Getting Started Isn't Easy - Home Staging Business

When I first conceived of becoming a home stager, I thought I knew about staging. And, I did know some things, but not near enough. So I am sharing with you what I think was the most helpful thing I did to come to understand what being a Home Stager is and more importantly, how to run a successful home staging business.

The first step is simple. Grab a notebook and sit down with a cup of tea and record what it is in your head about this "product" of home staging that makes you want to make it a career. How did I come to discover this as a potential business opportunity? What is the basis of that knowledge, how deep is that knowledge and is that knowledge experiential, intellectual or something else? On another page in your notebook, ask yourself and record the answers to questions about the business side, what do I kow about starting a business, managing a business, where can I go for guidance, wgat does a home staging business actually do and how do they know what and how to charge for services.

The point of this exercize is to write down what you THINK you know about the "product" and the "business", today as you sit and contemplate. Next is the tougher part, use what you wrote for honest reflection of what you know AND to determine what you must learn before you begin. I can tell you with certainty, if you are not honest with yourself about what you know about the home staging business you will likely fail.

Next consider the reality of time. Record how much time you can commit to this business and then embark on research to determine the time requirements, estimate the elements. If you do not know the elements, research the answer. Step back and again make an honest reflection of whether you have not only the time to develop the business model and plan but also to execute effectively with a profit.

Next, set all of this aside for 7 days and devote yourself to research. Come back to those same questions and answers and see if you have improved your knowledge base and if so how much. If your knowledge base did not increase ask yourself why. If you did not spend the time to research, what might that say about the time to run a successful business and whether or not you can commit. If you did the research and your knowledge base increased, then the next cup of tea session is to create a Gantt type chart or table of sorts that defines each activity in which you need engage and the order in which that needs to happen.

After honest self-reflection and research to understand the "product" and the "business" of home staging you may choose to engage with a real estate home staging school for classes. There are many from which to choose, do a thorough investigation to determine which fits your needs.

Good luck.


The Asheville Home Staging Company
The Real Estate Home Staging School ewheeler@therealestatehomestagingschool.com

Home Staging for Sellers

When selling your home, you want to understand and utilize to your advantage the psychology at work in the mind of the prospective buyer, Perception and Behavior.

To tap into the prospective buyers perception let’s understand perception. Perception is how they see the world and there place in that world. That belief is filtered by experience. That belief, or their reality, may not be an accurate reflection on what is real. Simultaneously, this is how human behavior happens. There is an event that happens prior to a behavior, the behavior, and the consequence.

Let’s translate these two concepts to your potential buyer. The buyer’s filter, they step in your home and begin to perceive your home (the world) and how they fit into that world (could I live here)? Perception is sensed through smell, touch, sight, sound and taste. A quick example, buyer walks in…using the sight sense says this house is too small. Is that reality or is it poor room planning, flow and color selections? How do I correct that perception as a seller?

View your house as the first step in behavior, the event. It is the trigger for the potential buyer’s perception and behavior, buy as a consequence or walk way as a consequence. Your agent and your Home Stager can help you use these two concepts.

As a professional home stager I’ve seen many times, sellers that embrace the five senses in preparing their homes for listing sell their homes faster. They employ the core requirements that shape perception: space and room planning, balance, visual and physical flow, lighting, focal points and color. They know that first perception is the critical one and use their house to trigger a buy effectively.

Employ a great agent, price effectively, and utilize the advice of a professional home stager to create the right perception and impact buyer behavior.

Eileen Wheeler

Owner, The Asheville Home Staging Company