There is something about a house filled with furniture that changes the mood of prospective buyers. If you’ve shown houses, lived in houses, looked at houses or sold houses then you understand what an impression a tastefully decorated home makes on the people viewing it.
So in these past few years of explosive home prices and innovative entrepreneurship, it was only a matter of time before home staging went to the next level by placing people in the homes along with their furniture.
And the leader in this field is Showhomes, the nation’s largest home staging franchise, with 27 businesses in 19 states. One of those franchises is in Little Rock and is owned by Jeff and Heidi Ross, a couple from Mobile, Alabama, who came to Little Rock five years ago to try their hands at the business, and have never looked back.
“Most people have a hard time visualizing what a vacant house would look like with furniture in its rooms, and no one sees evidence of this more than Realtors,” Jeff told me recently from the staged home he and Heidi currently occupy with their two children in Chenal Valley.
“We once had a couple look at a home prior to us staging it,” he continued. “They were sure that their bed wouldn’t fit in the master suite. After our home managers moved in with a large bed of their own, that couple came back, saw it, and bought the house.”
Jeff and Heidi qualify the people they select to live in their homes, known as home managers, by having them fill out a short questionnaire on the company’s website, conducting a phone interview and finally having a face to face meeting so that they can not only get to know their potential tenants, but also have a look at their furniture.
So in these past few years of explosive home prices and innovative entrepreneurship, it was only a matter of time before home staging went to the next level by placing people in the homes along with their furniture.
And the leader in this field is Showhomes, the nation’s largest home staging franchise, with 27 businesses in 19 states. One of those franchises is in Little Rock and is owned by Jeff and Heidi Ross, a couple from Mobile, Alabama, who came to Little Rock five years ago to try their hands at the business, and have never looked back.
“Most people have a hard time visualizing what a vacant house would look like with furniture in its rooms, and no one sees evidence of this more than Realtors,” Jeff told me recently from the staged home he and Heidi currently occupy with their two children in Chenal Valley.
“We once had a couple look at a home prior to us staging it,” he continued. “They were sure that their bed wouldn’t fit in the master suite. After our home managers moved in with a large bed of their own, that couple came back, saw it, and bought the house.”
Jeff and Heidi qualify the people they select to live in their homes, known as home managers, by having them fill out a short questionnaire on the company’s website, conducting a phone interview and finally having a face to face meeting so that they can not only get to know their potential tenants, but also have a look at their furniture.
If you smoke or have a pet you won’t qualify.
They are currently listing seven available homes for occupancy on their website, ranging in list prices from $240,000 up to $800,000. The home managers pay a fee from $800.00 to $1300.00 a month – about a third of what people pay to rent comparable properties.
But it’s not only the home managers who benefit. The homeowner usually comes out much better than if they let the home sit vacant for a period of time.
For example, a $499,000 property sat on the market for two years. According to a survey of Realtors, if it sold as a vacant house, the sale price would have been between 10% and 20% lower, or about $424,000. The owner and his Realtor engaged Showhomes and transformed the vacant house into one that was fully staged. It showed perfectly, and the owner accepted an offer of $474,000 in just five months. After a commission to the Realtor the owner gained $47,200. Not only that, but he would have potentially received an additional $58,200 through savings on mortgage interest, taxes, utilities and upkeep for 24 months.
“Everybody wins,” Heidi says. “The homeowner is relieved of utility payments and maintenance expenses, like keeping up the lawn, not to mention having their home occupied rather than vacant, which always eases their mind. The Realtor gets a listing that is tastefully decorated and sells faster for a higher price. And the home manager gets a beautiful house to live in at a third of the cost of renting.”
Heidi says many of their managers are relocations or divorce situations. “They are responsible for keeping the home neat and ready for showings,” she says. “We’ve never really had any problems with our managers.”
In 2007 Jeff and Heidi were awarded the “Showhomes Franchise of the Year Award.”
“When we purchased our franchise in 2003, we decided then that we would build our franchise on quality and not quantity,” Jeff says. “Now, five years later, that philosophy is paying off.”
In fact, the couple has been so successful in central Arkansas that they recently announce the expansion of their business to the Memphis area.
“This is our fifth year and we have had over $40 million homes staged,” Jeff says. “It’s obviously a concept that works and Heidi and I are excited to take it into western Tennessee.”
You can visit the website at www.showhomes.com.
They are currently listing seven available homes for occupancy on their website, ranging in list prices from $240,000 up to $800,000. The home managers pay a fee from $800.00 to $1300.00 a month – about a third of what people pay to rent comparable properties.
But it’s not only the home managers who benefit. The homeowner usually comes out much better than if they let the home sit vacant for a period of time.
For example, a $499,000 property sat on the market for two years. According to a survey of Realtors, if it sold as a vacant house, the sale price would have been between 10% and 20% lower, or about $424,000. The owner and his Realtor engaged Showhomes and transformed the vacant house into one that was fully staged. It showed perfectly, and the owner accepted an offer of $474,000 in just five months. After a commission to the Realtor the owner gained $47,200. Not only that, but he would have potentially received an additional $58,200 through savings on mortgage interest, taxes, utilities and upkeep for 24 months.
“Everybody wins,” Heidi says. “The homeowner is relieved of utility payments and maintenance expenses, like keeping up the lawn, not to mention having their home occupied rather than vacant, which always eases their mind. The Realtor gets a listing that is tastefully decorated and sells faster for a higher price. And the home manager gets a beautiful house to live in at a third of the cost of renting.”
Heidi says many of their managers are relocations or divorce situations. “They are responsible for keeping the home neat and ready for showings,” she says. “We’ve never really had any problems with our managers.”
In 2007 Jeff and Heidi were awarded the “Showhomes Franchise of the Year Award.”
“When we purchased our franchise in 2003, we decided then that we would build our franchise on quality and not quantity,” Jeff says. “Now, five years later, that philosophy is paying off.”
In fact, the couple has been so successful in central Arkansas that they recently announce the expansion of their business to the Memphis area.
“This is our fifth year and we have had over $40 million homes staged,” Jeff says. “It’s obviously a concept that works and Heidi and I are excited to take it into western Tennessee.”
You can visit the website at www.showhomes.com.
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