How Much Does Home Staging Cost? 5 Ways to Save Money and Still Turn Your House into a Showcase

So, how can you keep those home staging costs from creeping up too high? Let’s take a look at the top five options:

1. Wrap staging costs into your closing costs

Let’s say your home stager has come up with a spectacular yet affordable staging plan that’ll show off your home in its best light in a tough market — but it’s still going to cost you a couple grand.

How do you swing that when you’re already struggling to pay moving expenses? Ask your stager if you can pay them out of the proceeds of your home sale.

“Many companies, like Carousel, will work with clients to make the staging affordable by letting them pay for the majority of the staging costs at closing, once the property has sold,” says McCormac.

Not all stagers will agree to delay payment in full until after the home sells because of those few bad eggs who run off without paying, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

2. Stage only key rooms in vacant homes

Vacant homes are harder to sell because it’s difficult for buyers to feel connected to a house with nothing in it. According to NAR, 81% of buyer’s agents reported that it’s easier for buyers to visualize how their own sofa and end tables will fit into your living room if they see similar furniture in place.

Source: (National Association of REALTORS®)

But completely staging every empty room in a three- or four-bedroom house isn’t affordable for most home sellers. If you need to save money, don’t bother staging every inch. Just stage the rooms that your potential buyers will use the most. For 39% of buyers, the living room is the most important room to stage, followed by the primary bedroom (36%) and the kitchen (30%).

“For vacant home sellers on a budget, we would just stage the common areas plus the primary bedroom,” says Vanessa Nielsen, a professional stager with Encore Staging Services. “Depending on square footage, vacant home staging can range anywhere from $2,350 to $3,350 as a base price for the standard areas — living room, dining room, kitchen, all bathrooms, and the primary bedroom. All other areas are at an additional fee.”

Source: (Vanessa Nielsen, Encore Staging Services)

Source: (Vanessa Nielsen, Encore Staging Services)

3. DIY owner-occupied staging after a professional consultation

Whether you’re strapped for cash or simply a fan of interior decorating, one guaranteed way to save money on staging is to DIY the staging — with some professional guidance.

“You don’t have to spend all this money on staging,” explains Sebastian Frey, a top real estate agent in the greater San Jose, California area. “Most people that I work with just need some guidance on what they should do from a staging consultation. Then, they carry that out with their own sweat equity. Doing it that way is not going to cost very much, and it’s not going to take very long,” he adds.

Of course, this only works if your existing furniture and decor are already magazine-worthy. Your stager can tell you what works and what doesn’t during the typically two-hour consultation.

Make the most of that consultation time by doing a lot of the grunt work before the stager arrives. Start by decluttering and depersonalizing, packing away everything (except your best decor items) that isn’t a necessity, and then give your home a top-to-bottom deep clean.

Do your best to DIY stage what’s left — keeping an additional assortment of artwork and decor set aside for your professional stager to pull from. With less clutter to wade through, your pro will have plenty of time to advise you on the finishing touches. They may even make some of the changes for you — and a few won’t even charge you for it.

“There are definitely some homes out there that have amazing furnishings, but they just need a fresh eye and a second opinion,” says Nielsen. “For these homes, I’m happy to do a thorough consultation as I do at every home, and I end up not charging the homeowners for my time.”

However, in Nielsen’s experience, “only about 5% of sellers have any design sense or have furniture that’s up to par,” she adds. “But whenever I visit a home that’s already got great pieces, I happily tell them they don’t need to spend their money hiring me or anyone. I feel we have this fiduciary duty, just like real estate agents and loan officers, to do what’s in their best interest.”

4. Soft stage your vacant home

If even partially staging your vacant home isn’t an option financially, it may be worthwhile to invest a little money in soft staging.

“Soft staging only involves accessorizing the home with artwork and accessories that warm up the home and does not utilize furnishings,” explains Gittens. “It’s a last resort for a seller who cannot afford traditional staging and doesn’t want the empty home to feel too cold upon entry.”

Along with artwork on the walls, soft staging includes things like colorful towels in the bathrooms or a bowl of fruit on the kitchen counter. These attractive additions draw the buyer’s eye so that they focus on the pleasant features of your home rather than searching for any flaws.

The trick is finding a stager who’s willing to only soft-stage your home.

“I do not offer soft staging services,” explains Gittens. “There’s a lot of time and work that goes into our staging jobs, and at the end of the day, it has to be worth everyone’s time. I think if a seller is willing to consider soft staging, the stager should present some other options that do involve lighter furnishings that will still get the job done.”

That step up from soft staging doesn’t have to be expensive. For example, it’s often cheaper to rent a pair of occasional chairs and a single end table than a full living room set.

“A lot of times, living spaces can still be shown in their best light with more intimate conversational seating areas,” says Gittens. “The best way to cut costs when staging is to find a stager who is willing to work with you.”