Slowing Economy a Boon for Home Staging Entrepreneurs
Summary
Have you been thinking about starting a home staging business? With the economic slow down, you may be wondering if this is a good time to enter the field. In this buyer’s housing market, home staging has become one the most sought out services in the real estate industry today, and the future looks even brighter.
Slowing Economy a Boon for Home Staging Entrepreneurs
Have you been thinking about starting a Home Staging business? With the economy slowing down, you may be wondering if this is a good time to enter the field. You may be worried that home sellers, your potential clients, will not be as willing to spend money on your services.
As a professional Home Stager who also teaches a course on the business of home staging to students around the world, I know this is an excellent time to be in the Home Staging business.
1) The slowing economy means a lot of people’s financial situations are changing and they will no longer be able to afford their mortgage.
Sellers in this market will quickly realize that when their own home hits the real estate market, it will have a lot of competition. Home Staging is the special ingredient that gets buyers excited about a home. The vast majority of homes are not decorated for sale, so they show poorly. But as more people understand that a staged house helps it stand out from the crowd by appealing to home buyers on an emotional level, they will realize they need to invest in staging if they want to sell quickly and for top dollar.
2) We’ll see more and more real estate agents recommending that their clients stage their homes.
Again, with so many nice houses available for a good price, agents will see their profits squeezed as prices continue to decline. So, just like homeowners, they will need to do everything possible to make their listings stand out from the crowd. Staging ensures a home puts its best foot forward to buyers. Agents that don’t already know the benefits of staging will learn very quickly in this market.
3) Home staging also has the merit of being a low cost business to start and run.
You don’t have the high overhead that other service or retail businesses may have, and many Home Stagers work from home. Remember, you are going to your client’s home, they aren’t coming to yours. So don’t think you need to spend extra money to perfect your own house, or rent an office, before you can become a Home Stager. As long as you project a professional attitude and have an efficient office from which to work, you are set.
4) Home Staging has been recognized as one of the best growth businesses.
Entrepreneur Magazine identified home staging as one of the hottest growth businesses, and the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program is the ONLY home staging business opportunity recognized by the magazine for the last three years in their business start up guides.
If you are a creative individual with an eye for design, you should consider becoming a Home Stager and put your talent to work for you. Home staging is a great career if you choose it. It is one of the most sought out services in the real estate industry today, and the future looks even brighter.
About the author, Debra Gould
Entrepreneur and Home Staging expert Debra Gould, The Staging Diva, knows how to make money as a home stager. Discover her secrets to business success in the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Free quiz to see if a home staging business is right for you at http://www.stagingdiva.com
I’m at the edge of the pool but am afraid to jump! I absolutely love design and decorating, I have loved it since I was a child, always coming up with ways to re-arrange my room and re-paint as often as I could. I went into the Title Insurance Business and ran a successful operation for over 15 years, with the real estate crash, I am at a crossroads as to where I am heading. I would love to dedicate my life to my passion which would be redesign and staging, but I got used to a very comfortable income and am affraid I would be like the “starving artist” in this type of business. I’ve been in real estate for over 15 years and most of my contacts have never used Stagers. I’m very confused and scared!!!!
Miriam, I totally relate to your fear of giving up a comfortable income to follow your passion. When I closed my marketing consulting business to do something more creative with my life, I was making $140,000 a year working from my home office for a blue chip list of clients. That was 1999 and I’d already put 10 years into building that business (right through the last recession!) before walking away from it because I decided money isn’t enough when you aren’t living your right life.
There are two things I suggest to help you sort this out:
I just finished writing a FREE special report called “Ask Staging Diva: Can I grow a home staging business in a depressed economy?” You can download it free.
Order the Free Staging Diva Quiz to help you determine if home staging is the right business for you. You can sign up for FREE and you’ll also get my monthly newsletter Staging Diva Dispatch and an invitation to the next Ask Staging Diva Live event.
Then consider this:
You don’t need to give up what you’re doing to try home staging, you can build your business on the side while you still have another job. This is not an immediate “all or nothing” decision! Since staging pays as well as it does, you could take the entire Staging Diva Home Staging Training Program and get your business started, and then make your entire investment back with only a few client projects. At that point, you could decide whether you like it and want to keep doing it, or chalk it up to one of life’s adventures.