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.