We’ve already discussed what staging is all about in Is Staging Necessary? so  I’ll assume you agree it’s a useful and necessary component of the house selling process. At this point, the question running through your mind is probably something to the effect of “how much is this staging business going to set me back?“. That’s a very important question because staging should be looked upon as an investment. There’s no point in spending money on staging if it won’t provide increased value in terms of a higher price and a quicker sale.

Staging can cost you anywhere from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on your circumstances. If you just need some help with finishing touches, it can be relatively inexpensive, but if you need to paint your entire home and have other repairs done and rent furniture, the costs can add up.

The first thing to do is to hire yourself a stager. When it comes to fees, every stager is different. Some will start by going through your home room by room and providing you with a detailed report outlining everything they suggest you do in each room. The fee for this report is usually several hundred dollars. After that, you can opt to do everything on the list yourself, hire the stager to do it all for you or split the work between you and the stager. This type of stager may charge you by the hour or by the job.

A second type of stager will look at your home and just quote you an overall price for staging your home i.e. you won’t receive a detailed breakdown of what they’ll be doing. In this case, they’re selling you a complete finished product. They’ll take care of absolutely everything, from packing up your extra belongings to renting a storage locker to hiring the painter. Personally, I prefer the detailed report route because I’m a bit of a control freak and would want more control over costs and more input into how things are done.

At the end of the day, the amount of staging you should do boils down to this: “What do potential buyers expect your home to look like and what’s going to make them pay a higher price for it?“. You want buyers to be able to envision themselves living HAPPILY in your home. If you live in a large, renovated home in an upscale neighbourhood, you’ll probably benefit from having your home extensively staged. If potential buyers are likely to renovate your home to their own taste, then it’s probably best to make your home look well cared for and comfortable, but not necessary to stage it to the max. (It generally doesn’t pay to renovate your kitchen or bathrooms just for sale because if they require renovating, chances are that potential buyers will prefer to do the renovations to their own tastes.)

Typically,  I’d say you should expect to spend anywhere from about $2,000 to $20,000 on staging, depending on the size of your home, the amount of staging required and the amount of work  you opt to do yourself. To make sure that you get value from your staging investment and that you’re not just spending money foolishly, make sure you, your stager and your agent are all on the same page. Both your agent and your stager should be able to give you advice regarding what’s worth doing and what’s a waste of time and money. If you’d like to speak to a great stager who is very practical, cost conscious and has great vision, let me know and I’ll introduce you to one!