I saw a local stager on our local news tonite. I thought she did a BRILLIANT job of explaining what home staging is all about. According to the story, professionally staged homes sell on average in 1/2 the time as unstaged homes.
The news piece didn't really say much about WHY sellers shouldn't attempt to stage their own homes, or stress that different stagers charge different rates for home staging services. Rates do vary. Quality costs just as it does with any other service industry. Potential service buyers should shop around and choose the best service they can afford.
It was disappointing in the conclusion to the story that the news broadcasters concluded that potential home sellers should 'seek' out certified home stagers, when in fact, NO such national standard exists for home staging. In fact, for an appropriate 'fee' one can buy every single existing certification, regardless of any actual experience or achieved results.
The bottom line is that RESULTS speak for themselves. What a stager can deliver matters more than what cerfications they have bothered to buy....or, earn, depending on the circumstances. Just as anyone can buy a degree online, but it doesn't mean that that you know your market, your trade, or what it takes to get the job done.
What you know and what you can deliever are very different things.
When shopping for any service, be it an electrician, a plumber, a realtor or a stager. SHOP AROUND. Lots of people will claim to be the 'best'. But utltimately, what you're willing to pay, and what you get for your dollars matters. There is a provider for nearly any service. Are you paying for a certificate, or are you paying for the best service available. Only you can decide.
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Hi Sassy,
Thanks for the compliment. I really tried to give a good impression to stagers. Unlike what we get from the TV program, the stagers.
It's really different when being filmed on TV. There was all kind of stuff they didn't put on air. I talked about a book I'm writing, and so much more about staging. I guess that's just how it goes. The morning sections were filmed live and then some pieces of several different filming done while camera was off were the edited parts. Those edited pieces were on air at noon, 5 & 6pm news and on the 10pm news.
The whole comment on certified stagers is due to those who figure that if they can decorate their homes beautifully, then they can stage. Not all can. There may be some, but those that attend a course and complete the course with a "certification" I would think may understand all the "whys" when placing and moving things around. I hope that we all know that staging and decorating are two very different things.
I just spoke to someone whose real estate agent told her how to stage her home and it's been on the market for quite awhile. The agent told the seller she was a stager. I looked on the MLS at her photos and there are definitely some changes needed. The home is very clean but needs some warming up and has some things in the wrong place. Things that just don't make sense for that particular room.
So I guess I have to say that some kind of training needs to be done. I'm open to those that have the nak and have read up on staging and understand it but for the most part they need something, even if it's just the 3 day course. This is just a personal opinion.
Thank you for posting and I'm glad you got to see the report.