I was recently featured in an articlein one of our local newspapers.  It is not the first time this has occurred, so I kind of knew what to expect once it was printed.  Not a flood of calls from RE agents and home sellers, or even builders looking to hire me for my expertise.  Not more media looking to feature me in their outlet. Not even an old friend who saw me in the paper and wanted to reconnect.

I got exactly what I expected - a whole lot of staging wannabes calling and emailing to find out either how to get into the business or wanting to shadow me on the job because it 'looks like fun'.  Of the emails I received a few were honest and admitted that this is not something they want to do as their own business - they want to work for me, or with me, 'just for fun'.  Yes, it is a fun job, but here are a five reasons why no one should ever stage just for fun.

1. Staging is a time and labor intensive career.  It is not enough to like to 'redecorate' other peoples houses.  You must keep up with the latest market and decor trends for your area and nationally,  be able to speak knowledgeably about the area a home is located in - whether it be neighborhood or rural area, be able to manage your time and inventory in a way that maximizes your business growth and profit margin.  Most of these things are not fun.  A lot of times they are not even interesting.

2.  Real Estate is serious business.  It is the single largest investment most people with ever make in their lives. A very large number of those people have their life savings wrapped up in their homes and may be facing financial ruin should they be unable to sell their homes or turn a profit once they do.  Why would they hire someone who stages just for their own amusement and does not take it seriously enough to invest in the continuing education required to do it effectively?  That is a big risk for them to take so that you can have a little fun. 

3.  You must be able to separate your personal taste and preferences from your work.  No two staging projects are the same.  Each house and seller has its own unique set of needs and requirements and you must be able to work within those requirements to be successful.  Trying to put your personal stamp on each project will doom the sale to failure as the objective of staging is not to 'decorate' a house in the way that YOU like, but to present it in a way that it will appeal to the largest number of buyers.  Personal preference - the sellers or yours - can have the opposite effect. 

4. Doing things for fun is all about you and this is a service industry, meaning it cannot be about you but must be about your client.  That about covers that.

5. You can ruin the market for those who do take staging seriously and are working very hard to make it a viable business for themselves.  When people stage as a hobby there can often be awful results.  Dabbling in such a serious endeavor can have devastating results for a home seller, builder, or real estate investor that will in turn give stagers a bad name.  Would it be fun to know that you gave professional stagers a bad reputation and adversely affected their businesses?  Yes, it is a business and should be treated as such.

Yes, staging can be fun.  However, staging is a very small amount of what is required of you.  You must have insurance and legal contracts.  You must be able to bill your clients and collect the fees.  You must be able to complete projects in a  timely manner and on budget - or prepare to deal with the consequences of angry clients and loss of profit.  You must be prepared to educate RE agents and sellers about the importance of staging as not every one is receptive or 'gets it' like you do. 

It is a long road to becoming a successful real estate stager.  Many new businesses fail within the first year and stagers are no exception.  It takes hard work and commitment if you really want to be successful.  If this is still something you want to do, then roll up your sleeves and get to work because you have a lot to learn. Now doesn't that sound like fun?