Home staging is preparing a home to be placed on the real estate market.  Stagers prepare a home in a manner  that helps increase the sales price, helps decrease the days on market before a sale and does this at a cost effective staging price.

 

The degrees of staging varies from provider to provider.  Some stagers decorate to make the property more desirable and to stand out from the competition.  Other stagers include advanced techniques like merchandising and marketing.

Merchandising methods include:

planned presentation from entry to exit based on the marketing data

emphasis on features and benefits of a home

emotional connectors of the home and lifestyle

color stimulation and complimentary enhancement. 

Marketing a product is a very important guide to merchandising a product.  Who are the people most likely to buy?  What is important to that group of consumers?  Which features are important to their lifestyle, schedule and responsibilities?

When you go into a store there are different experiences planned for you to encounter.  The layout of the inventory is planned based on known shopping habits and experiences of past shoppers.  This is the same with a staged property.  The features of the property must be remembered by the potential buyers.  The good stager will utilize merchandising methods and marketing data to produce a desirable product so the consumer can place value and emotion to their desired object.

Very few successful products are placed on the market without merchandising and marketing preparation.  The reason for this is the same reason that homeowners should never place their product (their home) on the market without professional input.  The reason is very simple - it works.

Successful business owners know this and so should home owners.  Home owners are in the business of trying to sell a product for a highly profitable outcome.  Don't hope, take action.

Our students are trained and knowledgeable on the staging guidelines, merchandising procedures and marketing needs in the real estate field. If you are looking for a stager, look for The Real Estate Home Staging School Graduate.  If you are looking for a Home Staging Training School, you are in the right place.

Leslie

The Real Estate Home Staging School ^TM

Once you have made the decision to become a Home Stager, the work begins!

 

We suggest you begin with writing down what you think you need to learn, and then what are the criteria on which you will make your decision.  The criteria could follow the 3C’s.

 

What are the 3 C’s?  Content. Convenience. Cost.

 

Content:  Refer back to what you wrote, what you need to learn, and view potential staging school web sites to see if they offer what you need.

 

*     If you need to learn the intellectual and physical aspects of home staging look for a course that focuses on Home Staging Skills. 

 

*     If you want to start your own home staging business look for a course that has a significant focus on the business building element of a home staging business. 

 

*     If you need one element of training only, choose a company that provides training modules for that element.  You do not want to buy an element you do not need or want.

 

When you are researching potential home staging schools, remember the saying, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is not true.  Also, some schools give you a bunch of “stuff” along with your training course.   A t- shirt, hat, apron, book, picture hanging kit and the like.  The money spent on these trinkets is coming out of the profit they are making on your course fee.  You can buy trinkets later!

 

 

 

 Convenience: Now, is this training something you will:

 

*     accomplish from home on your schedule

*     go to a classroom to learn

*     travel  to and incur that travel expense to accomplish

*     try to find locally

 

With the commitments to our families, taking the kids to school, soccer practice, ballet lessons, it may be hard to commit to time away from the home.  Others may be able to leave for a 3 or 4 day session in another city or state.  What scenario fits your need? Determine that and use that criteria in your search for a Home Staging School.

 

These questions answer the C of Convenience.

 

Next, is Cost.  How much am I willing to pay for the training?

 

You should start with an estimate of what you have available to spend on your training.

 

Determine the Total Cost of the class not just the school fee.  If you have to travel, what will it cost in: time, gasoline, hotel, meal and tips, sitting fees, dog kennel fees.  Consider all of the things that have to adjust to make the journey and assign a dollar value to add to the course fee for your total cost.

 

Often, leaving town and working in classroom environment is the best option. Some people learn well in groups and love the interaction.  Others prefer the quiet and convenience of sitting at their home office or computer and working from there.  Decide which will maximize your experience. Only you know the best environment for your specific learning experience.

 

Once you know this total cost figure for out of town training, calculate it for local training, home study training, and on-line training. 

 

Only when you know the Cost, Content and Convenience should you make your decision.  And, one word of caution, doing this research and analysis should take a while.  Be Patient and Make A Good Choice.

 

 

 

Eileen Wheeler

Owner, The Asheville Home Staging Company

Co-Founder/Co-Owner, The Real Estate Home Staging School