Personal Styling and Property Staging for Luxury Listings
By Ben Bryk Coldwell Banker Global Luxury Vero Beach
From personal styling to strategic home staging, these affordable upgrades can help agents win high-end clients and close deals faster.
© courtneyk / E+ / Getty Images
Selling luxury listings is an art. No matter how high spec the property, or how high net worth the potential buyer, you can’t leave anything to chance.
Ideally, a luxury listing should look the part and sell itself. It’s almost always possible to elevate the look and feel of a listing, though, and it could be worth investing in personal styling and property staging to make the right impression on buyers.
Elevating your style or listing doesn’t need to cost a fortune. A relatively small outlay between $500 and $2,500 (based on an aggregate of costs you might have to upgrade your listing, wardrobe and car for luxury viewings) could generate an impressive ROI if it helps you close your first luxury listing deal.
Ready to style your way to luxury listing success? Let's dive in.
Look The Part: Styling Yourself on a Budget
When your job involves selling seven-digit listings, your wardrobe needs to elegantly state success. Hint for potential clients: This isn’t your first luxury listing. (Even if it is!) The good news? You don’t need a trust fund to fit in and dress the part.
© Rent the Runway on Instagram
Popular fashion rental services like
Rent the Runway and
Nuuly, help you look the part at a fraction of the cost.
Subscriptions start at $98 a month for six outfits, or you can buy pre-loved high-end fashion for a bargain. It's the fashion equivalent of "fake it till you make it," except you're not really faking anything—you're styling yourself in a way that aligns with the buyer or seller you want to reach.
Add a Special Touch to Closing
Another way to impress luxury clients is to showcase your taste with a thoughtfully selected closing gift. Your first task is to get to know your clients and figure out what they’ll like.
If they like wine (always ask, never assume), consider subscribing to a
premium wine membership that gives you access to vintages you won’t find in your average supermarket or big-box retailer.
With subscription services like
Wine Access and
The California Wine Club, you can find wine from vineyards that make enthusiasts pause and take notice. It's a thoughtful touch that suggests you know how to look after clients well, which is exactly the energy you want to project to high-net-worth buyers.
Styling Your Listing: Take It to the Next Level, on a Budget
Now that you’re buzzing with the confidence that comes with looking polished from head to toe, let's make sure your listing does, too. High-net-worth buyers expect a styled property to help them envision the lifestyle they're purchasing.
More than four in five real estate agents say well-staged homes help buyers envision themselves living there, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ 2025
Home Staging Profile.
High-net-worth sellers want to know that you understand what’s needed to make their home sell. A stylishly staged home helps you sell a luxury property faster and for more money—a win-win for both you and your clients. Eighty-three percent of buyers' agents said staging helped their clients visualize the property as their home, according to the
National Association of REALTORS® 2025 Profile of Home Staging.Furniture rental services specializing in luxury staging, like
CORT Furniture Rental, are available in most major metro markets. These services cater to the specific wants and needs of the luxury niche, making it easier to stage a home perfectly with designer pieces, contemporary art and elevated accessories, all on an affordable subscription basis.
© benedek / Getty Images
Or you can go the professional staging route, which
averages about $2,000 for a mid-size to large luxury home during the listing period. Research and agent experience show time and again that curb appeal is an important factor for buyers. In the
2023 National Association of REALTORS® Remodeling Impact Report, real estate professionals estimated that sellers who invested in yard upgrades could expect to recover 100% of the cost of the project.
Here’s a twist on curb appeal: How about the visual impact of a luxury vehicle parked in the driveway during showings or photo shoots? NAR members have access to special pricing from car rental partners like
SIXT, which offers an impressive nationwide fleet of luxury rentals. For the cost of a weekend rental, you can elevate your entire listing presentation or open house with a pristine late-model Mercedes-Benz or Italian sports car.
See a Bigger Return on Your Investment When You Style It Out
Nothing is more important than market knowledge and integrity, but the right styling can help you get a leg up in the competitive luxury market. With the right partners to help you elevate your game, you show that you’re an agent who understands that high-end real estate is about aspiration, lifestyle and creating an experience that matches the price point.
The beauty of the luxury market is that it rewards those who invest in staging and styling themselves and the properties they’re representing. Smart, strategic moves before a house goes on the market can pay dividends.
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