Just Staged in Nashville

Courtney Edwards emailed photos of another high end condo they staged with a live in Home Manager in Nashville on historic Music Row. This $500k condo has been on the market for a long time and now looks great.














Nashville, like a lot of cities, has had rampant condo development downtown. During the boom, these were selling to buyers and investors at a rapid clip. Today they are stagnant and not moving well. Adding a Home Manager and staging each room gives life to the unit and life to the complex.
















Buyers need to see that other people LIVE in the complex, not just the furniture and a Home Manager makes a huge difference.

Showhomes Featured at Midwest Franchise Expo

Showhomes, America's largest home staging company, was featured by Chicago public TV as it presented at the Midwest Franchise Expo last weekend in Chicago.


Showhomes has been receiving a lot of publicity for being a reccesion resistant business. In a time when real estate is slumping and many home stagers are having a difficult time producing a profit, Showhomes and its franchise owners are posting record gains by helping homeowners and their Realtors sell vacant homes faster and for a higher price through staging with live-in Home Managers.

Thomas Scott, Showhomes' VP of Operations during a TV interview

The Midwest franchise expo was a success. We were happy to meet and talk with lots of people interested in home staging, interested in starting a business or already in the industry looking to grow their staging talent into a sustainable staging business.

Showhomes Minneapolis franchise owner Cindy Montgomery at the Showhomes booth

Matt Kelton, Cindy Montgomery and Thomas Scott from Showhomes

If you would like to learn more about Showhomes, or are interested in starting a Home Staging business, sign up for our weekly webinar on what we do. Email Matt Kelton at mkelton@showhomes.com or call at 863-398-4010.

5 Essential Tips for Selling Your Home

Whether you are getting ready for a job interview, preparing to meet someone special for the first time, or selling your home – first impressions are vital. As homeowners begin preparing their homes for sale, Showhomes encourages them to take some essential steps to make sure the most important first step takes place: buyers make the decision to view the home.

"Many people think all they have to do is make sure the inside of their home is clean, but it really goes far beyond that when it comes to making sure your home looks its best so that buyers will take a look." said Thomas Scott, Vice President of Operations for Showhomes Franchise Corporation.

"Your home has the best chance of selling if it is fully staged and full of life. That is why we have released five essential tips that can help local residents stay on the right track when preparing their homes for a sale."

Scott reveals Showhomes' five tips for selling a vacant home:

1. Curb Appeal – the better the curb appeal of your home is, the more attractive it is to prospective buyers. When selling any home, it’s all about presentation. The curb appeal of your home is what influences people to look. It’s your first point of contact with a buyer and it better be a good one! Here is what Scott recommends:

Trim overgrown bushes, weed beds and add a fresh layer of mulch .

Clean your front door and repaint if needed .

Add a fresh doormat – thick sisal or coco mats make the best first impression. Not only do they make for a better look, everyone steps on the doormat and a clean, fresh one makes a distinct first impression.

Keep grass cut, edged and blown.

Plant some color in the beds to add contrast.

2. Cleaning – People are buying a lifestyle when they buy a new home, not just a house. A dirty and unclean house translates into an unclean life. For most buyers, dirt equals stress and the last thing most buyers want is more stress in their lives. Cleaning is easy to accomplish.

Here is what Showhomes recommends:

Pressure-wash the driveway and sidewalks. The driveway is one of the largest visual elements buyers see and a dirty or stained driveway sets a poor tone.

Clean windows inside and out – this often overlooked item really makes a huge difference. Even a spotlessly clean home will look grungy with dirty windows.

Pressure wash decks and patios. Outdoor living space makes a home larger and can draw people outside the home and make them feel more comfortable with the home. People spend more time in these spaces than in some rooms so making sure you clean these well makes a big difference.

3. Paint – When selling any home, the condition and color of the paint can make a huge difference in how buyers react to your home. Touch up or paint your walls and trim and select neutral colors. Avoid painting white – it is sterile and stark and can make buyers feel uncomfortable and unwelcome in your home. Select light neutrals – creamy kakis, pearly grays or soft greens.

4. Replace Worn Carpet – nothing runs buyers off quicker than worn and stained carpet! Dirty carpet is unsanitary and nobody will be able to overlook your worn carpet. Replace the top layer with inexpensive neutral colored carpet and you will always recoup the investment.

5. Stage your home! – Showhomes knows that buyers who look at vacant homes only see floors, walls and ceilings. With nothing else to look at, they focus on flaws. Because of this, vacant houses are very vulnerable to low-ball offers and often sell for 15-20 percent below list price.

Unfortunately, this is simply because they are vacant. Hire a whole-house staging company or if really want to get the best results, use a live-in Home Manager to stage your home. These two services add life to a home and rather than flaws, buyers can visualize themselves living in your home.

“The value of the life they see becomes worth more than the price of the home and because they make an emotional connection with your home, they will buy it,” says Scott.

Showhomes, the country's largest home staging company, has three decades of staging experience and has helped over 25,000 home owners and Realtors sell vacant homes, Scott said, adding that the company's business model has proven to be effective in any market condition, especially in today’s slow market.

For more information about Showhomes, or additional advice on selling your vacant home, please visit http://www.showhomes.com/.

Chicago Success Story

Chicago Showhomes franchise owner Barbara Bliss, the one who compiled the wonderful staging stats for her market, emailed this success story about a recent Lake Forest home she staged which sold for $1,120,000 - just a bit shy of its $1,199,000 list price.

If that were not enough, this home had been on the market for 458 days before Showhomes. Barbara staged it on Jan 10th and it went under contract within 10 days!

To view a real estate show of this home click here.

Showhomes Staging Case Study

Showhomes North Shore, a Chicago area franchise owned by home stager Barbara Bliss recently completed a case study comparing homes in the North Shore area of Chicago that had used Showhomes against homes that didn't use Showhomes. The results are eye-opening!



Barbara tracked 18 homes she contracted and whole-house staged with a live in Home Manager, such as the photo above. These homes sold for an average of 93% of list price and dramatically beat local market conditions. Homes sold within 147 days on average after staging with Showhomes. Since Showhomes targets larger, more expensive homes, the average list price of these homes was well over $1 Million. Average Days on Market for these homes is over a year, running about 500 days on market average!

That's a success story for staging in itself and any staging company would trumpet those sales results. The most amazing thing was this: the comparison on homes Barbara pitched. She tracked the life of a similar group of homes in the same price range, size and location of town. Each one of these homes was a good candidate for Showhomes and we believed that our service would affect sales for the owners. Despite this, the owners decided not to use Showhomes and left the homes vacant.

None of the homes in her non-Showhomes group sold! At the end of her case study, these homes had several price reductions and were listed at an average of 86% of original list. 86%!! That means these homes will likely go further down in price when and if buyers make offers because we all know that no body pays list price for a vacant home. They are simply too vulnerable to low-ball offers.

We estimate for the average home owner in this case study that the cost benefit to the homeowner when they used Showhomes and our Home Manager staging was $75,000!
We welcome you using these stats, just be sure to credit them to Showhomes as we have put a lot of time and energy into this project.

Another Showhomes Success

$3.6 Million home sells in less than 90 days after a year on the market. Showhomes has been staging in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley for the past decade and Showhomes franchise owner Kathy Haase has won our Franchise of the Year Award in 2004 and 2005. Her staging has been featured in many magazines and newspapers and her franchise has generated numerous sales results.

Phoenix and Scottsdale have seen huge increases in home inventory - in 2002 there were less than 9,000 homes for sale. In 2008 there are over 48,000 homes for sale. In addition, the days on market are much longer. This 3.6 million dollar home is a real success story for Showhomes and Kathy!

To see a Real Estate Show featuring this home, click here.

Home Staging is Tax Deductible!

Home staging is tax-deductible!

All of us in the staging business know that education is one of our principle responsibilities and greatest challenges. We know that staging creates value and results in quicker sales, but sometimes homeowners and Realtors need convincing.

There is often a perception that staging is something of a gamble. Realtors are sometimes hesitant to approach homeowners with the suggestion that they spend more money out-of-pocket for something that may or may not produce the desired result. Homeowners who have not hired a professional stager before worry that they may not recoup the cost.

This is especially true of those needing to stage a vacant house.

They think: what if I spend this money and don't see a return on my investment?

That is one reason why the home manager model works so well. Because we don't charge monthly fees to the homeowner when they agree to have their house staged using a home manager.

This situation is completely win-win.

At Showhomes we always point out that the value of staging lies in several key factors. Staged properties sell faster. Faster sales result in higher commissions for agents and reduced carrying costs for homeowners.

We have a long list of success stories to prove it, but when I sit down with a homeowner or Realtor with my proposal of services, well, those benefits can seem awfully intangible.

One of my standard selling points has always been this fact: staging always costs less than a price reduction. Why not pay $5,000 for staging and get an offer close to the price you want? Isn't that better than cutting the price by $20,000 - $30,000?

Well, if you put it that way...

Even so, some people are reluctant.

However, I think that a tax deduction might be seen as a more tangible benefit than those that come under the umbrella of 'reduced carrying costs'. I think I am going to add that to my Showhomes spiel.

In question form, no less: "Did you know that home staging is tax deductible?"

"Why no", they will say - captivated and intrigued, wanting to know more....

"Yes. Home staging is an investment. A legitimate, tax-deductible selling expense."

I'm not a tax expert or a CPA, so I will recommend that they speak to some such professional about the particulars, but I think it is important to inform homeowners and Realtors alike of that benefit/option.

Home staging services paid to a professional can be considered an advertising expense. Staging is still such a new concept to many. I am sure this fact is not widely known.

How to Sell a Spec Home

Showhomes Middle Tennessee helped sell a $1.4 million dollar spec home for Ernst Builders on Old Hickory Lake.

Ernst Builders, one of Nashville's premier builders, has been busy building out Fairvue Plantation north of Nashville. With the slowing real estate market, there is currently a 3 year supply of spec homes in the upscale lake front neighborhood. Wanting to get an advantage on their competition, Ernst consulted with Showhomes for long-term whole house staging and model home services.

The first spec home Ernst wanted to sell was a gorgeous lake front home that has been sitting stagnant on the market for over a year. Despite beautiful views and top-notch details, the home hadn't sold. The few buyers that came in for open houses had so much inventory to look at, the home just didn't stick in their minds.

Showhomes fully staged the home with brand new high-end furniture, accessories and artwork delivered direct from the manufacturer. Once it was staged, the home sold for near list price in less than 30 days!

Showhomes Middle Tennessee home stager Courtney Edwards had this to say, "We felt that if we could control the traffic flow of the home and get people to stop long enough to visualize what it would be like to live in this great space, it would sell and we are proud that it did!"

To view a real estate show featuring this home, click here.

Black Holes

I wanted to take this opportunity to re-blog an excellent post from my good friend Thom Scott, Showhomes VP of Operations.

Are Vacant Homes Black Holes That Suck the Life Out of their Own Sales?
by Thom Scott

Recently I was asked by Design Talk to write a column on a question they are frequenly asked.

The question comes from sellers concerned abut selling their vacant houses and wondering if thier property would have a better chance of selling if it had furnishings in it.

Well I replied saying... the fact that most Realtors dread handling a listing that is vacant says a lot, for they know that an empty house is typically a harder sell to make than one that is fully furnished. But why are vacant houses more difficult to sell then furnished homes? Let’s take look at a few reasons…

First, an empty room will always feel smaller than a furnished room. When potential buyers tour a property, they are trying to “map” their lives into the home’s space. Buyers are evaluating the house to see if it will work for them. To help them understand whether a house will work or not, buyers will relate the size and fit of the seller’s furnishing to their own. Vacant homes make this basic part of the buying process more difficult.

Next, for many buyers a big part of knowing a house will be “right” is the emotional connection/vibe they get from it. Houses that are vacant often give off a hollow desperate loneliness. Because it is harder to get the welcome feeling of “home” from a vacant property, the emptiness will actually make it more difficult for buyers to emotionally attach to it.

You may have noticed that Realtors, about to show a furnished home, first turn on every light and lamp in it before the buyer gets there to tour it. (And when I say “every light,” I mean every light.) They turn on the lights because they know that a well lit home sparkles, shines, and adds a warmth and glow that buyers find appealing.



Unfortunately, a vacant house will quite often lack or have no lights at all in some rooms. This bad lighting makes it harder for the buyer to see what they are buying, and ends up making the house show as dreary, dark and dull. A big reason why vacant houses are harder to sell is that there naturally is not much to look at, so what there is to see gets scrutinized.

While buyers do want to spend their hard earned money to buy a home, they are not too interested in spending money on making repairs and fixing the problems the seller chose to leave behind. Having nothing in a house makes it very easy for the buyer to focus their attention on even the smallest of flaws and then negatively fixate on having to spend money to make repairs.

Think about it… a wood, tile and linoleum floor will show more dirt, scratches and mars; the smallest carpet stains will clearly be visible; and naked walls will noticeably reveal all the holes, nicks and scuffs that are present.

Because the home is unoccupied, the exterior maintenance will often go undone. In the summer, lawns will either overgrow or burn out and weeds will take over gardens. In northern markets, walks and drives will be hidden if not shoveled after a winter snow fall. In general an unkempt exterior will kill any curb appeal and immediately start to diminish the buyer’s hopes as to what to expect on the interior.

For all these reasons, a vacant house will be more difficult to sell then a furnished home. A buyer's market will only make it even more difficult for a seller to sell for there are more than enough homes to choose from. Therefore, it is easy to understand how a buyer will be attracted to a home that they spatially understand; get a good feeling of “home” from; is bright, warm and inviting; and shows no glaring signs for maintenance or repair.

Oh… and just because a home is furnished does not make it an automatically and perfectly appealing home to buy… for even a furnished home still should be light, bright, clean, maintained and uncluttered.

Great post Thom!

I'd like to add that said furniture should be current and match the style of the house. I've seen many an attempt at staging that included furmishings that were decades old (but not antique or retro in the good way) or new, but an odd hodgepodge of many different designs and periods, which in my opinion can be worse than empty rooms!

And that's my two cents.

RE/MAX Tells Agents to Stage

RE/MAX made an announcement to all their agents at their national convention: if they weren't staging vacant houses, they weren't doing their job. Dave Lininger told the agents to cash in 401 K's to fund staging if they had to, but get it done.

This news came from Judy Pokorny of Toledo, OH. Judy is a Remax agent and Toledo is one of the slowest real estate markets in the country. She knows what Remax is now pushing - selling a home vacant is a guaranteed way to leave money on the table.

The best thing about Showhomes is this: our staging services are free to Realtors and affordable for homeowners. This makes our programs an excellent choice for cash-strapped sellers and REOs.

Showhomes E-Book

Showhomes released a new e-book for franchise sales:

Take a look and let us know what you think. The new e-book explains about Showhomes and gives lots of detail on our rapidly growing business. Showhomes is a mix of pure staging and using live in Home Managers to stage and furnish a home so that it sells faster and for a higher price.

Showhomes is currently in 25 markets in 19 states and growing rapidly.

Showhomes New Orleans and Extreme Makeover

Showhomes is pleased to announce that our New Orleans franchise owner, Hudson Wolfe, has been asked to participate in the filming of 'Extreme Makeover'.

Wolfe, who has lots of staging and home makeover experience, will be contributing to the construction crews on a volunteer basis. "I'm excited about this project," says Wolfe. "At Showhomes we understand how to transform a vacant house into a valuable home so joining this show is both professionally gratifying and fun."

Showhomes New Orleans opened 3 months before Katrina hit, and like many small businesses in that city, was devastated by the storm. Wolfe has been working as a franchise operations support staffer up until this year when the real estate market in New Orleans began to come back to life and his staging services are in high demand.

"I'm happy we can give something back to the people of New Orleans," says Wolfe.

Showhomes Success

Showhomes, America's Largest Home Staging Company, released its annual home sales results for 2007:

Showhomes 25 offices helped home owners and their Realtors sell 209 homes with an average list price of $850,000 in 2007 totaling over $192 Million.

In most markets, Showhomes helped its home owners and Realtors beat local market conditions by well over 50%. In Houston, where Showhomes has two franchises, home staged by Showhomes with a Home Manager sold in an average of 46 days, despite average times on market of well over 6 months.




"We are very proud of our franchise owners. Showhomes has always been the market leader in Home Staging and been able to deliver consistent results for its customers since the mid 1980s," says Thomas Scott, Executive Vice President of Operations for Showhomes Franchise Corporation.

"We high level of product quality has allowed us to thrive in every market condition from bust, to boom and back to bust."

Showhomes continues to be the only nationally franchised home staging business. If you are interested in learning more about this unique and proven business, visit www.showhomes.com or www.showhomesfranchise.com.

As featured on Oprah, CNN, ABC, FOX, CBS, The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

No Business Like Show Business

People often ask: what's it like owning a home staging franchise? Do you enjoy it?

I always answer with an enthusiastic, "Yes!" I love being a Showhomes franchisee because we get such great support. The corporate office offers practical, tangible help for franchises and tries to keep things fun and light-hearted whenever possible.

Take last year's Owner's Conference, for example. The theme was 'No Business Like Show Business.' We were invited to a formal dinner at corporate headquarters. We were encouraged to pretend that we were out for a night at the Oscars. Awards were given to various franchisees based on performance.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes the best actors in the film industry for their significant accomplishments each year. Approximately 40 million people tune in to see who has earned the highest honor the Academy bestows.

Just as momentous, although not witnessed by as many people, was the awards ceremony at the Showhomes Franchise Corporation Annual Gathering. The event was held January 27th at Union Station Hotel in Nashville and celebrated the success of the men and women who were honored. Showhomes is America’s largest home staging company and has 24 franchises in 19 states.

In a year in which the real estate market experienced a considerable decline in sales, Showhomes franchise owners encountered double-digit growth – helping homeowners and their Realtors sell more than $192 million in real estate. Leading the rapidly growing company was the Central Arkansas franchise, based in Little Rock.

Jeff and Heidi Ross, Central Arkansas franchise owners, took home the best prize of conference. Their record growth, outstanding loyalty, high customer service, exceptional design quality and their promotion of the Showhomes brand earned them the 2007 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. Now, almost five years later, the fruits of our consistent diligence have paid off,” said Jeff Ross. “We believe the key to our success has been practicing quality in every area, without compromise, and the continual discipline of marketing to our customers. We now look forward to duplicating our Central Arkansas success as we begin a new franchise in Memphis, Tennessee.”

“Jeff and Heidi Ross operate a business that provides true value to Realtors and home owners in and around Little Rock. They produce some of the best home staging in the country and have a lengthy track record of succeeding and beating market conditions. We are proud of their performance and look forward to what they will accomplish in 2008,” said Bert Lyles, Showhomes CEO. “We are excited that Jeff and Heidi are expanding their expert service to the Memphis market.”

The Ross’ were also honored with the Strongest Market Presence Award for highest market saturation and largest brand presence. This is the first time Showhomes has bestowed this recognition.

Other awards were given to:
Sherri Nichols, Pensacola/Destin, Florida franchise owner, earned the Best New Franchise Award. In her first full year of operation, Sherri performed record growth, exhibited outstanding loyalty, high customer service and exceptional product quality in the promotion of Showhomes.

Beth George, Los Angeles and Orange Counties, California franchise owner, earned the Top Revenue Producer

Cindy Montgomery, Minneapolis, Minnesota franchise owner, earned the Top Design Award, for highest product quality and excellence in design and the Most Homes Sold Award, for highest number of homes sold.

Jim Biby, Jacksonville, Florida franchise owner, earned the Most Homes Contracted Award¸ for the highest number of homes contracted and staged in 2007.

Andy Wilson, North and Central Houston, Texas franchise owner, earned the Fastest Sale Time Award, for fastest time to sell, averaging 46 days.

Circle of Excellence Awards

The following Showhomes franchise owners were recognized for excellence in operation, product quality, loyalty and customer service:

Angela Blankinchip – Mobile, Alabama
Jody Lovitt – Southeast Michigan
Donna Muelver – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Jim Biby – Jacksonville, Florida
Judy Pokorny – Toledo, Ohio
Henry Graham – Charlotte, North Carolina

Showhomes Gets Results

After several years of an amazing boom, 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 these homes are taking far longer to sell.

Showhomes, America's Largest Home Staging Company, has been a ray of light in the otherwise gloomy market. Showhomes helps home owners sell high-end vacant homes and has experienced record growth as aresult.

"Showhomes' unique strategy of staging and helping Realtors market vacant luxury homes produces real results," said Matt Kelton, chief operating officer for Showhomes Franchise Corporation. "We are proud to announce that the company experienced 45 percent revenue growth last year. In the last three years, the company has been experiencing rapid growth, almost tripling its same store revenue. In addition, the Showhomes franchise system is growing rapidly as we add new units."

Showhomes has dramatically beaten market conditions - with staged Showhomes selling as much as 50 percent faster than comparable vacants, Kelton said. The company's service is high in demand becausethere are more houses for sale today than at any point in U.S.history, and there are more vacant homes for sale now than ever before.

Showhomes - known as America's largest home staging company -began its operations in 1986 and started franchising in 1994. It currently has 23 franchises in 19 states, and has recently been listed as one of the hot franchising trends for 2008, Kelton said.

Selling a vacant house in any market can be a challenge. Vacant homes take much longer to sell than occupied homes and often sell for 10-20 percent below list price. Buyers have trouble visualizing their furniture in a vacant home and in a slow real estate market like today flooded with inventory, vacant houses simply get passed over in favor of more welcoming furnsihed homes. Good taste, beautiful furniture and well thought out design enables buyers to visualize an organized and decorated Showhome as their own.

For more information on how we can add value to your vacant home call:
Natasha A. Little 864.423.4936

Introducing Showhomes

Showhomes is America's Largest Home Staging Company.

Although we are new to the Upstate, we have been an industry leader nationwide for over 20 years. We invite you to find out why the Travel Channel calls Showhomes one of the best kept secrets in Real Estate!

We provide an entire suite of services, not simply consultation and/or furniture leasing that is typically associated with the term 'home staging'.

We specialize in working with high-end homes - including condos and lofts. Homeowners and Realtors are amazed at the results achieved when they take advantage of our home manager program to stage their vacant listings.

Contact us at www.showhomes.com. Find out how we can take your property from vacant house to valued home!