Ultimate Guide to Home Staging Costs (& Why Home Staging Is Worth It!)

If you’re looking into home staging before selling your house, you’re making a great decision that will help you sell your home faster and earn you thousands of extra dollars on the sale of your property! However, before getting started, there is likely a lingering question at the forefront of your mind: How much does it cost to stage a house?

According to HomeAdvisor, home staging costs between $752 – $2,837 on average and can vary based on several factors we will discuss below. While you may think these numbers are steep, it’s important to remember that full-service staging helps you sell your home faster and for a higher sale price, which saves you valuable time and money. If you look at home staging as an investment—your return on investment is spectacular!

What Is the Cost for Staging a Home?

Before discussing the cost variables, here’s a quick home staging cost breakdown:

Initial Design Consultation

Before starting your project, your professional stager will want to set up a two-hour home staging consultation to learn your goals and, therefore, the home staging services you need—virtual staging, soft staging, or physical staging. While most trusted home staging companies will offer a free quote, other companies will charge an initial consultation fee between $150 – $600, so it’s wise to save money in your home staging budget for the initial consultation.

Project Price & Hourly Price

Once you or your real estate agent decide to get started with a professional home stager, after they’ve decided on the services you need, they will provide you a quote with a cost to stage. While most home stagers charge a flat fee between $800 – $1,000, some professional stagers charge an hourly fee ranging from $25 – $125 per hour.

Rearranging & Decluttering

If you decide you don’t want to rent any furniture or decorations, the next home staging cost to budget for is the fee for rearranging and decluttering—also called “soft staging.”

Your home stager will declutter and remove belongings you don’t need on display and rearrange your furniture to showcase your house’s unique and desirable features. They will also hide any weaknesses, like a dysfunctional room layout, that may deter buyers from your property. Typically, this additional fee averages around $800. If you need to save some of the furniture your home stager removes, you may also need to pay for a storage unit, which usually costs around $180 per month.

Rental Furniture

Usually, renting furniture is the most expensive part of home staging. Typically, the cost to rent furniture is $500 – $600 per staged room, which equates to an average of $2,000 – $2,400 per month for your entire home. However, since staged homes sell faster than the non-staged competition, you’ll likely only pay the furniture rental fees for a few months, at most!

Who Pays to Stage a House?

Typically, the cost of staging a home is the seller’s responsibility.

However, if your real estate agent can significantly raise their commission if your home sells for a higher price, they may be willing to cover some (if not all) of the staging fees. Better yet, your realtor may offer to include the staging cost in your pricing package or include the fees in the closing costs.

What Can Change My Home Staging Cost?

There are several factors that can impact the total cost of home staging. These are a few of the most prominent variables to consider:

Occupation Status

It’s smart to stage a vacant property since it makes it easier for the buyers to imagine living in the home, resulting in less time on the market and a better sale price. However, if you’ve already moved, your furniture is gone, and you’ve left an empty house for your home stager, you should expect to pay more for staging.

Many stagers will use existing furniture, artwork, and decor in your home (if it’s in good shape), which results in a lower cost for furniture rental. However, if your home stager is working with a vacant home, they will need to rent more furniture and potentially purchase small accessories to make your staged home feel “homey,” which can add up quickly.

Home Size & Layout

How many rooms are in your home? It may seem obvious, but the cost of your staging service will depend on the size of your home.

Additionally, your home’s layout may impact the cost of staging. For example, if you own a two-story home, your staging company may charge more to carry furniture upstairs. You’ll likely pay less if your home is just one story.

Furniture Rentals

Furniture rental is the most significant expense of full-service home staging. However, you can significantly reduce the expense of furniture rentals by limiting the number of rooms you pay to stage.

According to the National Association of Realtors, the living room, master bedroom, kitchen, and dining room are the most important rooms to stage (in that order) since these rooms help future buyers envision their day-to-day life in your home. If you need to cut down on staging costs, we recommend only staging these rooms (and not the entire house) to reduce furniture rental costs.

Repairs & Maintenance

Depending on your property’s condition, the home staging process may include a few improvement projects, repairs, or upgrades. Some stagers recommend that homeowners update their lighting fixtures, invest in kitchen cabinet refinishing, hire a professional cleaning service, or paint their walls a more neutral shade to appeal to potential buyers.

Is Hiring a Professional Staging Company Worth the Money?

According to a recent study, professionally staged homes spend 73% less time on the market, and staged homes sold for 25% more than homes without staging.

In fact, most staged homes sell for 5% – 23% above their asking price. Imagine selling your $500,000 home for 10% above the asking price. That’s $50,000 more in your pocket, which is more than enough to pay for the cost of staging—with several thousand more dollars to spare!

THE STAGING COMPANY offers a free, zero-pressure quote for our staging services for homeowners in cities across Texas and Florida. If you’d like to save money and attract potential buyers to your property—we’d love to help! Contact us today for your free quote.