This the second part of a series I’m writing about the overlap of having a real estate license and also being a home stager.
Today, I’m focusing on a home stager who wants to make the bulk of her income from home staging, but who also happen to have a real estate license.
You can catch up on Part One where I talked about real estate agents who happen to be home stagers. In other words, they rely primarily on earning real estate commissions.
A home stager who happens to have a real estate license
Generally, you’ll fall into this category if your primary interest and passion is in the art of home staging.
- You would rather decorate homes to sell then find the real estate clients to buy them.
- You’d rather stage homes than have your own real estate listings (and all the associated marketing costs).
If you want to be a home stager who happens to have a real estate license, that can be an advantage, though its certainly not essential.
I don’t have a real estate license and I’ve made a great living staging homes since 2002.
This discussion is aimed at people who already do both and are trying to decide whether they should maintain their real estate license. Typical reasons they might think of are:
- Greater credibility.
- Access to information and leads.
- Being taken seriously by other real estate agents who can be less friendly to home stagers.
It’s worth considering that many people don’t love or trust real estate agents. It’s a 100% commission position, which by its very nature has to make you question whose interests will ultimately come first in a potential transaction.
Sure, you may know individual agents who you respect and like. But in general, most people don’t have a lot of respect or trust for real estate agents. I know I’ll get flamed for saying that, but it’s true.
You might enjoy this article I wrote on 5 real estate agent warning signs.
My point is that if you happen to be a real estate agent, it’s not necessarily going to give you instant credibility with the general public. It might with other real estate agents, but not with the general public.
That said, having your real estate license gives you easy access to real estate information that your average home stager would not be able to access easily. At least for now, but that is changing quickly!
Many people hire home stagers before they’ve hired a real estate agent
Since 2002, I’ve personally discovered that most home sellers hire me before they’ve chosen their real estate agent.
This means your home staging business can be an excellent lead generator for your real estate business. I’ll discuss this further in my next post in this series.
Until then, please share you comments on the discussion so far and post any questions related to this overall topic that I can tackle in a future articles.
I’d also love more points of view so feel free to click the “Share” buttons below and invite your home staging friends to comment too!
I was wondering if Real Estate agents would view you as their competition if you are active as an agent and staged their listing. That could prevent them from referring you.
Shelly, You raise an excellent point. While a licensed real estate agent is prevented from doing anything to solicit another real estate agent’s client, it would be only natural for them to worry about this.
Not to put to fine a point on it, but how many wives like to introduce their husbands to other attractive women?
this is a good point but in my real estate classes, I also learned that about 80% of home sales happen amongst cooperating brokers who agree to split commissions. So I wonder if this relationship could be a win-win? You are helping the agent sell faster and for a higher price, win for him/her, while you get paid to stage the home. You are legally prevented from poaching the sale so if you can put them at ease over that issue you both have the opportunity to create a working relationship that can benefit you both in the future. When you have a buyer who needs a specific listing you don’t have access to you may call on one of these agents and vice versa, which could lead to increased sales for both of you in the long run, not to mention if they have a seller who requires staging, you are top of mind for them as a referral, which means you may increase sales of not only homes but staging services over the long run.
thanks for your great posts Debra and interesting comments from all.
Summer
Thanks for commenting Summer. It’s true that you can’t go after another realtor’s listing. However, many home sellers contact a home stager before ever listing. Which means you’re in an ideal position to get that listing after the trust/relationship you’ve built up in the home staging consultation process.
Hi Debra, I started my staging business about 6 years ago and this is the first year that I’m actually starting to really network since in the past, I’d only do jobs for a relative who’s an agent. However, just last year, I did get my license so that we could work together as a team but also to have a back-up plan because of how the economy was looking last year. Now, as you know, the market has changed which is great for stagers and sellers. I’ve been increasing my advertising for staging so that I could put that money towards Real Estate. People may not know that it costs money to start in this business, probably about the same in what you would start off with staging. Realtors need to invest in business cards, the MLS, their fliers, CAR, NAR, etc. I do agree that if I were to sell a home, I can include my staging service as part of their package which may look more attractive to a seller. However, I wonder, do I need to disclose to each agent that I too am an agent when they call me to stage their listing? That has never come up. I’m able to talk the talk with the agent when we discuss market conditions and the importance of staging, but I’ve only mentioned to one agent that I have my license and it wasn’t an issue. Great article by the way!
Hi Lilly, Thanks for sharing your experiences. Certainly a real estate business costs way more to support than a home staging one. As home stagers, we don’t need to do any paid advertising or pay a broker, association memberships, etc. At least that’s the case for my students who follow the marketing strategies and tactics I teach in the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program.
To your question about whether you have to disclose you are an agent to your fellow agents…. that would be something that’s set by your local real estate licensing board. You must follow their guidelines.
Having a hard time deciding whether to get my real estate license and do both selling and home staging. My passion is for setting up homes but am in a very rural area and thought maybe becoming an agent may be helpful with my home staging business
Kathy I wrote a free report which you may find helpful with this question. It’s called, “Should I start a home staging business in this economy?” I talk about how to access the level of demand for home staging in your area. You can learn more and grab your free copy at-> https://stagingdiva.com/economyreport.html
You’ll also have to look at the costs of taking (and maintaining) your real estate license and then weigh that against the anticipated commissions you might earn.
Real estate is such a good market to invest in I think. It’s sad that not everyone loves real estate agents. I think maybe it’s because lots of people don’t really like salesmen and that’s exactly what real estate agents do. Just make sure that the homes you sell you’d feel comfortable with living in.
I think some people don’t like real estate agents because they’ve experienced being deliberately mislead by them. There are many good agents out there who have their clients’ best interests at heart, but they’re not as easy to find as one might like.