Home staging, as we defined in our previous post, can add value to the property you are selling. But is it worth the effort and costs? What if you were to DIY your home staging? This article tackles these issues.
Another reason to stage your home is to take your personality (your emotions) out of selling your property. If it is your home you are selling, naturally, it has your style, your preference glaring all over the property. However, potential buyers may not resonate with your taste. Going back to the premise that your property is a product, you must cater to the consumer’s preference and staging your home gives it an objective visual appeal.
Home Staging Australia has a Home Staging Directory that lists many options in each state. A Google search will also yield many options. Look up ‘home staging’ or ‘furniture hire’ and you will find companies that offer these services. Quality and price will vary quite substantially, so make sure you shop around, ask to see some of their work and get at least 3-5 quotes from large and small organisations if you are looking to pay for the service.
Meanwhile, big companies like Valiant Hire offer packages, which include a designer assessment of your property and a furniture package to suit.
When it comes to costs involved, home staging begins at $2000 mark, but costs really do vary according to the service selected, the length of time and the company you go with, so be sure to shop around to get the best bang for your buck.
Going the DIY way
If you feel confident that you can create a visually, olfactory, and overall pleasing mood for your property, then by all means do the staging yourself! You can purchase a furniture package from Fantastic Furniture or A-mart to furnish the home and accessorise it yourself. As in any DIY project, staging your home might set you back a bit of your own time and $3000 – $4000 but the upside here is that you own the furniture! So now you can sell the home furnished or sell the furniture once you’ve sold the home and recover some of your costs.
Summary and recommendation
The goal of staging your home is to encourage prospective buyers seeing how amazing the property can look and to give the perception of higher value that comes with a well styled property. It means that prospective buyers with remember your property amongst the many they have inspected, and evoke the feeling of wanting to live in there or purchase the property.
There’s no doubt that presenting a visually appealing property increases its perceived value, thereby increasing your sale price and decrease the time your property spends on the market. As with any strategy, however, one needs to measure the costs against the expected benefit, particularly in the lower end markets where the cost is more significant when compared to the expected sale price.