Selling House - Home Staging Service - Recommendations

movieman on 09/04/2021 - 00:26

Hi Everybody,

We are looking at selling in Melbourne, and have been advised by most agents to go with staging of the house.

This makes sense, given the current market, and also opens the possibilities to assist future home buyers see the true potential.

Do you have any business recommendations in Melbourne, that offer Staging for a competitive price? The $2,000 to $3,200 that I've heard seems excessive.

My estimation: Come out for 1 hour and decide what's needed - say $300.
Put together their furniture, delivery, and set-up - say $400
Hire of furniture - say $400
Pick up - say $400.

Total $1,500 maximum is where it seems reasonable.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • trustnoone on 09/04/2021 - 00:35
    +1

    Honestly I never knew the price at all, didn't think it could be up to $3,200. Makes me wonder whether you should buy the furniture and just leave it there in the hopes the future buyer will just be happy for $3,200 worth of free furniture/chairs and stuff? I guess part of what you're buying is "knowing how to stage" the place?

    • movieman on 09/04/2021 - 07:01

      Yeah, buying could end up appearing cheaper, but I'd still need someone with an eye for style, colours, settings, and if the new owner doesn't want it, I would need to organise removal.

  • bargain huntress on 09/04/2021 - 01:47
    +1

    Is your stuff already in there or is it completely empty?

    • movieman on 09/04/2021 - 07:00

      It will be completely empty.

  • Baa on 09/04/2021 - 01:52

    No recommendations, but thinking about the practicality of staging a house has so many variables to it - e.g. the first google search:

    https://www.openagent.com.au/blog/how-much-home-stager-cost#

    You can expect to pay in the region of:

    $150 to $500 for an initial consultation, depending on the experience of stylist
    $1,500 for a basic staging service
    To give you an idea of how much a full home staging package could cost you for six weeks, expect to pay in the region of:

    $1,995 for a studio/one bedroom apartment
    $2,500 for a two bedroom apartment
    $4,500 for a three bedroom house
    $6,500 for a four bedroom family home
    $10,000 or more for larger homes with five or more bedrooms

    Personally, this seems more realistic to me but only based on my current situation I personally jumped to the $7kish mark in my brain before looking it up - not based on any real logic aside from just what I thought what the cost of moving, furnishing and renting out furniture for a period of time.

  • RM on 09/04/2021 - 08:39
    +3

    How much more value are you expecting from staging (as compared to without staging)?

    See it as an investment and then calculate the return on investment - it it makes sense do it. It is not about what it costs…it could cost 5K, but if the returns are higher - does it hurt. Of course it is a risk - weigh it out

  • whitelie on 09/04/2021 - 08:56
    +2

    How big is the place? Obviously price is going to vary depending on this. A small apartment will require a lot less furniture and work than a big house.

    $400 to deliver and the same to pack up? You'll pay them $300 for a 1 hour consult but only a fraction more to deliver and set up the whole house?
    How much would you pay a removalist to move your house full of furniture, then double it as they're moving it in and then out again.

    $2k seems very cheap if it is anything bigger than an apartment and like mentioned above, you're doing it to potentially sell at a higher price so you're recouping the cost anyway.

  • thatonethere on 09/04/2021 - 09:56
    +3

    I think you are being unrealistic. If you think you can do it for that and make money you should setup your own business.

  • PHX on 09/04/2021 - 10:15
    +1

    If you ask your friends and family you might be surprised who does have an eye for design and could assist you and be really happy doing so for free because they find it fun and rewarding. Sickos.

    Our houses are generally cluttered with every creature comfort we need. When someone looks at a house they just want to see a place that is clean, low maintenance and welcoming. They'll add their own creature comforts later to clutter the place up.

    You might find you can live at your new house pretty well for a bit and keep enough furniture in your old house. You can maybe leave some lounge room pieces, a spare bed in the master bedroom, some wall art, your best towels and linen on show etc. Then get someone with an eye for style to go nuts at Kmart or Spotlight with cushions, lamps and candles for pretty cheap and still achieve a good look. Also get some flowers and other pretty stuff to broaden the appeal. Basically everything someone like me doesn't care about could be enough for a sparkle eyed purchaser to feel good about when they step into each room.

    If the staging option is your only option your estimate of price feels like the cost of your own personal time if you went out and hired a truck and put some furniture in and out again. These companies aim for a set margin and are specialists so they expect a premium from you. Therefore I'd be doubling the estimate you have and it may be more at the end of the day.

  • SgtBatten on 09/04/2021 - 13:20
    +1

    My wife used to run a home staging business. Basic stages were in that range and some houses were 6-10k jobs.

    I don't think the clients were ever disappointed with the prices they ended up getting for their houses. IMO it's worth showing a furnished house over an empty one. We just sold our house with our own funiture in it and with my wifes taste got some amazing feedback on it. Our next door neighbors struggled with their sale listed 2 weeks after ours on a similar property and it was completely empty.

    I got so sick of loading up my car with Ikea flat packs and building furniture at 2am though.

  • ms_caz on 09/04/2021 - 15:53

    Go with the professional stager. We had our house staged for approximately the amount you mentioned (4 br, study, 3 living) and it looked nothing like it had when we lived there. Definitely worth it for our end result- a quick sale right before Christmas with a price well above our asking price .

    Keeki Property Styling, Dandenong STH.

  • kfcfatfat on 09/04/2021 - 17:22

    The current climate, do you still need staging to get a good price? Will staging your house get you at least $1500 more?

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join