What do you think?  Is Home Staging an expense or an investment?

I think most home owners initially think of home staging as an expense.  I see staging as an investment,

I am a professional home stager in the Twin Cities so my viewpoint on the subject may be a bit slanted. But stay with me for a second and see if I can help you see that making a small investment in home staging can reap financial returns for you.

A respected organization recently surveyed 600 real estate agents to understand what types of things they recommend sellers  do to get their property ready for sale.

 The goal of the survey was to see:

• The 10 actions Real Estate Agents suggested most often to their clients,
• To figure out what the average cost of implementing the suggestion was,
• To calculate what the expected Return on Investment for implementing the suggestion would be

Not surprisingly giving the home a deep and through cleaning came in as the number one thing Real Estate Agents recommended to their sellers.  The investment cost is very low and the return on the effort is very high.

Home Staging was ranked as Number 3 on the list of 10.  With an average investment of $550 the realized gain was $2,194.   That means for every dollar invested in staging the property, the seller realized $3 in return.

Keep in mind that many people are able to stage their properties for well under the average of $550. In the Twin Cities a staging consultation will run you anywhere from $150 to $225.

Let’s say that during the staging consultation ($150) I  suggest that you replace a dated light fixture  ($65), swap out the vase of silk plants with a candle arrangement for ($30), give you specific suggestions on how to declutter and brighten the space ($0), and provide a game plan for rearranging your furniture and accessories to showcase the best feature in the room ($0).  Your investment is only $245.

If an investment of $245 would help you:

1. Develop a hit list so you knew what to focus your energy on
2. Made the house more appealing to buyers
3. Encouraged more buyers to make an appointment to tour the property after looking at the MLS pictures, and
4. Resulted in a property that sold faster than it would have if you had not invested the time and money into staging

I bet you would agree with me. Staging is a good investment!

If you live in the Minneapolis or St Paul metro area and would like the help of a professional home stager, contact me.  I’d be happy to help you with your project.  I’ll give you excellent service and work hard to make your investment in staging just that, An Investment!