Living Large, but on the Fly

Living Large, but on the Fly

This is a great article from the New York Times on Showhomes that explains using Home Managers to stage upscale vacant homes:

By HILLARY ROSNER

WANTED: Exceptionally tidy people with attractive furniture to live in nice houses for low, low rent. Must not mind the hassles of frequent relocation, such as bubble-wrapping breakables, filing change-of-address forms and dealing with cable and Internet service providers. Must be willing to open home to strangers on short notice and to keep sink free of dirty dishes.

It may not be for everyone. But Rick and Jennifer Mertes have it down to a science. The couple and their 20-month-old son, Cooper, have moved three times in just over a year, packing their belongings into several U-Haul trucks. Mr. Mertes, who works from home as a business consultant, now has a contact high up at the telephone company, whom he calls directly when it is that time again.

The payoff is a chance to live in a great place for a fraction of the going rate.

Since April, the Merteses have been in a 3,500-square-foot 1908 Craftsman house with exposed beams, a whirlpool tub and a finished walk-out basement. The house is on the market for $697,000 and would normally rent for about $2,400. The Merteses pay $1000.

The Merteses are home managers, a role that is becoming increasingly popular — and visible — in the world of real estate. Home managers live in houses that are for sale and would otherwise be vacant, offering potential buyers a look at furnished, decorated rooms. The homeowner continues to pay the mortgage, while the home manager is responsible for all utilities and the general upkeep of the house. Home managers pay "rent," generally between a third and half of the market rate, to a private company, which matches prospective tenants — and their furnishings — with lonely abodes.

While there are no statistics, real estate agents say that attractive furnishings can help sell a house faster and for a higher price.

Home management is not new, but it is becoming more widely available as a formal option in cities of all sizes — largely through Showhomes, a company based in Nashville, TN that has franchises nationwide. Showhomes operates 27 franchises in 19 states, up from 18 franchises three years ago. In Orange County, Calif., for example, the number of houses being "managed" has risen 40 percent in four months, said Thom Scott, the Director of Operations at Showhomes.

Staging a vacant house — furnishing it as if it were occupied — has been a favorite sales tool for years, but home managing takes it one step further. It provides, in a sense, actors and stage managers as well. Some buyers can look at an empty house and see its good bones, while others prefer a fleshed-out scene. By taking up residence, home managers offer them a version of well-decorated but lived-in rooms.

Showhomes has found, of course, that not any home manager will do. "We work with people who are professional couples or singles," said Kathy Haase, who has a franchise in Scottsdale, AZ. "No pets, no smoking." The ideal manager, she added, "can't stand a speck of dust." And he must own furniture that is "appropriate."

"Someone may have 70's-style Ethan Allen furniture that might go in a 70's home," Ms. Haase explained, "but with a $5 million home, we're looking for extraordinary furnishings." In all cases they should be "in excellent condition and somewhat trendy," and reflect the house's style.

One of their home managers invested $100,000 in high-end furnishings so that he could qualify for luxury properties where he could impress business clients.

In cases where the applicant is tasteful but his furnishings are not, Showhomes, like a conventional stager, keeps warehouses of fallback sofas, rugs, wall hangings and objects.

Outside Scottsdale, Ariz., Jack Blevins is living in his second luxury house this year, a $2.9 million, 7,000-square-footer with a wine cellar and putting green, in a gated community on a mountainside overlooking Phoenix. Mr. Blevins and his girlfriend, Cindy McLane, pay about $2,000 a month to live there, plus about $250 for a housekeeper. "We had to buy quite a bit of furniture, but that was the fun part," Mr. Blevins said. "If you have a lot of furniture and it's the right kind, it's going to need to go in a big home the next time."