Did anyone happen to catch the Lifetime TV movie "Home By Christmas" this evening at 9:00?  It was about a woman whose husband leaves her for a younger woman and, through a set of unfortunate circumstances, finds herself destitute and living in her car. 

One of the survival tricks she used was to pose as a realtor and make the rounds to realtor open houses and eat the free food.  One thing led to another and she decided to study to get her real estate license.  While she was studying to take the exam, she befriended a realtor who let her "sit" her vacant house open on Sundays which gave her access to the house keys.  The realtor explained that this particular house was what is known as a "white elephant" because it was priced at $1.3 million and was really only worth about $800,000. 

She was in a panic when she found out that her daughter, who had been studying abroad, wanted to come home and spend Christmas with her.  She hadn't told anyone that she was homeless.  Coincidentally, the realtor, of the vacant home that she sat open houses for, told her to close the house up and not show it until after the holidays because "no one is looking for a house" now anyway.  That gave her the idea that maybe she could use the house for a few days while her daughter was in town.  She had a friend who owned an antique furniture store (that she helped merchandise and decorate so it would attract more customers) that she asked to borrow some furniture for a few days.  She found stuff stored in the basement and set up a tree. 

As with any feel good movie, there is always a romance involved.  The furniture owner's son (who happens to be a doctor) is persuing her but she pushes him away because she is embarassed to tell him about her living situation.  He is the one that delivers the furniture to her house and then she is forced to tell him the truth...that she really lives in her car and is only using this house for a few days while her daughter is in town.  When she comes back from picking the daughter up at the airport, she is surprised to see the house very elegantly decorated with fine furniture.   

The daughter was impressed and, while they were eating Christmas dinner, there was a knock on the door.  It turned out to be a realtor who wanted to show the house right then and there.  The woman thought she was busted....explained to her daughter that it really wasn't her house....that this was just one of several that she "decorated" so they would be more appealing to buyers.  The realtor came out and asked to speak to her privately.  She thought she was in big trouble.  The realtor said she admired her initiative in taking it upon herself to make that vacant house look and feel so inviting.  She also said that the couple viewing the house just made a full price offer and wanted to purchase the furnishings as well.  She also gave the woman a job decorating all the vacant homes her company listed in the future. 

I couldn't believe it....I thought I was just going to be watching another feel-good Christmas movie but got a great bonus in the way it portrayed "home staging" even though that term was never used.  I thought this was a fitting Christmas gift to realtors and stagers in that it highlighted the importance of making sure a home "shows like a model" so it will not linger on the market.  It also enforced the stager's motto that it will sell for more money....since it got the asking price of $1.3 million rather than being lowered to $500,000 as the other realtor suggested.  It was also the first, but hopefully not the last, time I had ever seen home staging portrayed as a career in something other than a reality tv show or home improvement show.

The idea that came to me while watching this movie is to try to find consignment or used furniture stores that would be willing to rent furniture out inexpensively and without a 3 mo. minimum.  It would be a "showroom away from the showroom".  If the potential buyers liked the furniture well enough, they could purchase it...which would be something to point out when negotiating the deal. 

I hope everyone had a joyful, peaceful, and memorable Christmas with their loved ones!