My wife is interested in taking on being a homestager

Tell your wife to check out the "Stage It Forward" group on Active Rain. There she can find a ton of information about the business of home staging as well as inspriational before and after photos. Good luck to her!

Charles,

I'd be happy to chat with her.

631-899-3305

Chuck -- she may find this post helpful as it was written for people looking into a career as a home stager.  There is also much info here on A/R if she digs through the archives and reads current posts.

Maureen,

i read your letter and LOVED it!  If you don't mind, I would like to use that in response to the almost weekly inquiries I receive from gals who say, "I have no formal training or experience, but everyone says I have a good eye.  I helped my friend and she loved it.  Do you have a job or can you tell me how to get into staging.  It looks so fun"!

Only those of us who have spent years getting trained, and gaining experience, felt the rejection inherent in starting this business, spent the money on marketing, purchasing a huge amount of inventory, etc., can know how difficult it is.  I really appreciate that Chuck's wife would be interested, but there is so much more to it than meets the eye.  If, after reading your letter, someone is still interested, then and only then do they have a chance.

Chuck, I wish your wife well but you did the smart thing by asking experienced stagers what they thought.  Feel free to have her email me as well at news@salazarstaging.com.  I will answer any questions she may have.

Mel

hi, Chuck:
I remember Maureen's letter as well - there's a lot of good information.

Try to remember that all businesses are local and local markets will have their own character.  For example, there are a few home stagers in the Austin Area that have been doing it for 10 years or so. As a result, they have "defined" Home Staging in their terms.  It took me over two years to finally break in and find REALTORs who understand the service/product I provide versus the service/product previously "defined" as Home Staging. An uphill battle only begins to describe it...

Which leads to my second point: Home Staging is more than just decorating.  At least, I think it should be. There are Home Stagers who provide the "Lipstick on a Pig" service locally.  But you can put out all the throws you want, hang all the window-treatments you can, and tie up every towel in the house with raffia... but a dirty, ugly home is still going to look like a dirty, ugly home.

Lastly, and I recommend this question to every Home Stager who gets those phone calls from inquiring minds:  "What's your In?" Being new to this area, I did not have an extensive network of friends and relatives.  I was probably the only person who did not have a friend or relative who was a REALTOR.  Every Home Stager I know, with the exception of myself and one other, started their business by having a friend or a relative get them in the door at a RE company.

Good luck!