The Future Looks Bright for Real Estate Staging

As a professional Home Stager who also teaches a course on the business of home staging to students around the world, I am often asked about my views on the future of home staging and whether I think it's a fad that will die out. In my opinion, we will eventually get to the point where staging a house is simply something that you do when itís time to sell.

Look what happened with "home inspections". Most people today wouldn't buy a home without having it inspected first in order to make sure that the roof doesn't leak, the foundation is solid, the furnace works, etc. However, there was a time when home inspections were new to the real estate industry and few people took advantage of them when buying a home. However, as more buyers began to see the benefits of having a home inspection, the demand grew, and now it's become an accepted practice. That's where I see home staging going.

In fact, I'm already seeing this trend in certain neighborhoods in Toronto which certainly wasn't the case five years ago. In neighborhoods like Leaside, Riverdale and the Beach, a good percentage of sellers always stage their homes when they put them on the market. It's something they know they have to do to stand out from the competition. It's part of the process of selling a home. That will eventually be the case in most locations, especially major cities.

As more informed homeowners hire Real Estate Stagers and more buyers have the chance to view homes that have been staged, other home sellers will realize they too have to follow the practice otherwise their un-staged homes will look even worse by comparison.

You only have to look at prime time television to see further evidence of the design/decorating trend. There was a time when HGTV didn't exist, and even when it first started, it was fringe programming. Only certain kinds of people watched decorating shows, but now everybody watches!

Oprah is always talking about decorating and design. There are home makeover shows on prime time networks and there are thousands of decorating (or "shelter") magazines. More and more people are becoming aware of the difference it makes when things look good, and they aspire to live the lifestyle they see portrayed.

What does this all mean for the future of home staging? Well, home staging is one of the most sought out services in the real estate industry today, and the future looks even brighter.