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How much money did you make starting out as a Home Stager & other ?s

By Karen Otto

Home Stager with Home Star Staging

September 13, 2012 11:35 PM

Inquiring minds want to know; how much money did you make starting out as a home stager?

This year I was interviewed by a job search website about my career as a home stager. They asked some very pointed but relevant questions and only asked that I honestly answered them to the best of my abilities.

I typically get 2 to 3 inquiries a week from folks who'd like to start a home staging business and this interview gave me the perfect platform to craft my answers and provide them to those same inquiring minds.

One of the biggest questions many people want to ask is how much money can you make in this business. Well here's a portion of my answer below.

How much money did/do you make starting out as a Home Stager?

A better question is how much money I invested to start my home staging business. I was not making money when I first started out. Before anything else, I invested in a home staging course when I first considered this as a career option. I would encourage anyone who is interested in starting a home staging business to do their homework when it comes to home staging training courses. While I enjoyed the class itself the business side of learning how to run a home staging company was a bit inadequate. However over the course of several years and the “stager’s school of hard knocks” I managed to survive and thrive.

My passion and belief in this business and the knowledge that this is a must have service for anyone selling a home has driven me when a paycheck for a long time did not. Currently I’m a course trainer for a company that is staging business intensive focused for anyone serious about starting a home staging business; www.StagingandRedesign.com learning from a working home stager in your market is often a key for some to understanding how to run a successful home staging business.

Initially any money I made as a home stager went right back into my business. I’ve built an inventory of accessories and props for use in staging projects that need items to enhance the home as I offer this service to my clients. For the first 3 years I did not actually “make” money but reinvested it into my business. Although I never took a loan for the business it is not uncommon for those considering operating a small business to do so when starting out.

Surprised? To find out more information and read the answers to even more good questions please visit JobShadow.com here!

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Home Star Staging Logo Selling a home in North Texas? Exceptional Home Staging services for Dallas, Richardson, Plano, Allen, McKinney, Frisco, Carrollton,TX and surrounding cities.

Affordable pre-list home staging property consultations
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Owner occupied property staging (utilizing owner supplied furniture & accessories or including some of our own inventory)
Vacant & investment property staging (Full and partial rental furniture packages, accessories and staging services)
Is your office interested in hosting a home staging class or presentation? Just ask! Contact Karen at 496-964-0516 or Karen@homestarstaging.com
Interested in learning how to start a successful home staging business in TX, OK or NW LA? I can help! I the hands on course trainer for the Staging and Redesign team. Stage a real home for sale, get a true portfolio of your work and start collecting your statistics, all key components to running your business.

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Sharon Tara

Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH

Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

I read the whole article....really enjoyed it. Your answers will be very helpful to anyone considering the business! There are so many factors involved in this business before any real money is made....something most people don't realize.

Sep 14, 2012 01:46 AM

Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging

Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR - Portland, OR

"Staging Consultations that Sell Portland Homes"

Karen ~ Thanks for sharing the article with us. Like you I've received numerous calls and emails from people wanting to know how to become a home stager, and if training is necessary. I like your statement, "Knowing how to stage is one thing, knowing how to run a successful home staging business is quite another." This is probably why many staging companies go out of business after a year or two. The business end of staging is critical if you want to be successful. Your interview was a great example of why education continues to be an important component of our industry -- thanks for being on the forefront!

Sep 14, 2012 02:00 AM

Karen Otto

Home Star Staging - Plano, TX

Plano Home Staging, Dallas Home Staging, www.homes

Thank you for taking the time to read it Sharon, it means alot! I really agree that most people who don't do their homework when considering staging as a career are often baffled as to why it fails. It's a lot of hard work with little results in the beginning (and longer for many) and often the returns aren't near the investment.

Hi Maureen, the business of running a business is where most will fail according to the book The E Myth Revisited. It's a powerful little book with great insight as to why small businesses fail and what one can do about it. Whether someone takes a training class or a small business development class, ideally they need to understand how to run their business before opening their doors to do the work!

Sep 14, 2012 07:37 AM

Melissa Marro

Keller Williams First Coast Realty - The Marro Team - Orange Park, FL

Jacksonville Real Estate and Home Staging

Karen - Fantastic blog! I think so many who get into the industry believe claims that they will be making $100,000 their first year. Now, they may have that much in sales (my first year in staging I had $180,000 gross sales) but how much did they take home of that? (In my case I actually reinvested 100% of that back into my business and still went into debt because I decided to own my own furniture, etc.)

In the SAR home stging training course, where you are one of our wonderful instructors, we focus the majority of attention on the business side. That's where most new stagers fail.

Sep 15, 2012 01:49 AM

Karen Otto

Home Star Staging - Plano, TX

Plano Home Staging, Dallas Home Staging, www.homes

Thank you Melissa! One of the reasons I joined SAR was the fact that it was a no holes barred staging business focused course for those serious about wanting to start and stay in business as a home stager. When most of us started over 5 to 10 years ago, the information was a bit lacking - now what we've had the experience of time & work under our belts and know the ins and outs and have survived! the information we bring as working staging professionals to our students is so valuable. Until stagers treat their business as a business, there will still be multiple stories of those who couldn't make it. This industry is desperately needed by so many people - we can help put more money in the pockets of a country whose people's biggest investment is generally in their home!

Sep 15, 2012 02:16 AM

Julia Maher

Nestings: Connecticut Home Staging and Model Homes - Fairfield, CT

Connecticut Home Stager

Money? What's that? LOL When I first started, it was a big investment, and I continue to keep my small rental inventory updated. I'm glad that after 5+ years in business, I can pay my own bills and buy groceries. Now, if I could only afford some new shoes...

Sep 15, 2012 03:34 AM

Karen Otto

Home Star Staging - Plano, TX

Plano Home Staging, Dallas Home Staging, www.homes

Amen to new shoes, buying groceries & one of my goals was to help pay off student loans for my kid's college so far so good Julie!

Sep 15, 2012 04:27 AM

Kathy Streib

Cypress, TX

Home Stager/Redesign

Karen- excellent article and vey honest as well. I took a course as well and I have to agree that what was lacking was the business side of it. I think most stagers end up reinvesting what they make the first year and the first year is also their "graduate class" in business for staging 101.

Sep 15, 2012 05:26 AM

Karen Otto

Home Star Staging - Plano, TX

Plano Home Staging, Dallas Home Staging, www.homes

Thank you for taking the time to read it Kathy! Good points about the first year...for me it was about 3!

Sep 15, 2012 11:37 PM

Heather Cook

Beyond the Stage Homes - Kitchener, ON

Delivering beautifully staged spaces

I think this article was wonderfully - and candidly - written. Although the course we took focused a lot on running the business end, it didn't cover many of the situations we found ourselves in within the first year or so in business. The course DID however give us the necessary guidelines so that we could create business strategies which worked for us. That being said, it took us almost three years to start drawing a steady paycheck from the business as we re-invested our revenue back into our inventory and marketing on a regular basis.

Too many aspiring stagers think our industry is a cash grab which is why we see so few actually succeed. Great article Karen - thanks for keeping it real!

Sep 18, 2012 01:50 AM

Jo Adams

Jo Adams Properties Investment Property Specialist & Real Estate Services, LLC - Mountain Home, AR

Investment Property Specialist

Very good article Karen. SAR does such great work, makes me wish I still lived in Collin County! It is so important to have others locally for support and to learn from each other. Your candid answers should make future stagers take a good hard look at the instruction and training they invest in. As with an industry, continuing education is a must.

Oct 13, 2012 11:59 AM