Spending just $10,000 on your home could improve its value by around $200,000.
Ask any real estate agent if it’s worth spending money on professional styling before listing a home for sale, and they will be sure to say, ‘yes.’ But how much does it cost – and what exactly will you gain?
COST OF HOME STAGING
There are different levels of service and cost when it comes to staging your home for sale, Ben Horwood of Horwood and Nolan Concord said.
Depending on whether you need to continue living in the home, the options tend to range from about $3000 for a partial style to around $25,000 for a complete home staging.
“Our ideal scenario is always to have an empty home where you can style from top to bottom,” he said.
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Home staging can help bring your property in line with what buyers are looking for.
Director of Vault Interiors Justine Wilson said the cost of a complete home staging varies quite a bit depending on the company and the type of property.
Homes in the prestige market tend to require high-end touches, which come at a greater price.
However, a standard house might only cost around $10,000.
BENEFITS
One of the biggest benefits of getting a home staged is that it helps to appeal to the emotions of buyers, Sydney agent Jessica Cao from Ray White Upper North Shore said.
This is especially important if the seller is downsizing and the majority of buyers are young families.
“They have a totally different style,” she said. “The staging will meet what they want and target their tastes.”
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The vendors only spent about $3000 to get this home staged.
Cao sees staging as a non-negotiable, adding that the majority of properties listed on realestate.com.au have been staged – and the ones that haven’t tend to stand out.
“If you are one of the 10 per cent that aren’t staged, you are at a disadvantage because your photos don’t look as attractive,” she said.
She compares it to dating.
“You wouldn’t go on a date without putting on makeup first,” she said.
Part of appealing to the buyer’s tastes involves helping them imagine what it would be like to live in the home, Wilson said.
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Be sure to have your home looking its best before its “first date” with buyers.
“It’s an aspirational living scenario,” she said, adding that a home full of personal belongings and photos detracts from this effect.
A professional stylist can also bring out the best features of a property while making the not so good things less obvious, she said.
All of this can have a very positive effect on the final sales price.
Wilson said home staging has the potential to increase the sales price by up to 20 per cent, making it well worth the $10,000 investment.
Given that the median house price is Australia is around $1m, that could equate to a price increase of around $200,000.
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Sometimes it’s the little things that count.
WHEN NOT TO STYLE
While home staging is beneficial for all types of buyers, according to Wilson and Horwood, it may not be the best idea if the property is considered a “knock down job.”
Making it look too good with professional styling might scare away some developers looking to get a competitive price, Horwood said.
On the other hand, said Wilson, a professional staging could make the property appear more liveable in the short term, which could open it up to buyers looking to rebuild or renovate who want to live in the property in the short term.
In any case, it’s best to speak with the agent first to see what they recommend, she said.
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Director and principal stylist at Vault Interiors, Justine Wilson.
THINGS TO CONSIDER
Justine Wilson from Vault Interiors shares her top tips to consider when getting a home professionally staged.
1. Have a realistic time frame – the process of staging a property takes multiple team members about four days all up, and many stylists are booked out for weeks in advance, so don’t expect to call up and have it done in a couple of days.
2. Get a few quotes – there are multiple companies offering home staging at various price points, so it’s worth shopping around to find one that works well for your budget.
3. Be creative – if you can’t get your whole house done, consider doing the living areas and main bedroom so that the marketing photos look as polished as possible.
4. Learn to let go – you may not like the decor or furniture chosen by the stylist, but they are trying to appeal to the widest demographic of buyers, so it’s important to detach yourself emotionally in the process.
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