Is Home Staging Worth It?
Industry reports cite the 2009 average days on market as 10.4 months for homes that weren’t Staged compared to 1.35 months for Staged homes.
Let’s drill down and look at the impact those statistics can have on your wallet.
You decide to sell your home. To save money you don’t hire a Stager. You put the house on the market. Asking price: $250,000.
After more than 10 months with no offers, you finally accept a contract for $225,000. That’s a 10% hit.
Ouch.
Do over!
You decide to sell your home. You pay about $4,000 to have the house professionally Staged. You put the Staged house on the market. Asking price: $250,000.
After a little more than a month, you accept a contract for $250,000.
The Staged home sold for $25,000 more than the home that wasn’t professionally Staged, and in less time.
But wait! That higher sold price in less time is only part of the picture.
Don’t forget about carrying costs. Carry costs are what you pay to live in your house. They include mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance, lawn upkeep and so on.
If carrying costs are about 11.5% annually, that’s $24,917 during the 10-plus months the house didn’t sell.
After subtracting carrying costs from the $225,000 sold price the net is $200,083.
In the second scenario with the Staged home, carrying costs were $3,234. After subtracting carrying costs from the $250,000 sold price, the net is $242,722.
In round figures, that’s $42,600 more than the home that wasn’t Staged.
You can argue that you’ll have carrying costs in the new house, too. So, OK, it’s a wash.
On the other hand, carrying costs can seriously dent the sellers’ wallet. What if they’re selling the house because they can’t afford to live in it any longer? What if they’ve already bought their next home and are paying carrying costs for two houses now?
Bottom line: Home Staging has cost benefits.
Photos from Beth Fowler's project portfolio.
(This example is based on industry surveys and information at http://www.cort.com/furniture-rental/home-staging. Click on “Home Staging Cost Benefits.”)
Comments
Great post Beth.
Have a great weekend!
Staging is "packaging." Packaging is a marketing tool.
Thanks for the comment.