Is Home Staging Worth It?

Home staging is a design specialty that enhances how a residence looks and feels to potential buyers. Rather than leaving how a home could look at its best up to the imagination, this process creates spaces that are clean, welcoming and appealing – literally a three dimensional picture that showcases your property. As a service, home staging requires a modest fee but the benefit is a larger, quicker return.

Imagine walking into a property. Most of us have an initial gut reaction – either we like it or we don’t. After this first impression, we may be able to get past the clutter, the mismatched furniture, the odd paintings and decide the home has potential.

Home staging removes the need for buyers to look for potential because it showcases a property in its best light. Clutter is removed, finishes look their best, color schemes are neutral and furniture is either rearranged or replaced with temporary pieces that suit the space.

It may sound simple or intuitive but just think of all the homes you’ve been in during your lifetime. Now consider how many wowed you. That is the difference between a home for sale and a staged home for sale.

Staged homes stand out even if buyers can’t put a finger on why. In fact that is the idea. A staged home appeals to a wide variety of tastes without being obvious. Interiors feel clean, calm and appropriately decorated. Buyers don’t recall ugly wallpaper or odd sculptures because they’ve been eliminated. In a word: tasteful. They just remember that the home was beautiful throughout and that is why home staging is worth the money.

Of course, when selling your home you are already racking up costs for repairs and updates so who’s got extra money for a professional decorator? The reality is that home staging consultation fees are usually under $500 and yield about a 3% increase in final selling price.

While some redesign requires additional costs, like painting for instance, home stagers usually have a stock of décor inventory that can be used in your home. A more attractive dining set, beautiful art work and lamps for example. The furnishings are “loaned” to your home’s interior while the property is on the market. It’s sort of the same idea as a Hollywood starlet borrowing a diamond necklace for a red carpet appearance. The decoration is temporary but the impression is lasting.

One question that often pops up is whether home staging is worthwhile for smaller, less expensive homes. The answer is absolutely. Home staging is worth the extra cost for any home but especially when the profit margin is smaller. Three percent is three percent and whether a home is for sale at $100,000 or $1,000,000, the return applies universally.

Home staging is similar to interior design in that it involves decorating with furniture, color and accents. The difference is that instead of decorating to express the owner’s tastes, home staging decorates interiors to appeal to many tastes. Staging creates a model that appeals to the most buyers and that is what makes it worth the money.