Home Improvements vs Home Staging
As you prepare your home to join the active housing market, questions start popping up:
Can I list as is?
Can I get more money if I renovate the kitchen? Or paint all the walls?
Is staging worth it?
As you work towards selling your home, considering your Return on Investment (ROI) is essential. When deciding between investing into home improvements or staging, key factors to consider are budget, timing, and current condition of the home.
HOME IMPROVEMENTS
Home improvement covers a wide array of tasks, such as painting, flooring, landscaping, appliances… The list goes on. These projects can easily cost anywhere from $100 to $100,000 depending on the scope of your project.
The upfront cost of home improvement projects can be significant, as 54% of homeowners use a Home Equity Loan or line of credit in order to fund their renovation (NAR, 2025 Remodeling Impact Report). Cost and timeline are closely linked. Larger projects typically require more time and money. With any home improvement project you take on, you must consider the ROI.
Smaller renovation projects tend to be more cost effective. For example, replacing a front door or painting key areas can create a noticeable transformation without a major investment. The more costly and time consuming renovations such as bathrooms and the kitchen often recoup less of their cost, with bathrooms being at only 50% cost recovery and kitchen coming in at 60% (NAR, 2025 Remodeling Impact Report).
With an outdated home, you have to weigh your options of selling as is or invest in updates. If updating, buyer preferences is something to consider before spending money. In some cases, offering a credit for worn floors may be more strategic than replacing them with a finish that may not appeal to all buyers. However, spending the money to replace any appliances that are at the end of their life may improve your listing with buyers.
WHEN STAGING SAVES THE DAY
If time and budget are limited, staging can be an effective solution. Even in our busiest season, O Designs by Orli Shoshan can typically schedule a project within 2 to 3 weeks. In 2025, the average cost of a 3 month contract for staging with us was just under $4000. Once your staging day arrives, our team comes in and stages the property all in one day. This creates a huge transformation, in only a few hours. Other perks include selling faster and at higher price points, as well as, providing an ROI that could be an additional 1%-5% of your original list price (NAR, 2025 Profile of Home Staging).
Staging can also provide strong first impressions without permanent effects. The staging furniture will enhance the space, but doesn’t stay in the home past closing. If a buyer doesn’t love the style of our furniture for their home, that's okay! If a buyer doesn’t like the new kitchen you spent thousands of dollars to replace, they may consider a different home instead.
COLLABORATION WITHIN THE HOME
At O Designs by Orli Shoshan, we do not believe clients must choose just one.
Simple steps such as deep cleaning, replacing broken fixtures, and refreshing paint can improve presentation significantly. From there, we find that our furniture can liven up a room without requiring major renovations.
Before you invest, ask: What will make the biggest impact for potential buyers and the greatest return?
