Sunday, January 10, 2016

Learn Your Home Staging Certification Options

By Paul Kelly


The popular HGTV shows about flipping and remodeling houses has sparked an interest in staging homes. Viewers have observed the difference it makes when the stage is set with furniture, colors and accent pieces. Prospective buyers really perk up when that see a room that feels like home. Now you can do this for a living. With a relatively short course you can get home staging certification.

If you are interested, it is time to review your options for earning certification. There is online training and in person classroom and fieldwork certification. If you are thinking the latter sounds like a more thorough education, you are probably correct. Nothing can compare to the hands on fieldwork where theory is put into practice. Still the in person classroom certification programs tend to be more expensive. If you can only afford an online program, go ahead and get started with that option.

The programs estimate that as a home staging professional you can earn fifty to one hundred thousand a year. If you find this to be an acceptable income, this may be the profession for you. Unless you are working as an employee, you will own and operate your own business. Part of the course work will be to educate students on all the work and details involved in owning your own business.

One classroom certification program has locations in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Philadelphia and New York. This program is endorsed by the Real Estate Staging Association. With classroom and fieldwork combined, the program takes five days to complete. The cost of this course is just under three thousand dollars. In addition, this is a business start up course. They only allow eight students in each class. After course completion, students get two months of mentoring from a professional.

Online certification courses are less costly, but may offer abbreviated curriculum. Some courses are as reasonable as two hundred dollars. The entire course work is done online via email. Online offers the advantages of no travel expenses and the ability to make your own schedule. The option is worth considering if you cannot afford the classroom programs.

There is another three day program with classroom instruction and field work. The cost of this program is eighteen hundred dollars. Classroom time and field work are included, but no mentoring. Once completed, your designation for your business card will be ASP, which stands for Accredited Staging Professional. The same institution offers a comprehensive masters program for just under three thousand.

Some courses are intended to educate real estate agents, and can be used as their continuing education credits. Each course is offered separately and costs under seventy dollars. For five hundred dollars, you can purchase a mentorship program for some hands on training.

Whether you choose an online program, or a three to five day classroom program there are numerous choices available. If you are going to complete a program in the traditional classroom session, your search will likely be narrowed to classes that are conveniently located for you. This is a fun and rewarding career. Remember, you will be your own boss, so you must be a self starter to be successful. Happy staging.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment