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Investment in home Staging

Realtors have been asking, what would be considered a reasonable range of pricing for home Staging?

Let me tell you how I work! When I meet with a Realtor for the first time, I explain that I have 3 levels of home Staging services to meet their needs. The home Staging review or consultation is a detailed analysis of the homes interior and exterior including a prioritized list so homeowners know where to put their energies first. This list is Staging homework for the homeowner.

Level 2 is when I Stage the home. Each home is unique, so a bid will be provided for home Staging. And without seeing the home either in pictures or in person, I cannot/will not just throw out a number. I can tell you that for a 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath the Staging investment was $300 while a 2 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath was $500. It all depends on how much clutter there is, how much furniture re-arranging needs to be done, what accessories may need to be brought in to attain the Staged look, and so on. Its not a good use of my time to be asked to clean or pack.

Level 3 is Staging of a vacant house. After seeing the house, a bid is developed which includes rental furniture if the homeowner cannot return some items to the house, rental accessories and my Staging fee.

So, back to the question of a reasonable range: starting at $300 and less than a price reduction! It doesn't need to cost $10,000 like on Oprah although I can charge that if you want me to!! Hope this helps.

Carol

Posted by Carol Rumak, ASP on 01/06/2007 11:15 AM

Comments (13)

staging, home merchandising, illinois, kane county, asp, vacant, price reduction, home staging, chicagoland stager, greater chicago

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13 Comments on Investment in home Staging

JAN

2007

Hi Carol,

I like your strategy and how you lay things out. It makes the process much more comprehendable. I did have a question price ranges for complete staging,, just to get an idea. Feel free to be as broad as you'd like and consider no clutter, minimal furninshings 3/bdrm 2full ba 2,500 squar foot home.

Can you provide a BROAD ball park?

Kelly, a broad ball park huh?? ;-) Considering you are in HI and I'm in IL, will need travel allowance first off!

Well, with minimal furnishings, what do they have and are they up to date or will we need to replace as well as supplement?, we may need to add accessories and/or lighting to highlight features of the house, does the house have the 'wow' from the curb or do we need to bring in the landscaping people?, what about wall color, neutral or do we need painters?, flooring in good condition or do we need help? Please send pictures! Range $750 - $5000 plus travel allowance!

I have found the cost of staging to vary greatly around the Country. Is there a guideline for stagers? I do find often the cost is just prohibitive and into the thousands here in the Seattle Area

This is where some kind of standardization needs to addressed. I think it depends on the experience of the stager. Based on my own experience I came up with an average of $1.00 per square foot plus materials/merchandise. That price would incorporate overseeing sub installers, pick-up and returning items. So an estimate would be $2500 for a 2500 sq. ft. home

Or an hourly fee of $20 to $50. Again based on experience and degree of difficulty. A lot can accomplished in one day so 8 hours @ $50 = $400. I think that is a reasonable average of a typical rearrange.

I would like to see all the AR stagers chime in on this one and share what they charge...keeping it for members only.

Ardell - have you thought of becomming an agent/stager? It does offer an added value service. I have a few agent/stager's who are leaving their competition in the dust.

Stage It Forward!

Jane, If we were still living in Monroe Township NJ, I'd work with you in a flash!! (pun intended). Phyllis Pafumi is in Old Bridge.....

The homeowner would of course need to agree to have someone re-arranging their stuff in the house.

I wonder if there is anyone here in the far western suburbs of Chicago that would be open to this???

I think you really have to take into consideration the size of the average home and the median home price. I charge $300 for a consultation and written report. Then $125 per hour plus the cost of furniture and accessories. I also offer discounts for Realtors. I am right outside NYC so things cost a bit more here. So far no one has even baulked at the price. The average 2000 square foot home heres is probably about $600,000. There are no other home stagers in the immediate area but I did check with a local interior decorator and a local professional organizer. We are all in the same networking group. We all charge the same - that really helps.

I charge between $200-300.00 to do a Staging Report that is customized for the homeowner. If they want me to come in and help them with their existing furniture and accessories I charge $50.00/hr. I recently staged a vacant 2200sq.ft. home (no diningroom) with my own furniture inventory and accessories for 4k for 3 months. This price did not include curb appeal but I gave my client a list of things that needed to be done. On this job after the homeowner signed the contract they told me how cheap it is to stage!!! I started to second guess my quote...but I thought the price I quoted was right. I love what I do and if I could do it for free I would!!

I agree with you Carol that most staging costs are much less then the first price reduction! Thanks for sharing your charges and services with us all. Keep Staging it Forward!!!

Hi Carol, Thanks for your feedback. Not sure the trip to Hawaii is in my client's budget at this point ;>...

Furniture rentals: most nNational furniture stores have a program in place for home staging. They are very familiar with the business. I used to have to use them sometimes for low end model homes when in a hurry but they have upgraded their lines quite a bit.

Hi Carol

I love your pricing and I love the fact, that like most of us, if the client want to pay us $10,000.00, we'll take it.

My fees are a bit lower than most here because I was having a hard enough time marketing my services at all to realtors and sellers last year because no one knew what is was. My fees for a staging consult run $125 -175. While it is a complete detailed report for the homeowner, I also include a proposal of the cost to stage if I either do some of the work or all of the work. To date, we have gotten all the jobs because the report was so detailed they felt it was too much for them to do. My fees run $75/hr for a 3 hr minimum, anything over that I do a bid on the whole job. It has worked out quite nicely and the clients are satisfied.

My next question to all, if you need to paint, do you factor that cost into your staging fees per hr or do you charge a separate fee?

Phyllis Pafumi

Hi Phyllis,

I have a great Painter that I refer to my clients. I do not charge for this service.

JAN

2007

I refer clients to a painter - I'll choose the colors during the initial consultation. They enter into the contract with the painter and pay him directly.

JAN

2007

Phyllis, I too refer clients to a painter (with color suggestions in hand), handyman, carpet cleaner (gets stains and odors out, this guy is a magician), mold remediation, trash removal/light demolition (that old playset in the yard? gone!), plumber, lawyer, mortgage broker, insurance broker, financial planner, landscape architect (the house doesn't get a second chance to make a great first impression), personal chef (for when they are too busy to cook) and chiropractor ('cause they're holding in the stress)! These are all people I know and have worked with in the past, the homeowner contracts directly with them. I do not charge for these referrals.

Carol

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