As you prepare to sell your home, you might debate whether to hire a stager who can make it look on-trend and ultra-appealing for prospective buyers.

Advocates say an effective stager can make a huge difference in how customers perceive your home, since they know all the tricks for arranging, curating and/or adding to your décor for optimal aesthetics.

But skeptics say the cost (a national average of $1,000 and $3,000) can be unnecessary. Sometimes, rearranging furnishings calls attention to flaws in the home. And living with borrowed, rearranged or missing furnishings (while waiting for a sale) can be inconvenient.

What do the facts say?

• In the NAR’s 2021 Profile of Home Staging, more than a quarter of buyers said they’re willing to overlook property faults in staged homes. Most important were living rooms (46%), master bedrooms (43%) and kitchens (35%). Among buyers’ agents, 82% agreed staging helps clients visualize a property as their own.

• A survey by the International Association of Home Staging Professionals determined staging can help sell a property three to 30 times faster, while helping boost sale prices by up to 20%. Those who didn’t stage saw price reductions 5 to 20% higher than projected staging costs.

• The Real Estate Staging Association found that after investing an average 1% of their asking prices into staging, 75% of sellers sold at 5 to 15% more than asking prices.

“Homes may be selling faster, but the right style can help earn the highest ROI,” notes stager Patti Stern on NAR.com.