How to Hire a Home Stager to Help Sell Your Home
Professional staging has been growing rapidly in popularity since 2005 as a tool to sell real estate faster and for top dollar. But if you’re thinking of staging a property for sale, with so many home staging “professionals” out there, how do you choose the right home stager? I’ve heard horror stories about bad stagers that wasted both the time and money for trusting sellers. Below are a few tips for hiring a professional home stager:
1. What is the typical staging fee?
Pricing for home staging begins at $150. The more services you require from the stager, the higher the cost. Typically the staging fee is separate from the rental fee for furniture, fixtures, and electronics. The staging cost includes styling and merchandising expertise. This is a one time initial fee and costs an average of $250 per room. The rental of furniture is in addition to the staging cost.
When determining a price to stage a vacant room, a stager will look at various factors including: size and layout of space, natural light in the room, how a room flows with the rest of the house, the intended use of the space, total areas to be staged, and the amount of wall space that needs art.
2. What would be a range for a monthly rental fee for FF & E? (Furniture, fixtures, and electronics) to stage various rooms?
- Living room $450 +
- Dining room $350+
- Bedroom $350+
- Office space $125+
3. Are there any upfront consultation fees?
If the property is vacant and a stager is providing a quote to stage the property with furniture, there is usually not a consulting fee in addition to the staging fee. But if you want the stager to provide a list of staging recommendations to work with the furniture you’ve already got, most stagers charge anywhere from $150 to $250 as a consulting fee. When a stager is pricing a home that is being occupied by the seller, they will consider additional items that sellers can add that would enhance the existing furnishings. A seller can pay rental fees for those additional items.
4. Is there a minimum rental term/time period required for the furniture rentals? e.g. 1 month, 2 months, 3 months.
Most rental companies require 60-day minimums on furniture rentals, while some stagers will allow for a 30 day rental. Most stagers recommend at least a 60 day minimum when trying to market and sell a property listed for sale.
5. Is there a delivery charge, setup charge, etc.?
Expect to pay a delivery/pick up fee. But the setup fee should be included in the overall staging fee. If the setup fee is in addition, you may want to see why it costs more on top of the staging fee.
Because there is so much competition in the high-end home market, some over the top tactics may not be necessary, but are certainly newsworthy. Here’s a link to an article on Mashable.com about a realtor who went to extremes to sell a house: http://mashable.com/2012/07/13/realtor-makes-sci-fi-movie/
Some real estate investors hire professional stagers while others do their own home staging. There are very successful realtors who hire home stagers to tackle their toughest homes to sell. And it works! Many times the realtors will actually cover the cost of staging the properties if it means selling them for more and faster. If you’re thinking of hiring a home stager to stage your next property, seek out recommendations from real estate investors or realtors who have used stagers before with superior results. It may be worth spending a little extra money to stage a vacant property and sell it faster, and possibly, for top dollar.
Posted by Corey Curwick Dutton
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Hello Corey,
I would love to be involved in the home stage decorating services I have a large resume for Interior Design and I am looking to expand my client base. Are you hiring? and how do I go about getting started? Thanks for your response! Natalie Boman