thomas scott: Selling a house? Consider live-in manager
- 06/26/08 08:34 AM
Selling a house? Consider live-in Home Manager Wednesday, June 25, 2008 By Ric Romero These days, it's a buyer's market in real estate, and many houses are sitting empty much longer than the owner would like. Here's a new twist that is helping sellers seal the deal more quickly. Most likely you have heard of "home staging," where a professional comes into the home for sale and puts furniture and accessories in just the right places to make the home look better. Well, now home staging comes with a live-in tenant who might help speed up the sale. Click in the … (2 comments)
thomas scott: Power of Red
- 06/13/08 01:42 AM
I've posted on using red in staging a few time before. Red is a great color to use in staging and even when used in small doses can make a huge impact. Its the color that is larger than life. In our April Staging Contest, our internal judge agreed, singling out some well staged rooms that tastefully used red. Here are the comments and photos: The Power of RedOne of my personal design rules in every room is to incorporate a bit of red.Often the amount is very small - a bowl, a few flowers, a detail in some art, a … (13 comments)
thomas scott: Showhomes April Staging Contest Results
- 06/13/08 01:17 AM
Here are the results from our internal April Staging Contest in which the 29 Showhomes staging franchises compete for the monthly top design awards: Critic's Picks - Showhomes April Staging ContestJudging from the photos submitted for our April Staging Contest, the overall quality of Showhomes design is on the rise! Many of the rooms show thoughtful application of the principles we've discussed and trained on, and the results are highly successful. It's getting harder to narrow the field down to three clear winners, and it seems a shame not to recognize and share your good work for all to learn from. … (5 comments)
thomas scott: Elvis Has Left the Building and Now You Can Move In
- 05/30/08 04:15 AM
Elvis Has Left the Building and Now You Can Move In Home staging company uses live-in Home Managers to help sell mansions Want to live in a $3.6 million dollar Orange County mansion? Want to reside in a $2 million dollar golf villa on the 4th tee at Marsh Landing in Jacksonville? How about a stately $4 million dollar Lake Forest address in Chicago? What would it cost a month? $10,000 a month? $7500? Try $1800.
There’s only one catch – you have to have beautiful furniture and be willing to move on short notice because these swanky mansions are … (2 comments)
thomas scott: Charlotte Home Sells in less than 60 Days
- 05/30/08 02:10 AM
Henry Graham, owner of Showhomes - Charlotte, emailed me these photos of a recent vacant home he staged that sold in less than 60 days. This home was listed at $785k. Henry staged it a few days after signing his contract with the homeowner and within 60 days, the owner accepted an offer. Henry staged the entire home and that made a difference. Here are some pics of his work:
… (1 comments)
thomas scott: Socal Discovery Day a Success
- 05/27/08 01:10 AM
I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day! We returned from Orange County last week from our regional Discovery Day. Often, when we get a group of people interested in starting a Showhomes home staging business, we hold an open house event where we explain the business and get to know each other. Last week's California discovery day was a record for us with 18 people attending! We held the open house at 727 Las Palmas, a 3.6 million dollar home Beth George, owner of Showhomes Orange County staged:
Lots of this is due to the recent FOX, CNN, … (3 comments)
thomas scott: Fox features Showhomes Greenville
- 05/23/08 07:32 AM
Fox News in Greenville, SC featured Showhomes last week on a 10 minute segment on Home Staging. This is wonderful for owner Natasha Little who recently opened her franchise in this market and is off to a great start. The media clip, which ran four times last week, is sure to help! The reporter did a good job laying out some stats about staging that should help others. Take a look and let me know what you think:
We have an outstanding opportunity for a candidate experienced in Franchise Operations Support and or real estate and home staging to join our Home Office team in Nashville! Showhomes, based in Nashville, TN is America’s largest home staging company. We are rapidly expanding in our current markets as well as adding new markets in the near future. Listed as one of the top 50 franchise companies for 2008 and featured on Oprah, CNN, FOX, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, we are adding staff to our franchise operations department. You can learn more … (0 comments)
thomas scott: Celebrity Home Staged in Corona CA
- 05/21/08 10:18 AM
Showhomes Riverside, based in Corona CA, staged a celebrity home this week. The home, located in the exclusive Eagle Glen community went on the market this week. Previous to Showhomes, the home had been sitting vacant. The owner, Jeff Timmons, founding member of the band 98 Degrees, hesitated to put the home on the market vacant. When he walked through the home, he was amazed:
"Wow! It's Amazing - it never looked this good! Its awesome - I want to move back in! You guys are amazing." "We hope it sells quickly - Showhomes has had 11 recent home sales … (19 comments)
thomas scott: Sold in Less than 1 Month
- 05/20/08 01:51 AM
Cindy Montgomery, our top stager and owner of Showhomes - Minneapolis emailed me these photos of a home that closed in 45 days and went under contract in less than 1 month:
Here's the after:
Wow! What a difference - no wonder this $900k home sold quickly! At Showhomes we love tight conversation groupings like this one - groupings that have at least 3 points and that use a coffee table the same height as the cushions. Its critical that every person can reach the coffee table from where they sit. This makes the room comfortable and people will … (8 comments)
thomas scott: Staging Success in Toledo
- 05/19/08 01:52 AM
I haven't heard much from our Showhomes office in Toledo lately. Usually they are active in our company wide meetings and discussions. The Toledo staging business was the Showhomes franchise of the year in 2006 and just recently, they opened a 2nd franchise on the western side of Cleveland.
So when I called Friday, I was really happy to hear that they had been really busy - they have had 9 home sales in the last 60 days! This is signifigant since Toledo is one of the slowest and most depressed real estate markets in the country. We often take … (3 comments)
thomas scott: Sold in 4 Weeks
- 05/15/08 07:07 AM
Kathy Haase, owner of Showhomes - Scottsdale, emailed me some photos for our monthly design contest. This home sold in less than 4 weeks despite a really slow Scottsdale / Paradise Valley market. Here are her photos:
Kathy does an excellent job and has a very loyal following of top-producers in the Paradise Valley market. I know the home owners and Realtors on this home are happy about the sale!
http://activerain.com/blogsview/509242/Color-Police-Take-off If you read the comments on her blog, you will find lots of great opinions on color in a home. I'm a fan of color and contrast and think that when used with really excellent staging, it makes a huge difference. The conversation reminded me of a video clip I shot in the field a few years ago of a Realtor talking to us before we staged her Naperville, IL listing. Take a look:
I love her 'Operating Room' comment - that's what white walls will do. They suck the … (11 comments)
thomas scott: Showhomes Scores High
- 05/14/08 01:38 AM
Recently, Showhomes took part in the annual Franchise Business Review's Franchisee Satisfaction Survey. This detailed survey is given out to franchise owners in over 350 franchise systems all over the US.
The survey is used to determine the top 50 franchise companies in the US every year, which are revealed at the annual International Franchise Association Conference in January. The key metric used is the Franchisee Satisfaction Index or FSI which is a boiled down measurment of how happy owners are with their business and how profitable they are. The average score in the US for FSI is 67.9% which … (1 comments)
thomas scott: Sold in 3 Weeks
- 05/14/08 12:59 AM
We've posted on our Showhomes New Orleans office coming back from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina before: http://activerain.com/blogsview/437040/Showhomes-Home-Stager-Joins It appears that after over two years of a truly funky and slow real estate market, the New Orleans area is finally beginning to show signs of life. Grace Fitzmorris of Showhomes New Orleans recently staged this State Street condo and it sold for near list price in less than 3 weeks! Here are some photos:
Great job staging - I love the look uptown New Orleans homes have. A little french, a little funky and always tasteful. That would … (9 comments)
thomas scott: Staging Expressed in Mathmatics
- 05/12/08 07:39 AM
You can find some strange stuff online! I get Google alerts for a variety of search items, Showhomes being the most important. Recently, I received a Google altert for a reference to our company and followed the link. I came across a .PDF of an academic paper that used math to express the value added by companies such as Showhomes. This group of scholars mentions Showhomes and its staging services as an example of adding percieved value to a product (home):
Now, I love math but this is wayyyyyy over my head. In reading the full report, the authors boiled … (6 comments)
thomas scott: Just Staged in Nashville
- 05/12/08 04:52 AM
Take a look at 825 Redwood, Showhomes' newest staged home in Nashville. This 1.5 million dollar new spec home shows off its bones well with staging in every room. If you have a vacant listing and need staging, contact showhomes! With over two decades of staging experience, we are the national experts in staging vacant homes to sell. … (3 comments)
thomas scott: Cool Kitchen Vingnette
- 05/12/08 04:18 AM
The Showhomes Nashville office just completed a whole-house staging of a 1.5 million dollar new spec home on Redwood in Nashville. I really liked this vingnette in the kitchen:
I love using an old darkroom timer for a kitchen timer - that's the type of creative touch that makes people remember a home for sale. Its quirky, fun and memorable. I also love using a grouping of 3 items. It has harmony and balance. Being a cook, seeing all the utensils in a decorative vase was a handy idea. When I walked in the kitchen, I really paid attention … (10 comments)
thomas scott: The Scoop on St Joseph Statues
- 05/12/08 12:54 AM
Recently, I've read (and commented on) a few blog posts about the practice of burying a St Joseph's statue in your yard to aid in the sale of your home.
This practice is widespread in the US. Although it originated as a Roman Catholic tradition, it is used by many protestants today. The practice is simple: you purchase a St Joseph's home seller kit, which has a small plastic statue, a copy of the prayer that accompanies the statue and instructions. These kits are available at any catholic bookstore (and many non-catholic christian stores) as well as online and run … (7 comments)
thomas scott: Showhomes featured in the Long Beach Signal Tribune Newspaper
- 04/25/08 01:15 AM
Offbeat Occupation : Staging company turns a house into a Showhome March 20th, 2008<!-- by admin --> · By Heather Posey, Staff Writer After several years of success, real estate markets all across the country have slowed to a trickle of what they had been in previous years. Homes have become much harder to sell, there are more homes on the market than at any time in history and home staging company Showhomes aims to be a “ray of light in the otherwise gloomy market.” Showhomes—known as America’s largest home staging company—began its operations in 1986 and started franchising in 1994. … (0 comments)
Selling a house? Consider live-in Home Manager Wednesday, June 25, 2008 By Ric Romero These days, it's a buyer's market in real estate, and many houses are sitting empty much longer than the owner would like. Here's a new twist that is helping sellers seal the deal more quickly. Most likely you have heard of "home staging," where a professional comes into the home for sale and puts furniture and accessories in just the right places to make the home look better. Well, now home staging comes with a live-in tenant who might help speed up the sale.
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