The short answer is ‘yes’. When you are listing a home for sale you want to present the property in its best possible light. Engaging a home stylist – sometimes referred to as ‘home staging’, helps you do just that, and it can add as much as 10-15% to the sale value.

Think about that for a moment.

The median home value nationally is just over $708,000. So engaging a stylist has the potential to add an extra $106,000 or more to your property’s sale price.

Why does styling add so much value? That’s easy. Our homes are an integral part of our lives. We fill them with objects that are special to us, and remind us of the people and events that matter in our lives.

But when you sell a home, you want buyers to see themselves living in your property. That’s a lot harder when your home is stamped with mementoes that speak of you.

What can you expect from a home stylist? Plenty. A home stylist will typically visit your home, making notes as they move from room to room. The advice they offer can sometimes be a little confronting, but it is always designed to help you maximise the sale price.

A common issue mentioned by stylists is ‘clutter’. We have a habit of filling – and overfilling – our homes with possessions. Cutting back the volume of furniture and knick-knacks  can make a significant difference to the feel of your home in terms of light, space and flow.

Your stylist may also recommend a fresh coat of paint or replacing worn out linoleum with a floating floor.  These can be affordable changes that a reasonable home handyman can complete without major expense. Yet these simple renovations can make a remarkable difference to the look and feel of your home.

In some cases, particularly when a home is vacant – such as a deceased estate or rental property, a stylist may recommend hiring furniture. Yes, this is an added cost. But it allows buyers to visualise the potential of the property as their own home.

Your Raine & Horne property expert can put you in touch with a trusted home stylist. How much you can expect to pay varies in line with the service provider, the size of your home, and the extent to which it requires professional styling.  What can be said with certainty, is that the cost will likely be recouped many times over in terms of the time taken to sell – and the final selling price.