Ever stage a rental? increase interest or waste of money?

[Christine Wallace]

Hi!  I'm a newbie and just bought my first rental, 3 bed/2 bath class B+ neighborhood catering to families.  Typical rent is 1200/mo.

I'm wondering if I should stage the home, take some great pictures for marketing.  Because I plan to buy and hold.  When I have tenant turnover, I could pull out those same pictures for many years (assuming I don't have to change all the finishes).  The place definitely looks better and bigger staged with furniture and I think I could get higher quality tenants or a higher rent, but being new, I have no experience.

Is it worth the cost of staging?  I'd have to hire a company to do this as a don't have extra furniture sitting around or a place to store furniture should I try to do it myself.

Thanks!