The Real Estate Staging Association®, RESA®, is the trade association for stagers. Members are dedicated to advancing professionalism, excellence, and legitimacy in the home staging and redesign industry. Self-regulation is an important component of RESA® and the real estate staging industry. RESA has developed a legitimate accreditation program for real estate staging training providers. RESA reviews training provider's policies, procedures, class materials and fiscal soundness in order to ensure that the provider meets or exceeds RESA's industry standards. If you are an educator and want to become Accredited please click here for more information.
Do designations, certifications, accreditations and regulations matter in our industry?
Yes. They mean you have completed a course and gained knowledge.
Is government regulation important to our industry?
No. Our industry does not need government legislation. We don’t need laws that could potentially make staging without a license a criminal offense.
Why is accreditation important in a non-regulated industry?
RESA® Accredited Training Providers go through a strict application process. They have agreed to be held accountable to a formal student complaint process. Students may file a grievance with RESA®, and it will be thoroughly investigated. We work with the student and training provider to resolve the complaint. RESA® has the right to revoke the accreditation status for any home staging or redesign training company that doesn’t meet RESA® standards or doesn’t work to resolve complaints. Students can rest assured RESA® accredited training providers have undergone extensive scrutiny.
Is the accreditation process just a “paid for” recognition status?
Absolutely not! RESA follows the guidelines set forth by the US Department of Education’s approved accrediting agencies. We ensure education providers are teaching specific subject matter pertinent for home stagers. RESA accredited providers must meet our requirements on over 60 subjects that must be included in core home staging education as well as redesign education.
Accredited education providers agree to follow a code of ethics and agree to a formal complaint process should the need arise.
Not all courses submitted are approved. Providers not meeting the standards will receive a report indicating what areas need improvement to meet the RESA® standards. Providers will be allowed to correct these areas and re-submit.
RESA charges a non-refundable application fee. Fees cover the administrative process and are a standard operating procedure in any accreditation process.
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Education providers must submit a completed application for initial accreditation and include all requested documentation.
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Education providers must pay a non-refundable application fee of $750.00, annual renewal is $500.00
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Accredited course providers may submit their CE course for $25.00 each, annually. RESA will waive the CE Provider Application fee.
Fees cover the administrative process and are a standard operating procedure in any accreditation process.
Are the education providers that apply for accreditation status part of the review process?
No. Education providers are not part of the review process. In fact, when an application is processed the reviewers sign a confidentiality agreement along with a non-compete.
What is the purpose of accreditation and the accreditation process?
Accreditation is a means of assisting private career providers to become stronger and better institutions by setting standards of educational quality. Accreditation supports the efforts of providers to achieve maximum educational effectiveness for students, employers and the public. RESA’s accreditation process is a comprehensive review of all academic and ancillary activities and resources that support an institution’s educational objectives and the courses they offer.
Is RESA® recognized by the United State Department of Education?
No, it is not required. In order to receive recognition by the US Department of Education, RESA® must practice accrediting schools/providers first in order to be recognized. RESA® is committed to establishing and advancing quality education at private staging education and redesign education providers in order to receive said recognition. RESA® does NOT need to be recognized by the US Department of Education in order to be a legitimate accrediting agency. Recognition ONLY would allow our accredited schools to meet one criterion for their students to receive Title IV HEA Funding for Financial Aid. At this time it appears that NO staging/redesign education organizations would qualify for Title IV funding due to the length requirements for the funding provider. Title IV funding requires that a school have an actual campus and their course is at least 10 weeks or 300 hours in duration.
In order to help determine whether or not your institution is ready to begin the initial accreditation process with RESA®, ask the following questions:
What is my course's primary educational objective?
The courses primary educational objective must be to prepare students for starting a real estate staging business. Education, which is job oriented, must provide graduates with the necessary competencies for self-employment in their occupational field.
Is my course in compliance with state, local and other federal requirements?
A provider must be in compliance with federal, state and local government requirements. If conflicts exist between state or federal requirements and accreditation standards, the state or federal requirements shall take precedence.
Are we financially sound?
The provider must be financially sound with sufficient resources for the proper operation of the provider and discharge of obligations to students. A statement by an independent certified public accountant licensed by the state to perform such services will be accepted.
What is the first step of the accreditation process?
RESA®’s mission is to serve as a reliable authority on educational quality and to promote enhanced opportunities for students by establishing, sustaining, and enforcing valid standards and practices which contribute to the development of a highly trained and competitive workforce through quality staging/redesign education education.
What are the benefits to accreditation?
There are many benefits to accreditation. Among them, accreditation encourages continuous efforts to achieve maximum educational effectiveness, provides an assurance of acceptable quality, and establishes eligibility for participation in federally funded providers including student financial aid. Consumers (potential students) will seek out providers that have earned the RESA® accreditation as a way to feel comfortable they are receiving superior education and education in their desired field. Accreditation proves staging/redesign education providers are committed to educational excellence.
How long does it take to become RESA® Accredited?
The timeline is dependent on a number of variables. Most importantly, the provider must submit complete and accurate information to RESA® in its Application for Initial Accreditation and Self‐Evaluation Report. A high level of reliance is placed upon information, data, and statements provided to RESA® by a provider. The integrity and honesty of a provider are fundamental and critical to the process, and a compromise of integrity is considered to be an extreme offense. Accredited providers agree to, and must meet or exceed, the Standards of Accreditation at the time of initial accreditation and throughout the accreditation period.
The application for RESA® Initial Accreditation must be accepted by RESA® and will look to review all applications within 60-days; however, the application will be deferred should a provider fail to demonstrate compliance in the areas identified in the application for RESA® initial accreditation. The provider may resubmit, incorporating the necessary revisions to demonstrate compliance, within the six‐month time frame and remain on the same timeline. If a provider does not resubmit an Application for RESA® Initial Accreditation within the allotted time, it must restart the process and pay the non-refundable application fee with the new application.
A provider must also submit its initial Self‐Evaluation Report, Application and all corresponding documentation.
Once all information is received, a review of the provider will begin. Should any questions arise those will be submitted to the applying provider.
Notification of acceptance will be sent via Email. All according policies, procedures and responsibilities will also be sent.
Notification of denial will be submitted via USPS only. Failure of standards met will be indicated. The applying provider may reapply for accreditation after corrections have been made. Major failures require a minimum of 4-months shall pass before application can be re-submitted. Minor additions and clarifications are immediate. If you wait 6-months or more to reapply, you will incur another application fee.
As a value driven organization, RESA® is dedicated to:
RESA® stimulates nurtures, verifies and recognizes ongoing educational quality and integrity of institutions offering Real Estate Staging Education.
RESA’s mission for accreditation has two primary objectives:
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To assure students of the quality of education provided by RESA Accredited Educational providers; and
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To assist providers in continuously improving themselves and the education they provide students.
Why are some home staging and redesign training providers not RESA® accredited?
- They may not be aware of the program.
- They may not meet the criteria.
- They may not be supportive of RESA’s mission to be open to all home stagers and redesigners.
- They may not want to invest in the accreditation.
If a training provider is not listed on RESA®, does this mean their program is not legitimate?
No. Many excellent training providers are not part of the program. Participation is voluntary. We recommend that you review each program, compare them carefully, and talk to past students. If a home staging training or redesign company is unwilling to provide names and contact information of former students, consider that a red flag that should not be ignored.
What training provider owns RESA®?
RESA® is not owned by anyone. It is a California, Non-shareholder Corporation. RESA is MEMBER OWNED. It is a 501 (C) 6 tax-exempt business league. The Internal Revenue Service has reviewed RESA bylaws, policies, and procedures.
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IRS website
A 501 (C) 6 business league is an association of persons having some common business interest, the purpose of which is to promote such common interest and not to engage in a regular business of a kind ordinarily carried on for profit. Trade associations and professional associations are business leagues. To be exempt, a business league's activities must be devoted to improving business conditions of one or more lines of business as distinguished from performing particular services for individual persons. No part of a business league's net earnings may inure to the benefit of any private shareholder, or individual, l and it may not be organized for profit to engage in an activity ordinarily carried on for profit (even if the business is operated on a cooperative basis or produces only enough income to be self-sustaining). The term line of business generally refers either to an entire industry or to all components of an industry within a geographic area. It does not include a group composed of businesses that market a particular brand within an industry.
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For more information on RESA®, please visit www.RealEstateStagingAssociation.com