Home staging refers to preparing a property for sale by strategically arranging and organizing furniture, decor, and accessories to highlight its best features. This makes the property more appealing to potential buyers and helps them easily envision themselves in the home.
When done right, staging a home increases its value and the likelihood of selling faster. In this article, I discuss the various facets of staging a property, its benefits, the costs involved, who pays for home staging, how to save on costs, and whether staging is worth it.
This Is What Home Staging Includes
Home staging involves a series of processes that enhance the appeal of a property. These steps include:
- Cleaning. Making the house presentable and neat by giving it a thorough cleaning.
- Decluttering. Clearing the house of excess personal belongings and items to create a spotless and spacious look.
- De-personalizing. Removing personal items from the home helps prospective buyers envision themselves living in the property.
- Furniture arrangement. Arranging the furniture to maximize space and accentuate the appearance of each room.
- Decorating. Decorating by adding artwork and items like rugs and pillows to improve the visual appeal of the home.
- Landscape staging. Improving curb appeal by mulching or adding flowers in landscape beds or pots.
Reasons to Stage Your Home When Selling
Staging your home before selling can have a remarkable impact on how fast it sells and the offers you get from potential buyers. Below are some reasons to consider home staging:
- Improved appearance. When you stage a home, it enhances the appeal of your property, emphasizes its best features, and makes it more attractive to potential buyers.
- Competitive edge. As staging improves your home’s appeal, it gives your property a significant edge over the competition and helps it stand out in a slow market.
- Better offers. Because of the enhanced appeal of a staged home, you can receive higher and better offers. Most buyers are willing to pay a premium for homes that look appealing and well-maintained.
- Faster sale. A well-staged home sells faster than those that aren’t. It creates and leaves a strong impression on a prospective buyer, often resulting in a quicker sale.
- Clearer visualization. Staging helps prospective buyers see a property’s potential and envision it as a future home, improving their likelihood of making a purchase.
Home Staging Costs
Home Staging Cost Per Hour
In Toronto, the cost of professional home staging ranges from $150 to $600 for a two-hour initial consultation session, $400 to $700 per staged room and between $4,000 and $10,000 for a house on average (Toronto).
Virtual Staging Cost
The cost of virtual staging varies widely. Depending on where you obtain the service, it can cost anywhere from $24 to $200 per staged photo. Complex spaces and those that require high-end virtual staging services typically cost a premium.
Cost to Stage a 2000 sq ft House
According to Skyhub Canada, a member of the Canadian Real Estate Association, the average cost to stage a one-story home measuring about 2,000 square feet is $4,000 a month. The homeowner pays an additional $2,000 for every month that the property doesn’t sell.
Who Pays for Home Staging?
The seller typically pays for the cost of home staging. In many cases, most sellers choose to have their home staged by an agent, who may charge up to 1% of the total cost of the staging process.
How to Save Money While Home Staging
As home staging can be costly for a homeowner, here are some budget-friendly tips you can apply to save money while preparing your home for potential buyers:
- Stage only a few rooms rather than the whole house to minimize the costs.
- Decluttering the home yourself is free and you can do it one room at a time. It’s a cost-effective way to create a clean and organized atmosphere for your home.
- Add some artwork to bring some personality and warmth to your property.
- Decorate the entryway since this will be the first part of the home that buyers will see during their visit.
- Instead of buying new items, transform the existing ones by updating them using inexpensive methods, such as using spray paint.
Is Staging Worth It?
Staged homes usually sell 73% faster than those that have not been prepped, making it a worthwhile expense in some cases.
Staging improves marketability, enhances first impressions, increases the selling price, provides a competitive advantage, and leads to a faster sale.
FAQs
Do homeowners get to keep the staging furniture?
Homeowners generally don’t get to keep the staging furniture used when selling their homes, if they were provided by a professional staging company to enhance a home’s appeal. However, the homeowners have the option to purchase the said furniture separately.
How do you clean a house for staging?
It involves decluttering, scrubbing, dusting, steam-cleaning, eliminating odours, repairing, and painting. It may also entail renting a storage unit to store items you remove from your home to depersonalize it.
What are the requirements for staging?
This depends on the home seller’s goals and preferences. The typical staging requirements are an initial assessment by a staging professional, decluttering and depersonalizing, rearranging, cleaning, and making repairs.
Related: Closed Mortgage vs Open Mortgage
