If you’re getting ready to sell your home, you’ve likely asked yourself: Is home staging worth it? Staging goes far beyond simply rearranging furniture, it’s a strategy designed to help your home stand out and sell faster. But like any strategy, it comes with both advantages and drawbacks. In this guide, we’ll explore six key pros and cons to help you decide if staging your home before selling is the right choice.
What is Home Staging?
Home staging is the art of transforming your space so it feels less like your personal home and more like something out of a design magazine. By carefully arranging furniture, adding tasteful décor, and removing personal items, staging helps buyers picture themselves living there, without being distracted by family photos or everyday clutter.
If you’re not a professional decorator or someone with a flair for design then you can hire a professional stager to make your drab spaces feel lighter and more homey. Staging helps move houses off the market quickly, drawing in lots of buyers thanks to the Pinterest-worthy home photos listed online.
7 Downsides to Home Staging:
While staging can have significant benefits in terms of selling your home faster, it’s important to consider these 7 potential downsides:
- Cost: Staging can be expensive. Professional stagers charge for their services, and you may also need to invest in furniture rental and decor. The cost varies depending on the size and condition of your home.
- Time: Staging takes time. It involves decluttering, rearranging furniture, and decorating. This can delay your listing’s launch, especially if repairs or renovations are needed beforehand.
- Maintenance: Maintaining a staged home can be challenging. Every showing requires you to ensure the property remains in its staged condition. This can be inconvenient, especially if you’re still living in the home.
- Personalization: Staging aims to create a neutral, appealing environment, but it may not align with your personal style. You might need to remove personal items and make changes that don’t necessarily suit your taste.
- Limited Flexibility: Once your home is staged, it’s less flexible for your own use. You may not be able to use certain rooms as you typically would during the listing period.
- Expectations: Staging can set high expectations for buyers. If the actual condition of the property doesn’t match the staged version, it can lead to disappointment and potentially impact negotiations.
- Potential Overcapitalization: Investing heavily in staging may not always yield a proportionate return on your investment. It’s important to strike a balance between staging costs and the potential increase in sale price.
While staging can be a valuable tool in selling your home faster, it’s essential to weigh these downsides against the pros and cons which we’ll discuss now.
PRO: More Money
Staging has been shown to boost your home’s perceived value. The data repeatedly shows that homes that have been professional staged sell more quickly and for more money than those not staged in similar markets.
When a home feels move-in ready and has the added polish of professional design, buyers are often willing to pay more. In fact, according to the International Association of Home Staging Professionals, professionally staged homes can sell for up to 17% more than the asking price.
CON: Spending Money to Stage Your Home
While staging can help you sell for more, it isn’t free—and it’s not always cheap. Costs vary depending on your location, your home’s size, and its price point. According to Realtor.com, the average homeowner can expect to pay between $300 and $600 just for a design consultation, with additional fees for each room staged.
Many stagers will reuse some of your existing furniture and décor, but they may also bring in their own pieces to elevate the look. The key question becomes: is the extra money you spend on staging worth the potential payoff when it’s time to sell?
PRO: Faster Selling Time
Nobody wants their home to sit on the market for a lengthy amount of time. In fact, many potential buyers are deterred from looking at a home that has been on the market for awhile and homes in that scenario tend to receive lower offers.
No one wants the “unwanted” house that must have a problem if it’s been sitting on the market for too long! The reality is, bad photos or cluttered living spaces don’t make for a good showing.
Staging a house makes it stand out right away with photos and rooms that look as if they belong in a catalogue and it sparks interest quickly in potential buyers.
CON: Where to Put Your Stuff While You Stage
Often times staging your home can mean packing up your belongings before you are ready so that your home shows well. Family photos, personal mementos and even outdated furniture needs to go to create a picture-perfect home before listing.
This feat is easier said than done and will require figuring out where to store your extra belongings and how to keep the Pinterest appeal while you are still living in your home. Even necessary but messy items such as wi-fi routers and pet supplies need to find a new home for the staging process.
PRO: Hiring a Professional is Efficient
Preparing to sell a home is a huge undertaking and hiring a professional to make sure your home shows well is an efficient way to speed up and simplify the selling process. This is something to keep in mind considering one statistic shows that moving is listed as a top five most stressful life event! Having an unbiased, third party come into your home to objectively give insight on what to remove, move around and add to your spaces to make a better sale is one way to take some of the stress out of the selling process.
CON: Every Flaw Is Visible
We all have home flaws — the wall with the dent, the carpet in the kids room. Often times these less-than appealing parts of our home are easily covered by furniture, rugs or wall art. When staging a home the idea is that less is more — so less furniture, clutter and extras — all the stuff that was hiding the flaws is now gone, making potential problems more visible. A talented stager will do their best to draw attention away from home flaws, but the reality is, it’s easier to notice a poor paint job without the wall-to-wall furniture in the room.
Can you Stage Your Home Yourself on a Budget?
You don’t need to be a professional designer to make your home more appealing. Even small, simple changes can have a big impact. Start with a deep clean and box up any clutter—this instantly makes rooms look bigger and more inviting in photos. A fresh coat of paint in light, neutral colors can also brighten up your space and create a clean, modern feel. And while you might love bold or quirky styles, sticking to simple, timeless trends will help your home appeal to the widest range of buyers.
Does Staging Affect the Time on Market?
One of the primary ways staging affects your property’s time on the market is by enhancing its visual appeal. When potential buyers walk into a well-staged home, they are more likely to be impressed and emotionally connected to the space. This emotional connection can drive them to make quicker decisions.
Staging can help highlight a home’s strengths and minimize its weaknesses. Professional stagers use their expertise to arrange furniture, decor, and lighting to accentuate the property’s best features, such as spacious rooms, beautiful architectural details, or stunning views. By creating an aesthetically pleasing and inviting atmosphere, staging can capture buyers’ attention and keep them engaged during property showings.
Setting the Right Expectations
Staging also plays a crucial role in setting the right expectations for potential buyers. When a property is properly staged, it helps buyers understand how to utilize the available space and envision their own lifestyle in the home. This can eliminate doubts and uncertainties that might otherwise cause hesitation or lengthy deliberation.
For instance, a well-staged dining room can help buyers see themselves hosting family dinners and gatherings. A cozy, staged reading nook can inspire thoughts of relaxation and comfort. By presenting a property in this way, staging can create a sense of urgency in buyers, making them more inclined to put in an offer sooner rather than later.
Online and Offline Marketing
In today’s digital age, a significant portion of homebuyers begins their search online. High-quality photos and virtual tours are essential for capturing their interest. Staging not only improves the appearance of a property during in-person visits but also makes it more photogenic. When a listing features professionally staged photos, it stands out from the competition and attracts more online views.
Additionally, staged properties are more likely to be shared on social media and receive positive feedback. This online exposure can generate more interest and inquiries, potentially speeding up the selling process.
Is it worth it?
After considering the pros and cons you might realize that the money and downsides to staging your home aren’t worth it for you. If you want to sell your home fast without the hassle of staging a house on a budget, flaws and all, then you could also consider using a house buying company like Gary Buys Houses. We give you a fair cash offer in as little as 7-10 minutes after contacting us for any home in any condition. We help take the stress out of selling and moving and help make it a simple, efficient process for you.