Lots of people jump into becoming real estate agents without thinking through what the day-to-day career really entails. They may not even realize there are related careers that will give them the "real estate buzz" without being an agent.
Some who are studying for their real estate license, or already have one, wonder what to do when they discover they’re actually more interested in home staging than being a REALTOR.
They discover their passion for color and decorating, and then question what benefits they’ll have from keeping their real estate license. I’ll address these issues here.
Real Estate or Home Staging, Which Comes First?
One of the things you’re going to have to think about is whether you want to be:
A real estate agent who happens to stage homes.
OR
A home stager who happens to have a real estate license.
This is not as subtle a distinction as you might think!
A real estate agent who happens to stage homes
If you chose “a real estate agent who happens to stage homes,” then your focus will be on earning your living from real estate commissions. You might stage your listings for free, or you might charge for it.
But, either way, you’ll be looking at home staging as your secondary business.
More of your time will be spent on trying to get your own listings or sell other people’s listings as a buyers agent.
With this route, your “pay day” only comes after a deal closes. You have many expenses along the way to market your own (or others’) real estate listings.
Plus you have expenses driving clients around to showing appointments. This can go on for months or years before your real estate clients actually buy, or sell, anything!
Remember you don’t get paid until they do. That’s why home stagers often make more money than real estate agents.
Did you get into the real estate business only to discover you love creating the actual presentation of the house itself more than you love selling it? Are you a real estate agent who is also a home stager? How is that working out for you?
Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Voice of Possiblity Group Inc.
Home staging and marketing expert Debra Gould loves buying, staging and flipping properties which lead to her becoming a home stager. She then created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program to help others learn how to make a living decorating houses to sell. She has over 7,000 students in 22 countries.
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