Today’s real estate market is red-hot, and buyers have a limited supply of homes to compete over. If a seller wants to win the highest bidder, the best thing they can do is stage their home before they put it on the market. Whether you’re in Albany or Rochester, Brooklyn or Long Island, home staging is a thriving industry in New York’s real estate market. If you want to learn how to become a home stager in New York and build your own lucrative business, keep reading!
Each month people from throughout New York sign up for our popular home staging certification courses to learn all they need to know about becoming a home stager, or starting their own home staging business. Take a minute to see if our certification course is right for you!
So, how do you become a home stager in New York?
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.
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Becoming a home stager in New York is a relatively simple process. The first thing you should do is look into obtaining a home staging certification. Once you have that under your belt, you can dig deeper into the local market, meet other home stagers to learn from, and finally, begin and market your own home staging business.
Let’s explore these steps in-depth.
Steps to becoming a home stager in New York
To become a home stager in New York, there are five main steps to follow, which we will explore in depth below.
Before getting started, please keep in mind that we are exploring this process from the perspective of someone who’s looking to start a business. However, there are plenty of home staging jobs in New York that you can get without starting your own business. If you’re more interested in taking that career route, the first three steps below still apply! You can also check out the other articles mentioned above for more help finding a home staging job.
Step 1: Take a home staging certification course in New York
While obtaining a home staging certification or license isn’t a requirement to become a home stager in New York, becoming certified will not only help you fine-tune your knowledge of the industry but will also give you much more credibility in the marketplace, which is essential for starting a home staging business in New York.
There are a handful of home staging training options in New York, some of which can award you a home staging certification upon completion.
The Home Staging Institute has been training home stagers in New York professionally since 2007. Throughout the years, we’ve watched many of our graduates go on to start successful home staging businesses of their own.
Step 2: Understand the local New York market
One of the most essential steps to becoming a home stager in New York is to gain a thorough understanding of the local real estate market. In a state where prices and property types vary immensely between upstate and the city, yet properties in each area are sought out by buyers with an equal amount of vigor, it’s critical to know your stuff. For example, staging a penthouse in Manhattan couldn’t be more different from staging a Victorian house in the Finger Lakes. The best home stagers will be successful in staging both.
Step 3: Learn from other home stagers in New York
As with many businesses today, if you want to start a home staging business in New York, networking will be one of the keys to your success. After you conduct some research to learn about the current home staging jobs in New York, you can seek out other home stagers in the state to learn more about the market and the opportunities within it.
Connecting with other home stagers can give you a clearer picture of which businesses are thriving, help you learn more about the various services they offer, the different niches they operate in, and even help you get a good idea of what they charge for their services.
Joining a home staging trade association is one of the easiest and most effective ways to connect with other professionals in the industry. Through these associations, you can find networking events to attend, receive industry updates, and find out about unique educational opportunities.
A simple online search for ‘home stagers in Buffalo’ or ‘home stagers in New York City’ will provide dozens of suggestions from your competition that you can dig into. As you conduct your research, consider what you can do to improve your business and make it stand out from the crowd.
Step 4: Start your home staging business
After you’ve obtained a home staging certification in New York, conducted some market research, done a little networking, and learned all about the local market, it’s time to plan the launch of your business.
Every business begins with a checklist of essentials, and starting a home staging business in New York is no different. Here is a basic list to follow:
- Get your business registered
- Set up a mailing address and phone number for your business
- Set up an email address for your business (We use Google Workspace)
- Install software to track expenses and income (Xero is a popular choice)
- Design your home staging website (Get 40% off your purchase at StagingWebsites.com with code HSIDiscount)
- Trademark a logo and company name
- Consider financing through credit cards and a business bank account
- Connect with companies that can help you with services like furniture rental, storage, and moving (for renting and transporting furniture)
- Sign up for liability insurance
It’s crucial that you get all these ducks in a row before launching your business.
Step 5: Begin marketing
A significant number of clients is what will ultimately tip the scales from ‘hobby’ to ‘business.’
Connecting with real estate agents is one of the most effective ways to get client referrals because more than anyone else in the industry, these professionals are in more frequent contact with potential sellers and can pass your information along to them all.
When a home stager and real estate agent work side-by-side, everyone involved can benefit. Your job will be to make the clients’ properties look more appealing, which will help them get higher offers, which will ease the agent’s job and make their clients happier. Ultimately, these successes will land you more business.
One of the best places to connect with real estate agents in your area is The National Association of Realtors. With over 1.3 million members, there’s no shortage of connections to be made. You can also contact local real estate agents directly through their websites or online profiles and explain how your home staging expertise can complement their services.
As with any business relationship, it may take some time to get new clientele from a real estate professional. Keep working on building trust by contacting them regularly and staying in touch.
If you don’t have a portfolio to share, build experiences to add to one by volunteering to work on different properties or use some of the before-and-after shots you created as part of your home staging certification at the Home Staging Institute.
Other facts about becoming a home stager in New York
How much do home stagers make in New York?
Coming soon…
Do I need a license to become a home stager in New York?
No – you are not required to obtain a license for home staging in New York. The home staging industry isn’t government regulated and it doesn’t have an official governing board. However, it’s advised to get a home staging certification to build trust and prove your expertise to potential clients.
Do you need a degree to become a home stager in New York?
No – you are not required to obtain a degree to become a home stager in New York. However, taking college and university-level courses in real estate, interior design, business management, and similar fields while obtaining a home staging certification in New York will help you grow your business by increasing your credibility.
