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BARB SCHWARZ is the creator of Home Staging. She has taught her Staging concepts to more than one million people around the world since 1985. As President and CEO of StagedHomes.com, she has more than thirty-five years' experience in Staging and has Staged and sold more than 5,000 homes. Schwarz is the creator of the Accredited Staging Professional Course and ASP Designation and Certification. She holds the coveted Certified Speaking Professional designation from the National Speakers Association and has a weekly radio show in Seattle, Staging Life with Barb. Schwarz is also the author of Home Staging: The Winning Way to Sell Your House for More Money (published by Wiley).

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Let Barb Schwarz the creator of the Home Staging concept show you what it takes to make it in the Home Staging industry.

In 1972, Barb Schwarz coined the term "Staging" to refer to the process of preparing a home for sale, and turned her idea into a brand new industry. Today, thanks to Schwarz's pioneering efforts, Home Staging has become a big business with enormous profit potential.

If you are thinking about starting a Home Staging business of your own or just want to improve upon an existing one, then Building a Successful Home Staging Business is the book for you. Written in a straightforward and accessible style, this practical guide will show you exactly how to set up a Home Staging business, and help you run and maintain the business as it grows. Some of the issues outlined throughout these pages include:

• How to write a business plan, market your company, and make the most of your resources
• How to work through the consulting, bidding, and Staging processes
• How to establish solid relationships with real estate agents and brokers
• How to obtain your Accredited Staging Professional (ASP) designation

Filled with in-depth insights, expert advice, and proven strategies that Schwarz has developed over the course of her stellar career, Building a Successful Home Staging Business will put you in the perfect position to profit from the many opportunities that exist in this dynamic market.

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For more than thirty-five years, Barb Schwarz creator of the Home Staging industry and pioneer of the concept has Staged and sold thousands of homes. During this time, she has also educated well over one million real estate professionals about Staging, and helped more than 12,000 people attain the Accredited Staging Professional (ASP) designation. Now, with Building a Successful Home Staging Business, Schwarz explains how you can set up your own Home Staging business and join the growing legions of creative men and women who are changing the way real estate is marketed and sold.

Home Stagers are an integral part of today's real estate industry. They give homes that fresh, picture-perfect look that helps sellers receive top dollar. Home Stagers are in high demand, and getting in on the ground floor of this business is an opportunity you don't want to miss. That's why Schwarz has created Building a Successful Home Staging Business.

Written in a straightforward and accessible style, this reliable resource will show you how to launch an exciting, new career in the Home Staging industry, and help you run and maintain your business as it grows. Building on the proven concepts found in Schwarz's previous book, Home Staging: The Winning Way to Sell Your House for More Money, this new guide provides you with the various strategies and techniques needed to achieve unparalleled success in this field.

Throughout these pages, Schwarz reveals how she started her own successful Home Staging empire, and discusses the specific steps you need to take in order to make your own Home Staging business prosper, including how to:

• Write a business plan
• Give bids for Staging projects
• Market your business
• Follow basic Home Staging techniques
• Establish professional business practices
• Establish and nurture relationships with real estate agents and brokers
• Obtain your ASP designation
• And much more

Home Staging works! It is a creative process that delivers tangible results and benefits both sellers and buyers. Whether you are thinking about starting a Home Staging business or want to improve upon an existing one, this timely guide can help you master the essential elements of a successful Home Staging business.

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Building a Successful Home Staging Business

John Wiley & Sons

Chapter One

Staging is selling your space, not your things. -BARB SCHWARZ

I started Staging houses and condominiums 35 years ago. At that time, I discovered what you will find today: It works!

For a good number of those years, I traveled around the country speaking to real estate professionals about the benefits of Home Staging. I estimate that I addressed more than a million people in those 14 years. You cannot speak to more than a million people and expect that the word won't get out! I believed wholeheartedly in my message and the need to convey it to real estate agents across the country. Because of this, the good news about Staging has spread. People are Staging houses from coast to coast. Television programs about selling real estate are often about Staging, whether the producers identify it as such or not. Magazine articles and web sites tout its benefits. Real estate agents suggest that their clients stage their properties, and with increasing frequency, sellers request that their houses be Staged.

All this is extremely gratifying to me, as I came up with the term decades ago when I developed the concept. Back then, I had no idea of the impact Staging would have on the real estate market, but recent years have shown that it has changed the real estate business forever.

WHY STAGE?

The most compelling reason sellers should agree to Stage their home is to get the best price for the property. Getting top dollar is a win-win situation for everyone involved: The homeowners can afford "more house" when they buy their next property, the real estate agent's commission is higher, and the Stager can add another successful job to the resume and a rewarding deposit to the bank account.

You might argue that the only people in the equation who do not win are the home buyers, but that's not so. Even they benefit because they have bought the house they want. The Staging enabled them to see exactly what they purchased, so there are no surprises come moving day. They also learn firsthand the value of Staging, which means that when they decide to sell they will be receptive to the idea and, in turn, will get a high price for the same house.

I get feedback from ecstatic sellers all the time. Recently, Sharon from Illinois wrote to tell me her Staged house had gone on the market on Wednesday. She said, "On Friday I had two offers for more than list price! Obviously, your service worked, despite skepticism from many family and friends, who all thought I was nuts." Or how about this from a seller who asked that I not use her name: "I told you I would let you know when we sold our house, so here I am. We sold it today. It was on the market for six days! I will enthusiastically recommend [Staging] to anyone I know selling a home."

I hear success stories from Stagers, as well. Two Stagers named Rahul and Melissa sent me an e-mail about a couple who had decided not to Stage because of the cost and because they had an active toddler. They assured their real estate agent that the house was "neat, very well kept." But it sat on the market for three months without a single offer. Then they called Rahul and Melissa for help. As they tell it, "While we were there helping hang pictures, rearrange furniture, and clean out the china cabinet, a real estate agent called and wanted to show the house right away. We worked furiously to Stage it and after only one and a half hours of work, they received three offers in two days."

The process of Home Staging is a never-ending circle-one that revolves around a desire to help people do the best they can with what, in most cases, is their most valuable asset. This is why I created Home Staging years ago-it was an act of love. And if you're uncomfortable with that idea, perhaps you should put down this book and think about another profession!

WHAT IS HOME STAGING?

During the more than 35 years that I have been in the real estate and Staging businesses, I have Staged and sold thousands of houses. When I started, I made every mistake in the book, but gradually I learned. Because I wanted to share what I knew with others in the business, I started teaching fellow real estate agents in greater Seattle, Washington, where I then lived. The idea slowly began to catch on, and today I am proud to say that with the concept of Staging, I am working to change the economy of real estate both in the United States and around the world.

Okay, okay. Enough about me! What is Home Staging? It is converting a home into a house that can be merchandised as a product. It is very much part of the real estate industry and not, as many believe, the decorating business. It's all about preparing the house for sale so that the client prospers.

Even so, Staging has nothing to do with the condition of the house. By this I mean that if the house needs a new roof or furnace or has a cracked foundation or sagging front porch, it needs more than Staging. These major concerns fall to the listing agent to discuss with the client. Once they are addressed, the house still needs to be Staged.

Staging is not decorating. Decorating is a way to personalize your living space, to announce to everyone who walks through the front door who you are and what you like. Staging is the opposite. It's the act of depersonalizing, taking the home out of the house without leaving it sterile or uninviting. It's the process of organizing any home inside and out so that buyers can see what they are getting and can, after a simple walk-through, start to imagine their family living inside those walls. If you keep in mind that when you decorate you are personalizing your home but when you Stage you are depersonalizing it, you will never confuse the two.

WHY STAGING WORKS

Time and again I have witnessed a house that is not Staged sit on the market for months or even years and then, once it's been Staged, sell in days-and very often for the full asking price, or more.

Staging works because it allows buyers to see the house as it really is, without the distractions of the homeowner's clutter, collections, and, in some cases, extreme taste. A house shines when it is Staged. I mean this both literally and figuratively. Literally, the windows twinkle, the walls are free of scuff marks, the appliances and countertops sparkle, and the lamps glow warmly. A clean, clutterfree house welcomes everyone so that, regardless of the furniture, artwork, or color quirks, the buyers can really see what they are getting. The polish Stagers put on the property reassures the buyers about making the enormous financial commitment a house demands.

Trained Stagers create additional wealth for home sellers, which is why I always explain that Staging is an investment. And in nearly every case where trained Stagers are involved, it's an investment that pays off handsomely.

As I tell all the students who sign up for my three-day ASP Staging course, I experienced the benefits of Staging firsthand once again when I went back to selling real estate after 15 years away from it. During that time I had been a traveling speaker who addressed real estate agents around the country on the...