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Every House on the Real Estate Market is Not in Foreclosure

Debra Gould
March 12, 2009
Too many of us are being sucked in by all of the negative news coming from every direction. But we arenīt taking the time to step back and look at things from a more balanced perspective.

A steady stream of negative news stories about the real estate industry might have you particularly concerned if you have been hoping to start a home staging business.

For example, you might have heard that the only houses on the real estate market right now are in foreclosure, but thatīs not the case. Of course itīs true that some homeowners are indeed losing their homes, but others need to move for all the usual reasons: marriage, divorce, growing family, job transfer, downsizing and retirement.

Furthermore, the governments in both the U.S. and Canada are taking unprecedented action to slow the foreclosure rate and stabilize the market.


The National Association of RealtorsŪ (NAR) recently hailed the U.S. government for passing its stimulus bill that "expands the home buyer tax credit, an important housing component that will help shrink housing inventory, bring stability to home values and move the country closer to an economic recovery."

NAR president Charles McMillan believes that many of the actions called for in the governmentīs economic recovery plan should ultimately result in lower mortgage rates and fewer foreclosures. The same can be said for Canadaīs Economic Action Plan.

A splashy headline touting that most homes on the market are in foreclosure makes for a great news story, but it's certainly not the whole story.
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Debra Gould

Debra Gould, aka The Staging DivaŪ, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program.

Gould has trained 1000+ Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start their own businesses. All shared a natural talent for decorating and interest in real estate, but didn't know how to make a living in their own house staging business before learning her secrets.

Debra Gould's mission is to inspire and empower others to use their natural talents to earn a living. She followed her dreams and wants to teach others to be able to do the same.

Gould pursued an MBA in Marketing and began a corporate career before moving to advertising. In the 1980s, she launched one of the first integrated marketing firms, which she ran for 10 years. Wanting a more creative life, Debra gave it up to design home accessories. She created the Debra Gould Home Collection, landing a magazine cover story and book feature, followed by her first of several HGTV appearances.

Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a new staging career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since that time she has staged homes for hundreds of clients in addition to providing home staging training.

Gould is the author of "Staging Diva Ultimate Design Guide: Home staging tips, tricks and floor plans", "Staging Diva Ultimate Color Guide: The easy way to pick colors for home staging projects", and "Staging Diva Ultimate Portfolio Guide: Winning clients with the perfect home staging portfolio".

In addition to HGTV, Debra Gould's media coverage includes: CityTV, GlobalTV, CBC, CBS Radio, CNNMoney, Wall Street Journal, Woman's Day, Reader's Digest, MoneySense, Entrepreneur, House and Home, Home & Decor, Style at Home, Centre of the City, USAA Magazine, FabJob Guide to Become a Home Stager, Home Style, National Post Homes, This Old House, Home Business Magazine, Globe & Mail and others.