Beginner Home Stagers worry they'll have nothing to recommend

One of the concerns or questions that always comes up with my new Staging Diva students is

What do I do if the house looks so great there is nothing for me to recommend?

Trust me, that won't happen! Every house has something that needs to be moved around, removed or added before it goes on the market.

Decorating to sell is not the same as decorating to live which is why there is always something to do. Take this living room at right. All the contents were already in the house when I arrived. But not in the same places as you see here!

At the start of my Home Staging by Design client consultation, it was difficult to walk through the living room because of the placement of the chairs. The corner to the left of the fireplace was empty and the plant that currently occupies that space was in an awkward spot in the crowded dining room. The fireplace mantle was covered in family photos and figurines and the hearth was covered in small plants. There was no lamp beside the couch, I found this beautiful one in a basement guest room!

While what we do may seem obvious to us at times, it isn't obvious to the clients we serve. They don't bring the same eye to their home that we do for two key reasons:

• very few home staging clients can look at their own homes as objectively as they should before putting them on the market

• the general population doesn't have the same design and color sense we do

If you would like more direction about what to do in a home staging client consultation, you might be interested in "Taking the Mystery out of Home Staging Client Consultations." You can take this course live with The Staging Diva in one evening by phone from the comfort of your own home.

Real estate markets beginning to cool

It's so interesting how the media continue to report outstanding real estate results. Meanwhile in the real world the market is beginning to cool in many areas.

I've seen Toronto slow visibly in the last two weeks with many properties advertising new lower prices. Many agents had almost no one show up for their open houses this past weekend. Granted it was Thanksgiving in Canada, but in a very brisk Toronto market that doesn't usually slow things down too much.

In tandem with this slow down in home sales my phone is starting to ring off the hook with new clients who didn't feel they'd need a stager because the market was so hot and now weeks later, want me to come in and help them.

I heard from two of my Staging Diva students last night. One in Nevada and the other in San Diego. Both report the market is slowing down there as well. And they should know, they are real estate agents as well as home stagers.

Frankly, it's not a surprise. There is so much uncertainty right now with all these natural disasters, threats of terrorism, the war, high oil prices, talk of increasing interest rates and lower than expected job figures. Is it any wonder many people are taking a pause before jumping into purchasing the next bigger house?

All this bodes well for growth in the home staging business. You can read more about why home staging works in both "buyers" and "sellers" real estate markets at http://www.sixelements.com/housefluffing.html.

By the way, I wasn't REALLY suggesting the real estate market was going down the toilet with my choice of image for this story! I've staged many powder rooms but I really love how this one immediately screams "quality home" with very few props.

Did anyone tape the story on home staging on 20/20 October 7? I'd love to see a copy of it.