Almost 1 Out of 4 Agents Pays for Staging. Are You One of Them?

When you walk into a home that has an open layout, clean lines, modern furniture, and beautiful décor it can make you say, “Wow.” For potential home buyers, it just might be what seals the deal and has them putting in an offer on a house. This wow factor is a result of staging, but this service can be expensive. If you are paying for this cost out of your own pocket, you may be putting your business at risk. There is another way. Now you can stage a home without having to carry the cost yourself or burdening your clients with hefty upfront costs.

Why Staging is Needed  

Staging is what takes a listing from mediocre to dreamy. Think we are exaggerating? You may want to think again. In fact, 97% of real estate agents think staging is important. If you are part of the 3% that doesn’t, here’s why you might want to change your mind.  

According to our 2022 Home Improvement survey, staging a listing is thought to have a variety of benefits. Some agents believe staged homes sell for more or faster than homes that are not staged. Other agents have noted that staged homes get more bids, have better showings, and appear to have larger rooms compared to homes without staging.¹   

Because of these different benefits, 65% of the agents we surveyed said that they utilized staging on a listing in the last year.¹ But who should pay for this service? The homeowners? You? 

A Hefty Price Tag  

Of course, that wow factor from staging a home often comes with a hefty price tag. According to agents we have talked to, the average cost to stage a listing was $2,000 or more. Many homeowners who are selling their homes simply cannot afford to pay for this service upfront. In other cases, they just may not see the value in doing so.  

As a result, some real estate agents are stepping in themselves to get staging done and try to get their listings off the market in a timelier fashion. Almost one out of four agents said they have paid for staging out of their own pocket. Mary Camp, a RE/MAX agent in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, has done this several times to try to help her sellers. She explains, “I know how important staging is because sometimes I would pay for the staging upfront and just collect it at closing.” 

Mary is just one of many agents who has taken on this cost herself in order to try to help her clients. While a noble move, these staging bills can start to add up. Since staging is often charged on a monthly basis, a house that sits on the market for longer than that allotted time can be costly. If you have more than one listing that needs staging, you could also be doubling your cost. Especially if a home is bigger and has several rooms that need staging, the cost can quickly get out of control. Over time, this heavy cost can also take its toll on your business.  

There is Another Way  

At Curbio, we offer staging in every market, so there’s no reason not to put your listing’s best foot forward! Just add staging to any Curbio project.

Staging alone will often not get a home sold. You may need to take this one step further. While a staged home can look great, it doesn’t have quite the same impact if the listing is still in need of repairs or updates. Make sure your listing is fully ready for the market and ready to sell for top dollar. At Curbio, we help with pre-sale updates big and small so your listing can be at its best.  

Let us take care of this burden for you and your clients. Get started today with a free, no-obligation estimate.  

Sources: 

1.  Curbio (2022). Preparing to Sell: 2022 Home Improvement Report