The Seller’s Guide To Home Staging Costs

Morgan McBride

6 - Minute Read

UPDATED: May 31, 2024

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Home staging enhances your home’s appeal in a potential buyer’s eyes. While staging a home for sale involves upfront costs, many home sellers have found that home staging boosted their return on investment during the selling process.

Considering professional home staging? Understanding the cost of staging a home and what services a staging company offers can help you balance your budget and selling goals before you put any money on the line.

How Much Does It Cost To Stage A House?

Home staging costs can range between $787 – $2,837, according to HomeAdvisor. The average cost to stage a home is $1,790. Some home stagers charge by project or by hour. Staging fees will vary depending on different factors, such as a home’s location, size and whether it’s vacant. Your bill may be smaller or larger based on your needs and circumstances.

Other factors that impact how much you pay for staging services can include:

  • How long the home remains staged (the longer the staging, the bigger the bill)
  • The home’s current condition (messier or cluttered homes need more time to stage)
  • Whether you need to rent furniture
  • Whether you need to make repairs

To save money, you can DIY your staging instead of hiring a professional or only stage key rooms, like the living room, kitchen and primary bedroom.

What’s Included In Home Staging Costs?

Staging packages can vary greatly, and home stagers offer different services. A professional home staging company’s costs typically include:

  • A thorough home cleaning: Even a stunning property can turn off buyers if it’s not clean. Staging won’t mask a dirty home.
  • Decluttering and depersonalizing the space: It’s easier for home shoppers to see the beauty of the space when they aren’t distracted by all your stuff.
  • Hiding pet supplies and toys and removing odors: If the stager does their job well, prospective buyers won’t be able to tell that animals live in your house.
  • Updating paint, flooring and ceilings: The stager may need to recruit another professional to carry out the work, which can increase your costs.
  • Rearranging furniture and optimizing the flow of rooms: Your stager may reduce the amount or size of the furniture to make the house feel bigger.
  • Staging with trendy home decor: The stager may use your existing furniture and decor and bring in items from elsewhere.
  • Adding proper lighting: The stager will likely harness the beauty of natural light when possible, removing heavy drapes and window coverings to let natural light in. But they may also add lamps to boost any lighting.
  • Maximizing your home's curb appeal with exterior updates: Staging your property from the outside may involve pressure washing the structure, replacing the front door, planting shrubbery, trimming existing foliage and more.
  • Creating an inviting home atmosphere: Stagers will eliminate unwanted odors, burn candles, keep the home at a comfortable temperature, add plants and play soft, calming music in the background.
  • Staging the home to fit the season: If you’re selling in the fall, your stager may place baskets of mums on your front porch or burn apple pie-scented candles in your kitchen during the autumn months.

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Benefits Of Investing In Home Staging Services

Professionally staging your home can offer several valuable benefits.

Staging Can Minimize Time On The Market

Home staging can minimize the time a house is on the market and help a house sell faster. Effective staging attracts more attention to your property and makes your house extra appealing to buyers. With multiple interested buyers, the chances are high that your home will sell quickly.

According to a 2023 National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) report, “Profile of Home Staging,” 27% of real estate agents said proper staging decreased a home’s time on the market – sometimes significantly.

Professional staging can help buyers see themselves in a home. It’s often better than having them tour the home as it’s arranged to fit your needs.

Staging Can Help Sellers Secure A Higher Sale Price

Home staging can often help homes sell for more money. When your home looks its best, buyers may be willing to pay more for it. Houses with enhanced appeal can look like they’re in better condition and well-maintained.

According to the same NAR report, a home seller can earn as much as a 5% increase in selling price. If that doesn’t sound like much, consider this: That’s an additional $15,000 on a property selling for $300,000.

Staging Can Emphasize The Usefulness Of A Space

When deep cleaning, decluttering, repainting, rearranging and redecorating your home with an interior designer’s eye, you can hide minor, potentially off-putting flaws, such as an awkward layout. You can also make spaces appear roomier and improve the overall flow within the house.

However, home staging is supposed to make the property look more inviting, not to conceal major issues. Consider making any needed repairs before listing your house for sale. If that’s not possible, disclose any known problems or defects to potential buyers. If there’s a major issue potential buyers are seeing, it can slow down the sales process, and you may have to take the house off the market to fix it.

Staging Can Help Buyers Envision Themselves Living There

Home staging wipes your personality off the property and replaces it with an aesthetic that should appeal to many potential buyers. By swapping out your decor for trendy, neutral pieces, it’s easier for home shoppers to see themselves living in the house and making it their own.

If you’re still unconvinced, you should know that 81% of the buyer agents surveyed in the NAR report agreed that home staging helps their clients imagine themselves creating memories in the home.

Home staging is generally a great strategy to make your home universally appealing to a bigger pool of buyers, and it can increase your chances of getting offers that match or surpass your asking price.

House Staging Costs: FAQs

We’ve got answers to some frequently asked questions about home staging costs.

Is house staging worth the cost?

If you don’t have time to spare, hiring a professional to stage your house can also relieve some stress, which is invaluable. And when it comes to cost, home staging may be worth the expense if the result is a higher selling price. For example, spending $1,500 (close to the average cost) on staging may earn you an extra $15,000 on closing day – a healthy return on investment.

Professional staging may not be a worthwhile investment if your house is in good enough condition, your margins are tight and you don’t expect to make much profit. Talk to your REALTOR® about the current market and your financial objectives – such as paying off your mortgage – to decide whether professional staging matches your goals.

Who pays for house staging costs?

Sometimes, a real estate agent may help cover the cost of home staging. But in most cases, you should be prepared to foot the entire bill. If paying home staging costs helps raise a home’s sales price, the extra money from the sale will cover the cost of staging.

How much does it cost to stage a house virtually?

Virtual home staging digitally adds furnishings and decor to photos of a home without adding physical items in any spaces. With the help of photo editing software, stagers can copy and paste furniture and other items onto pictures of empty rooms. Virtual stagers typically charge by photo. The service can cost $75 – $100 per photo.

Can I save money with DIY home staging?

DIY home staging can help you save money, especially if you’re on a tight budget. DIY home staging is a cost-effective strategy if your main tasks are decluttering, cleaning and organizing. But it can get expensive quickly if you need to bring in furniture or decor. Professional stagers typically have warehouses of furnishings to work with and add this service to their pricing.

Are home staging costs tax deductible?

Certain home staging costs can be tax-deductible since the costs are directly related to selling your home. Consider working with your accountant or a tax professional to determine which home staging costs may qualify.

How much does it cost to stage a vacant home?

The cost to stage an empty home will depend on its location, condition and size. The average cost of staging a home is 1% of the listing price. While you’ll pay for furniture rental from the staging company, your empty home offers a blank slate to work from and fill with impactful pieces.

What can increase the cost of staging a house?

A heavily cluttered or dirty home will up the cost of staging a home. You can save money by limiting the staging to some rooms and leaving the rest empty or bare-bones.

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The Bottom Line

Staging your home can help it stand out and sell quickly in any market. A staged home puts its best foot forward and can help set you up for a successful sale. While you’ll need to invest in the home right before you move, you may earn a higher sales price that covers the upfront cost to stage the home and leaves you with more money in your pocket.

If you’re preparing to sell your home, connect with an agent today.

Headshot of Melody Johnson, personal finance writer for Rocket Mortgage.

Morgan McBride

Morgan McBride is a DIY-lover and home decor enthusiast living in Charleston, South Carolina. She has been blogging at CharlestonCrafted.com alongside her husband since 2012, where they empower their readers to craft their current home into their dream home through the power of DIY.