What does home staging cost, and is it worth it?

Rearranging and redecorating are probably last on your list when it comes to selling your home, but they can make the difference, especially when you hire someone to do it

Professionally staged homes sell 88% faster and for 20% more as compared to homes not staged, according to HomeGuide. But this service comes with a cost. On average home staging costs $1,500, according to Fixr. That may seem like a lot, especially since you won’t get to enjoy it yourself, but the costs can be worth it. 

There are no guarantees, but if you’re looking to sell your home as quickly as possible or to turn a greater profit, home staging may be able to help you achieve these goals.

What is home staging? 

Home staging is the process of presenting your house in the best possible light for potential buyers by cleaning, redecorating, and rearranging the house. It can be as simple as moving the furniture you already have to improve the flow of your home, or as in-depth as renting new furniture for a total overhaul.

The goal of home staging is to center the best attributes of a house — and even soften the less desirable ones. A good home stager makes the home look larger, ensures the decorations appeal to a large group of buyers, and removes clutter and personal items that are difficult for buyers to look past.

Home staging offerings vary and many stagers offer different packages that suit all types of staging needs and budgets. 

Home staging can involve: 

• An assessment of your entire home with documented notes and photographs of the house
• A detailed vision statement that guides design decisions
• Supporting documents that will outline rental furniture suggestions and room layouts 
• Color scheme plan that incorporates painting
• A to-do list for the homeowners to help guide them through decluttering and organizing their home 
• Professional decluttering, organization, and packing services
• Shopping services to buy or rent decorative items such as artwork, plants, and bedding 

Professional home stagers may also make suggestions about things you can do to your home to make it sell, such as painting, adding in new lighting, and giving your home a deep clean. These recommendations will put you on the path towards getting your home ready to sell. 

How much does home staging cost? 

On average, home staging costs $1,500, but this expense varies depending on your home staging needs and the company you choose to work with. Consultations for home staging start as low as $200. A full-service staging — requiring furniture rentals and a hefty redesign of the home — costs as much as $10,000.

The following chart provides a home staging cost breakdown, detailing some of the more common staging services. It’s important to remember that these numbers are very general, but they give you an idea of what it often costs to meet your home staging needs.

If you do decide to work with a company to stage your home, confirm with the stager if they charge by the hour or have a fixed rate fee. 

Learn about the costs upfront so you aren’t hit with surprise expenses down the road, and use our Home Sale Proceeds Calculator to understand how home staging costs can impact your bottom line.

Is home staging worth it? 

Home staging can help you sell faster and for a higher price. At the very least, it leaves an impression: 47% of buyers’ agents reported that home staging affected most of their clients’ opinion of homes they toured, according to a recent survey by the National Association of Realtors. On top of that, 82% of buyers’ agents reported that home staging makes it easier for buyers to visualize a home as their future home.

This can be exactly what sellers need if they’re struggling to compete in a buyer’s market. But if you’re in a seller's market, you may find that home staging isn’t worth the fuss. Researching your local real estate market can help you decide if home staging is right for your listing.

The pros and cons of home staging

It’s important to understand exactly what you’re paying for when you choose to stage a house for sale. Below are the advantages and disadvantages of this service:

There is no right or wrong answer here. Plenty of home sellers benefit from hiring stagers, but there are countless other successful sellers out there who didn’t stage their home and sold it for a great price.

How to stage a house for sale

Hiring a professional house stager or house staging company is the best way to stage your home. These professionals often have years of experience, familiarity with the trends local homebuyers are looking for, and connections to contractors to help complete the work — not to mention a designer’s touch.

But if you’d prefer to take charge, here’s how you can stage your house:

• Declutter and depersonalize
• Deep clean
• Opt for neutral colors
• Tidy your curb appeal
• Set the table and make the beds
• Try to make your space look bigger
• Turn extra rooms into high value spaces like an at-home office, gym, or guest bedrooms

How to cut your home staging cost

How much it costs to stage your home depends on the size of the home and how many rooms you want to professionally stage. 

If you have a five-bedroom house and plan to stage every room for a month or two while you wait for your home to sell, you may end up spending more than makes sense. But if you only intend to refresh your living room since it’s the first room people see when they walk in the door, you may not have to spend that much to make an impact.

In short, staging costs depend on how much work you want done on your home.

If you’re looking to save on staging, consider a few of these tricks for keeping the costs down.

1. Only stage key areas of the home

If you have a sprawling multi-bedroom house, you may not want to fund the staging of all of it. Luckily, you can choose which areas of your home you want to stage. You’ll likely want to focus on the areas that potential buyers spend the most time in, such as the master bedroom, kitchen, and living room. The National Associations of Realtors discovered that staging the living room had the biggest impact on buyers (46%), but the master bedroom (43%) and kitchen (35%) also benefited greatly from staging. 

If you’re not sure which rooms to prioritize, your stager or real estate agent should be able to help you pinpoint where you’ll get the most bang for your buck. 

Related: Here's how to stage a bathroom

2. Start with DIY

If you’re uncertain about whether or not you want to invest in home staging services, you can always try a DIY approach first. If your personal efforts don’t pay off and you struggle to sell your home, you can hire a stager down the road.

Do some research on how to stage a house and see what tips you can make work in your home. Or, have a consultation with a staging specialist and implement their plan yourself. It will take more time and effort on your end to do this, but it does save a lot of money.

3. See if your agent will foot the bill

Some listing agents will pay for home staging, but will then charge 1% to 3% (or more for luxury listings) of the listing price to pay for the staging. While this method won’t necessarily save you any money, it’s a convenient workaround from investing in an expensive service upfront. Talk with your agent about your options for staging.

When you work with Orchard, we’ll cover your listing and home prep, saving you over $1,800. Our concierge service will even help you make value-boosting repairs and renovations at no upfront cost to you and interest free.

Interested in learning more? Get started with a free home valuation, our estimates are 30% more accurate.