Starting a Home Staging Business. Who to target with my marketing. Who are potential clients in this market?

[MsKnowItaLL]

I suggest you contact RESA, the Real Estate Staging Association. This is the national trade organization for all stagers, regardless of training or background. There are five RESA stagers in Arizona, the link below will take you to that page on the site. Give them a call, see if one near you can meet you for coffee. Most people who have taken the time to belong to a trade organization do so because of the peer to peer support and will be very helpful.
There is a national convention in Las Vegas that began two years ago. Next year it will be in February. It's a great place to meet fellow stagers, get answers and connect. This year I believe we had almost 400 attend from North America.

Staging is a new business and outside of California, stagers are still very much at a point of building visibility and credibility. Plenty of people still don't "get it".

Most stagers charge a consultation fee , anywhere from 125- 350.00 + for a two hour walk through and often a written report. Many charge by the square foot. Price varies according to area and what your market will bear. If the seller wants a full staging ( moving furniture etc) you can quote an hourly rate or a project rate.

Many stagers own their own inventory to stage vacant properties. Have you thought about where you will rent furniture or how you will go about purchasing enough inventory to stage and where you will warehouse it? Remember high end properties require high end furniture so you need a supplier for that.

If you stage only occupied properties , decide on a price range. Who do you want to target? What demographic? What price range homes are selling in your area and which ones are not moving?
Start reading about real estate nationally and locally.

It is indeed a business. Start with a business plan. If you don't know how to create one, google it. This will save you a lot of headaches later. Have a plan, a goal, a focus. You need an assumed name certificate, contracts,insurance, a good customer relations management system for your computer, bookkeeping software, an accountant and you need to create visibility for your business with social media and marketing. Will you remain a one person company or will you eventually hire people? If you have not had business training in another career, think about taking a class either at your local community college or perhaps a staging training company. There are many out there. Just do your homework and get recommendations. You will find a healthy discussion on LinkedIn on the RESA national page about many staging topics from what are the best tools to what to include in contracts.

Join the local real estate group. In Dallas all of our agents belong to MetroTex. Stagers can join in an affiliate capacity. Join the Women's Council of Realtors. Go to these meetings and meet Realtors. As an affiliate of your local real estate trade organization you should be able to go on MLS tours and see what is on the market.

Go to Open Houses and see what's out there. Are people staging? Do the homes look like they need help?

Are you comfortable speaking to groups? If not join Toastmasters and get good! Create a Powerpoint presentation of before and after photos and offer to speak to local real estate agencies. Don't confine yourself to Realtors. Speak at PTA meetings, your local library, a furniture store, women's groups, you name it! Many sellers will look for a stager first and a Realtor second now because stagers know all the Realtors! We are excellent resources for everything to do with the home. Remember that, you will have to become a local expert. Know the painters, carpenters, landscapers, hardwood floor companies, carpet companies. Sellers and agents turn to stagers for a lot. Check out the links below and good luck!


Karen Eubank
Eubank Staging
http://www.eubankstaging.com
RESA Dallas Chapter President