From a townhouse in Baltimore to a condo in Silver Springs, the property market of Maryland is buoyant and filled with an eclectic selection of homes. As a home stager, working in Maryland offers a fascinating and varied career.
If you’re passionate about design and have an interest in real estate, home staging could be the profession you’ve been looking for. Part art, part sales, it’s a diverse job that can be incredibly rewarding, not just financially, but with the feeling of satisfaction when you create the perfect staging for a property, and it goes on to sell quickly and for a price that exceeds the vendor’s expectations.
Stuck in a dead-end job? Working in a boring office? Or perhaps you simply want to unleash all that pent-up creativity. Find out more about becoming a home stager in Maryland. It may not be as difficult as you think.
Fast track your way to becoming a home stager…
So, how do you become a home stager in Maryland?
We’ll look at this from the point of view of starting your own home staging business. If you want to start with getting a home staging job, read our articles on resume tips, how to get a home staging job, and our overview of home staging careers.
First of all, you’ll need to decide if you have what it takes to become a successful home stager. Do you have an eye for design? Do you instinctively know what colors work best in a particular space? Do you step into someone else’s home and notice that it would benefit from some low lighting here or a rug there? On the other side of things, are you happy to get stuck in and get your hands dirty? Not all the work of a home stager is glamorous. When you’re paying such close attention to detail, your job may well include cleaning, dusting and ensuring the property is spotless.
Being a home stager is hard work, but it’s also incredibly fulfilling. Do you think you have what it takes? Then read on to find out more…
Steps to becoming a home stager in Maryland
So you’ve got ambition, and you’re excited to become a home stager in Maryland, let’s take a look at the first steps to making these dreams a reality…
Step 1: Take a home staging certification course in Maryland
Home staging certification in Maryland is not compulsory, but it is incredibly beneficial. Do note though, that when you take home staging training in Maryland, not all course providers will offer certification, so it’s important to choose one that does. Certification gives potential clients peace of mind that you are trained and skilled and will do an amazing job staging their property.
The Home Staging Institute has successfully certified thousands of home stagers in the US. You’ll learn a wealth of home staging techniques, alongside complementary skills such as marketing, running a small business and how to deal with clients. Did you know you could be a certified home stager in as little as 4 weeks? Our part time courses are flexible and accessible, there really are no barriers to becoming a certified home stager in Maryland.
Step 2: Understand the local Maryland market
Once you have achieved your certification and built up an impressive skillset, it’s time to do more research within your local area. By gaining a deep understanding of Maryland, you’ll be better prepared to achieve the very best results. Each area will differ slightly. Staging houses in busy cities is different to staging those out in the countryside. Different property types attract different types of buyers, and likewise, each type of buyer has different requirements. There’s no point staging a fun children’s playroom in a tiny city centre apartment that’s most likely going to attract single professionals, but add this feature to a larger property and you’re showcasing a joyful family life to potential buyers.
Step 3: Learn from other home stagers in Maryland
When you’re first starting out you can learn a lot from other home stagers. First of all, don’t be afraid to reach out to other people within your profession. While some may want to keep their tips and tricks all to themselves, you’ll hopefully find plenty more who are willing and eager to share their expertise and swap ideas with you. In addition, you can check out the websites of home stagers in Maryland to see what they’re offering and how they present themselves. Presentation is hugely important when you’re a home stager, think of it as staging your website and social media presence.
You need to make the very best impression on anyone who finds their way to your site or social media feed. The average time someone spends on a website is just 45 seconds, so your site needs to be attention-grabbing and easy to navigate to the pertinent information. By researching how other home stagers are achieving this, you can use this information when you’re building up your own online presence.
Step 4: Start a home staging business in Maryland
The balance to the creativity of being a home stager in Maryland, is the business side of things. You need to be a savvy businessperson if you’re going to succeed in this industry.
Some points to think about when you’re setting up your new business…
- Register your business
- Decide how much you will charge for your services
- Get good accounting software or hire an accountant
- Take out liability insurance and any other policies you may need
- Liaise with web designers and SEO experts to create and run your website and social media pages (we suggest Squarespace)
- Build up a list of reliable tradespeople, suppliers, and movers
Step 5: Begin marketing
The next step is to market your business, to bring it to a wider audience and sell your services through striking visuals and persuasive text. Consider all angles, every approach. There are more than six million people in Maryland, and each one could begin their search for a home stager in a different way. Some will go straight to Facebook, others will head to their favorite business directory or hit the search engines, and some people will simply ask their friends for recommendations.
Getting your business listed high in the search engines can be difficult. You’re competing against all the other home stagers, who of course all want their business to be up there at the top of the search results. It’s a good idea to set aside a budget for advertising, then you can take advantage of paid advertising campaigns, and have a marketing company fine-tune your website to have the best chance of ranking highly when people search for home stagers in Maryland.
Other facts about becoming a home stager in Maryland
How much do home stagers make in Maryland?
Our findings indicate that home stagers in Maryland generally earn between $40,000 and $60,000 annually, with hourly rates ranging from $20 to $30. Professionals with significant experience or those in high-demand areas can earn over $70,000 per year. Income can fluctuate based on factors such as location, client base, and the volume of projects undertaken.
Do I need a license to become a home stager in Maryland?
No, home stagers in Maryland do not need a license in order to work within the state. If you’re concerned that without a license potential clients will have no way to verify your credentials as a home stager, then you could consider working towards a home staging certificate with the Home Staging Institute.
Do you need a degree to become a home stager in Maryland?
Degree level qualifications are not needed to become a home stager. If you do want to become a certified home stager, then you’ll find some great courses you can take in Maryland.
