Is There Any Meaning to Staging Designations? | | home staging in ...

Part of the RESA website banner including their logo www.realestatestagingassociation.com

Recently I posted a link on facebook to an article on the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) website entitled ?Designations, Certifications and Accreditation. What does it all mean for the home staging and redesign industry?? One of my fellow stagers, Jennifer Putman-Macleod, of Belleville, ON asked:

?What does this mean for us in Canada? Or with the CSP label!?

Such an excellent question, deserves a thoughtful answer.

The above mentioned RESA article compares the evolution of the staging industry to that of the real estate industry. The writer gives the formation of the National Association of Realtors? in the US as an equivalent to the formation of RESA.

In Canada, real estate organizational development has a similar history. The Canadian Association of Realtors? evolved out of localized real estate boards formed from 1888 onwards. In 1943, eleven boards joined to become the Canadian Association of Real Estate Boards (CAREB), a national body concerned with industry advocacy in the post-war era.

The Canadian Institute of REALTORS? was established in 1955 to encourage provinces to create real estate courses and designations. Correspondence courses for the designation ?Fellow of the REALTORS? Institute? or FRI were organized through the University of Toronto.

Eventually CAREB evolved into today?s Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), located in Ottawa, who undertake increasingly important government lobbying activities. Read more details of their history at http://www.crea.ca/public/crea/history.htm.

The author of the RESA article says that, similar to members of the national real estate bodies, its members:

?. . . are people with common interests coming together to advance professionalism, excellence and legitimacy in the home staging and redesign industry.?

RESA allows all staging practitioners to become members and encourages them to demonstrate their commitment to ethical standards and continuing education by qualifying for programs such as RESA-PRO, True Portfolio and Staging Excellence Alliance. Members are also able to take advantage of an array of services provided by vendor partners. Annual staging competitions and an International Conference serve to educate, ?and inspire the industry as well as elevating its public profile.

One of the most important functions of RESA is to be an impartial third party in evaluating training courses for home staging.?Certified Staging Professional (CSP) is one of the training courses accredited by RESA. As an independent third party, RESA reviews these training programs to make sure trainees are actually getting what they need to know. Training companies like CSP pay an admin fee to have their curriculum reviewed but they can?t buy accreditation.

People who want to take a staging course can look to RESA to find courses which they have accredited. Furthermore, accredited trainers have agreed to comply with a grievance process where a student can file a grievance with RESA and have it independently investigated and resolved. In the role of course accreditation, RESA is to staging what the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) is to Interior Design education.

For the public, RESA provides quality assurance when they are hiring a stager with RESA approved education. As RESA becomes more well recognized as an industry self-regulating body, this role will increase. Current consumers have to determine for themselves exactly what makes good staging and how to ensure they get it. RESA provides useful information for consumers in this regard. As the RESA article explains, lack of accreditation may not mean a stager?s designation is of no value. However, referring to the RESA website is a quick and easy way for a home seller to quickly find a good home stager.

In my opinion, growing the recognition of RESA as the primary independent trade association for home staging can only help the home staging industry build and preserve its reputation.

Source: http://rearrangements.ca/blog/is-there-any-meaning-to-staging-designations/

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