Vacant vs. occupied staging: which one does your listing need?

What vacant staging is

Vacant staging brings a full furniture and accessory package into an empty home. The staging company provides sofas, beds, dining sets, artwork, rugs, and styling pieces selected for the layout and target buyer. Everything stays in place for the listing, typically 30 to 60 days, then we remove it after the home sells.

1. Turnkey package: the seller supplies no furniture and does no labor
2. Built for the buyer: pieces scaled to the home's price point and rooms
3. Typical Metro Atlanta cost: $2,500 to $6,000+ by home size and room count

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What occupied staging is

Occupied staging works with the furniture and belongings the seller already owns. A staging professional walks the home room by room and flags what to keep, rearrange, remove, and add. The seller receives a written action plan and executes it before listing photos.

Some consultations include hands-on work during the walkthrough, so the seller sees the difference in real time. Occupied staging brings in no rental furniture. The goal is to present the existing home in its strongest light. Typical Metro Atlanta cost runs $250 to $600.

When vacant staging is the right call

Choose vacant staging when the home is empty, when the current furniture would hurt the photos, or when you are selling an investor flip or spec build. Empty rooms photograph small and give buyers nothing to react to. On a home listed above $400,000, a $3,000 to $5,000 investment is under 1.5% of the sale price.

• The seller is living in the home through the listing period
• The budget is limited and the plan can be executed over a weekend
• The home is already well-furnished and needs a professional edit