients to visualize the property as their future home. 

When selling your home, the main objective is to get the highest bid possible, and home staging helps sellers snag those high bids. Staged homes typically sell for 20% more than their non-staged counterparts.

The downside is that professional home staging is costly, especially if you outfit an entire house. But are the staging costs worth the results? Let’s take a look at whether it’s worth hiring a professional home stager to help sell your home.

Home Staging Costs

When it comes to selling a house, home staging is a strategy that’s used to draw attention to the property and prepare the home to be viewed by potential buyers. The act of home staging involves setting up a house with aesthetically pleasing furniture and home decor to make the space feel like a home. It can also include deep cleaning, rearranging furniture, and redecorating rooms.

By making the house look as appealing as possible, home staging makes the potential buyers feel more at home and allows them to imagine themselves living there, which might convince them to make an offer. If you’re selling a home, you can opt to stage it yourself or hire a professional home stager. Home stagers have a keen eye for home decor, plus they know what type of staging sells houses.

What Are the Cost Factors of Home Staging?

The total price tag for home staging can vary depending on several factors. While professionally staging your home can cost anywhere from $650 to $2,300, you can estimate your final bill based on the following factors.

An Occupied Home

The average cost to professionally stage an occupied home ranges from $400 to $700 per room. That cost includes the initial consultation, decluttering the room, and rearranging furniture.

An Empty or Vacant Home

In an empty or vacant home, the home stager must provide furniture and decorations, which increases the total price tag. 

The average price to stage a vacant 2,000 square-foot, 3-bedroom home costs $2,000 per month. That price includes the consultation and service fees, as well as the costs of furnishing, decorating, and cleaning the house after it sells. Professional stagers often charge a minimum 3-month rental period, which is about $6,000.

Furniture and Decoration Rentals

If you opt to rent decorations, expect to spend an additional $2,000 per month. Many homeowners choose to focus on renting furniture for high-interest areas like the kitchen and the living room.

To cut down on costs, you can rent furniture and decorations to stage a single room for between $400 and $700, while also paying a furniture rental fee of $500 to $600 per month.

Additional Appearance Upgrades

The prices listed above don’t include the cost of any additional projects that you choose to take on to improve the overall look of your home. Painting, for example, costs between $300 to $800 per room, and professional cleaning runs $40 to $80 per hour.

The Pros and Cons of Home Staging

When preparing to sell your home, it’s worth considering the pros and cons of the home staging process.

Pros of Home Staging

Staging your home, either professionally or by yourself, will help your listing stand out among other available homes in advertisements. Since home buyers primarily look online to find listings in their desired area, photos of a styled and staged home will spark more interest among buyers and help to sell the house.

Staging your home also helps the buyer envision how they could arrange the space. If your house comes with an unused spare room, consider staging it to show buyers that it’s functional. Buyers may feel intimidated when viewing an empty home or room that looks like it needs renovations. 

Although home staging can be pricey, it’s usually worth the cost. As mentioned above, staged homes sell for 20% more than non-staged homes, resulting in an additional 8 to 10% return on investment. Staged homes also make for a quick sale—they spend 33 to 50% less time on the market.

Cons of Home Staging

The biggest downside of home staging is its significant upfront cost. If you can’t fit home staging into your budget, you can stage the house using your furniture and decor or simply go without it.

An additional cost of home staging involves storage. Professional stagers fill your home with rented furniture and home decor to help it sell, which means you have to find somewhere to store your stuff in the meantime. Paying for a storage unit adds up, especially if your house has been on the market for a long time. Storage units vary in cost, with average costs running from $50 to $300 per month.

Home staging also requires a lot of time and effort, especially if it involves renovations and extra aesthetic work, like painting. If you’re in the process of buying a new home and want to get your current one on the market as soon as possible, these extra time constraints could be a hindrance.

Professional vs. DIY Home Staging

If you’re an interior designer at heart, consider staging your home yourself to save money. You can even hire a home staging designer for an initial consultation, and then complete the rest of the work on your own, including repairs and replacements. Some common repairs you can complete on your own before home staging include:

• Unclogging drains

• Replacing light bulbs

• Touching up paint

• Deep cleaning

While DIY home staging will cut down on costs, you will still have to pay to rent furniture. Keep in mind that you will be responsible for setting up and taking down the furniture and decor, which can be time-consuming and stressful.

Free up your time and lower your stress levels by hiring a home staging professional to do the work. A professional can stage your home efficiently, and it will likely help your home sell more quickly and for a higher price.