Staging: Is It Worth It?

I wanted to share an excerpt from Mortgage News Daily as it relates to staging your home to sell:

The main benefit of hiring a professional to stage your home is that they will look at your surroundings with an experienced, tasteful and objective eye. They won't be attached to grandmother's antique table, nor will they have the same affinity you may have for that pink bathroom. They will be able to come in and tell you which items should be removed, what should be added and how best to feature your home.

While home staging may seem like an unnecessary expense, there probably isn't a single house that couldn't benefit from a bit of carefully manipulated staging-even if it's a simple matter of re-organizing, freshening up and removing clutter. And often, suggestions and changes from professionals can amount to significant increases in the bottom line profit when selling your home.

Home staging pricing for a simple consultation run from $200 to $400, yet for extensive staging work on larger homes, be prepared for pricing to run up to $6,000. However, according to www.StagedHomes.com, a leader in home staging services, statistics show an average of a 3% minimum increase in final sales price on homes that had been staged, versus those who had not. On a $300,000 home, that's a $9,000 increase-and well worth the home staging fees.