Showhomes St. Petersburg: Florida: Saint Petersburg

Home owners don't realize how much harder a vacant home is to sell. In today's market, you have to win the beauty contest. Vacant houses simply underperform staged homes and the increased sales price provides an excellent return on what staging costs. Choosing to stage your home should be an easy decision in today's market.

Take a look at its top five reasons why selling a vacant house is often a mistake in today's market:

1. People don't simply buy houses; they buy the next chapter of their lives.

This is an emotional experience and emotion influences what people buy and how much they will pay. Vacant houses are devoid of life, and the chance to make an emotional connection is lost.

2. Vacancy distracts buyers from looking at the house itself.

They wonder: "Is this a divorce?  Why did they move out? Are they selling because they have money problems? Is this home hard to sell?" They'll make a low-ball offer, thinking the owner is desperate.

3. When a house is vacant, buyers focus on flaws.

They look at nail holes, carpet wear and gaps in the molding rather than how the space works. In a vacant house, floors, walls and ceilings are all buyers see. This drives the price down.

4. People can't visualize how furniture fits.

An empty bedroom might appear awkward or a living room might seem cavernous. Some spaces might confuse buyers because a use is not obvious. Buyers are derailed and move on to the next house.

5. Vacant houses don't show as well as staged and occupied homes.

Without people, even the best home quickly looks and smells vacant. Dust settles, leaves scatter, and stale smell spreads. These cues often shorten the showing time, leading to fewer sales.

www.showhomesstpetersburg.com

Home owners don't realize how much harder a vacant home is to sell. In today's market, you have to win the beauty contest. Vacant houses simply underperform staged homes and the increased sales price provides an excellent return on what staging costs. Choosing to stage your home should be an easy decision in today's market.

Take a look at its top five reasons why selling a vacant house is often a mistake in today's market:

1. People don't simply buy houses; they buy the next chapter of their lives.

This is an emotional experience and emotion influences what people buy and how much they will pay. Vacant houses are devoid of life, and the chance to make an emotional connection is lost.

2. Vacancy distracts buyers from looking at the house itself.

They wonder: "Is this a divorce?  Why did they move out? Are they selling because they have money problems? Is this home hard to sell?" They'll make a low-ball offer, thinking the owner is desperate.

3. When a house is vacant, buyers focus on flaws.

They look at nail holes, carpet wear and gaps in the molding rather than how the space works. In a vacant house, floors, walls and ceilings are all buyers see. This drives the price down.

4. People can't visualize how furniture fits.

An empty bedroom might appear awkward or a living room might seem cavernous. Some spaces might confuse buyers because a use is not obvious. Buyers are derailed and move on to the next house.

5. Vacant houses don't show as well as staged and occupied homes.

Without people, even the best home quickly looks and smells vacant. Dust settles, leaves scatter, and stale smell spreads. These cues often shorten the showing time, leading to fewer sales.

www.showhomesstpetersburg.com

www.showhomesstpetersburg.com

When deciding to sell or list a vacant home it's important to plan a successful marketing strategy. With the abundance of inventory available in today's market buyers are viewing multiple homes a day, weekend, daily alerts from Realtor.com, and search times are extended for months.

With this in mind. Your home/listing will need to be mmemorable. This includes cleanliness, temperature (important on a hot Florida day in July), de-cluttered, lights on, blinds open, the smell of Glade' in the air.

When you visit even the smallest"buy here pay here" car dealers have cars detailed and let you test drive so you can visualize this vehicle as your own. This concept isn't new to any of us.

Then why would anyone sell a home vacant? Staging is proven to sell homes faster and more money. Add a Home Manager to the equation and save even more money and prevent from being vulnerable to low ball offers. www.showhomes.com or www.showhomesstpetersburg.com

Local Home Staging Company Honored to be Ranked in Top 50 Franchise Companies
Showhomes ranked in Top 50 Franchise Companies by Franchise Business Review

  Accustomed to placing the spotlight on area homes, local Showhomes franchises are now receiving accolades of their own. The local home staging businesses' parent company, Showhomes Franchise Corporation, has joined the elite list of companies earning a place on Franchise Business Review's Top 50 Franchise Companies List.

The Franchise Business Review Top 50 Ranking puts Showhomes into an elite group of the best franchise companies in the country. Only companies with excellent fundamentals, great financial position and high franchisee satisfaction scores earn a spot in the ranking.  Currently, over 3,000 companies franchise in the United States. 

            The ranking was awarded to Showhomes at the annual International Franchise Conference in San Diego earlier this year. In addition to the top-50 award, Showhomes earned the 2^nd highest award for a franchise in the real estate category, beating out most common real estate brands and placing just behind Sotheby's.

            Showhomes - St. Petersburg owner Elayne Wooding had this to say, "We are really excited about the ranking. We work hard to provide the best staging services in the industry and we are happy to see the industry recognize our success."

             "Franchisee satisfaction is one of the most important criteria to consider before investing in any franchise system," said Franchise Business Review President, Eric Stites. "Very few franchise companies have achieved such high ratings from their franchisees, which puts Showhomes in a very elite class of opportunities in today's marketplace."

            According to Elayne Wooding, the sagging real estate market has created ideal market conditions for Showhomes' services, which help local realtors sell properties by transforming high-end vacant entities into valuable, staged homes. The company has been called "the best kept secret in real estate" by the Travel Channel and was recently listed as one of the top 100 fastest growing companies in Tennessee by BusinessTN magazine.

For more information about Showhomes - St. Petersburg, please contact Elayne Wooding at 727-599-7862.

About Showhomes

Showhomes - known as America's largest home staging company - began its operations in 1986 and started franchising in 1994. It currently has 42 franchises in 21 states. Showhomes has helped realtors and homeowners sell more than 25,000 homes worth more than $8 billion across the United States by transforming high-end vacant houses into valuable, staged homes. The Showhomes business model is based on the fact that staged homes kept in show-to-sell condition sell faster, and for higher prices, than vacant houses. For franchise opportunities, please visit www.showhomes.com.

A national home staging company is having success in today`s tough real estate
market using people as props to help stage and sell large vacant homes. The
innovative alternative to traditional staging is dramatically shortening the
time to sell and increasing the sales price.

Showhomes contracts with homeowners to place people it calls `Home Managers` in
vacant homes for sale. Home Managers help stage the home and keep it in
show-to-sell condition inside and out so it shows well and sells faster. These
human `props` add life to the home and make it far easier to sell.

In a recent case study for 2008, luxury homes in Chicago staged by Showhomes
with Home Managers sold for 93% of the original list price when using Home
Managers to stage. Comparable homes left vacant for sale sold for 75-85% of the
original list price. Homes staged with Home Managers sold in 4-5 months and
vacant homes took well over a year to sell. That`s at least a 10% higher sales
price and a sale in less than half the time of vacant homes.

Home Managers get to live in high-end luxury homes for a small fraction of what
it would normally cost to rent or buy. The huge costs savings comes with a
catch: the must have beautiful furniture, must keep the home is spotless show
condition at all times and must be ready to move on short notice when the home
sells. These human `props` make a home looked lived, warm and comfortable.

"There is good news in today`s market: mortgage rates are amazingly low and a
buyer with decent credit and a down payment can get a loan," says Thomas Scott,
Showhomes VP of Operations. "The problem is that for every qualified buyer in
today`s market there are 20-30 homes for sale. This means that for a home to
sell it needs every advantage it can get or it will most certainly languish on
the market."

"Vacant homes are cold and sterile. Buyers have a hard time remembering vacant
homes. Adding a live-in Home Manager to a home makes it warm and appealing. It
looks great. It`s perfectly clean. It smells great and there are clothes in the
closet and food in the fridge. It might be the one home that a buyer remembers
and can easily connect with and in today`s market, that`s the secret to a
successful sale," said Scott.

About Showhomes

Showhomes - known as America's largest home staging company - began its
operations in 1986 and started franchising in 1994. It currently has 46
franchises in 23 states. Showhomes has helped realtors and homeowners sell more
than 25,000 homes worth more than $8 billion across the United States by
transforming high-end vacant houses into valuable, staged homes. The Showhomes
business model is based on the fact that staged homes kept in show-to-sell
condition sell faster, and for higher prices, than vacant houses. For franchise
opportunities, please visit www.showhomes.com.

CLICK HERE FOR APPLICATION

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SHOWHOMES - AMERICA'S LARGEST HOME STAGING COMPANY HAS BEEN IN BUSINESS FOR 21 YEARS ASSISTING HOME OWNERS AND AGENTS WITH PROPERTIES ON THE MARKET FOR SALE.


www.showhomestpetersburg.com