Showtime for your home
Not everyone in this real estate market is hurting.
Just take Showhomes. The Nashville, Tenn. company, which operates a nationwide franchise, has found a lucrative niche.
It will make your home look lived in, even if you are no longer actually living there. You can just imagine the possibilities, especially for banks trying to unload foreclosed homes.
A sweet spot in this market if there ever was one.
The company expects to double the number of franchises, from 40 now to more than 80 by the end of 2009.
Showhomes will fill that empty house with the kind of sterile and stylish furnishings you can find in any model unit in a new condo or apartment project.
Here’s the firm’s pitch: “If you present a vacant house, buyers are often unable to visualize the empty space as a home. Because the home is vacant, buyers expect a bargain – hoping to take advantage of an owner they think is desperate to sell.’’
That’s probably about right.
The firm has a bag of tricks that would make old Potemkin proud.
Showhomes brings in a “professional decorator’’ who transforms those silent rooms and echoing halls with “proven staging techniques.’’
But creating the illusion your house is lived in doesn’t stop there. The firm hires a “home manager’’ to set up camp until a buyer is found. There’s a whole other pitch to this crowd, who apparently range from kids just out of college to older couples in “transition.’’
“As a home manager, you profit by enjoying an enviable, yet eminently affordable lifestyle,’’ the company touts.
Apparently you have to pay rent as well as play homeowner. Slobs, pet owners and smokers need not apply.
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wow. such an exciting story.
hard to believe that no one has bothered commenting in the 5 plus hours it was posted.
I didn't find it to be an exciting blog entry, but I found it somewhat interesting. I think you'd be really stupid to buy into the franchise, but if you're hurting for work, you can try to start up your own company that provides the same service.
I agree with julio. Why would you pay to buy a franchise for a business with no brand recognition and almost nothing in startup costs if you do it on your own?
Plus, home staging is likely a flash in the pan. Not a lot of home sellers--neither developers nor single family homeowners--are likely to continue to have bags of cash to throw away on decorators and ottomans.
It's a good idea actually. I'm going to disagree with marcus (or try - last time didn't work). It never ceases to amaze me how much "home" buying is an emotional process, not a rational one. And just like a cafe, decor can help hook a buyer into thinking it's their perfect "home".
I'm always amazed by this, granted, considering that the owners taste is moving away with the owners. But it really does seem to work.
So I'd never try to sell an empty space. Its got to be staged. Whether or not this plan makes sense depends on how much it costs etc.
It applies to regular home sellers. Staging isn't rocket science, but most people aren't impartial enough to realize they've made a house looked cramped and ugly. A stager can act as an impartial arbiter.
Of course, its just as easy to stage things yourself no doubt. But sizzle helps sell steak.
Oh, I agree that staging works. I just don't think this is a good business plan. Going forward, I just don't see sellers having a lot of spare funds to pay for staging.
Yeah, that makes sense. Who knows, the banks may be smart enough to pay for it.... Though considering how smart the REO depts (and the rest of the bank for that matter) have been up to this point, that seems a bad bet.
Foreclosure cleanup, on the other hand, really is booming. Lousy work though.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
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