Showhomes St. Petersburg

Park Street Estate Broker Open

Elayne Wooding -Showhomes St Petersburg (Showhomes- St. Petersburg) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:18:46 -0400

An Interview with Elayne Wooding of Showhomes, St. Petersburg

Elayne Wooding -Showhomes St Petersburg (Showhomes- St. Petersburg) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:12:51 -0400

Via Janine Gregor, MSM (Your Virtual Wizard - Marketing Magic When You Wand It!):

This article is from a real estate column I am running in my June 2010 newsletter, “Wizard’z Wordz”.
Sign-up here for my quarterly newsletter featuring free software tools, blogging tips, real estate interviews, coaching tips; "Charming News from a Virtual Assistant's Universe"

An Interview with Elayne Wooding of Showhomes, St. Petersburg

Considering that many of the readers of “Wizard’z Wordz” are real estate professionals, I thought to dedicate this month’s feature interview column to a real estate professional.

If you are not in the real estate industry, perhaps you are selling or buying a home or know someone who is…you may find this interview still rather interesting. Most small business owners are typically interested in learning about how others ‘think outside the box’.

This would be one such story.

Earlier this year, I came across an interesting article in Realtor.org entitled, “Consider Live-In Stagers for Vacant Homes” and was intrigued by the live-in concept. The article featured a company called Showhomes; a Nashville, Tenn.-based company, which has eight offices located in the state of Florida, (where I am located). Showhomes provides live-in stagers for vacant homes that are for sale.

I probed further and discovered a Showhomes office located in St. Petersburg which is managed by franchise owner Elayne Wooding.

Thank you, Elayne for so generously donating your time to answer a few interview questions for our readers.

Q – Please explain how you got into the staging industry and why you opened Showhomes St. Petersburg.

EW – I decided to become a home staging entrepreneur after working my way up the ladder in the real estate and finance fields. We’ve had so much negativity when it comes to real estate. I’m thrilled to be a part of a solution that helps everyone – the homeowners, Realtors, builders and top notch home managers that we find to live in the homes while they are on the market. It’s extremely rewarding to help people in distressed situations and homeowners who feel overwhelmed by all they are up against because of the market for high-end homes.

Q – Who is your ideal customer?

EW – 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.

Q – Why would a seller wish to use your services?

EW – If you present a vacant house, buyers are often unable to visualize the empty space as a home. Even if the empty house sells, it is often for a price far below the list price. Because the home is vacant, buyers expect a bargain – hoping to take advantage of an owner they think is desperate to sell. If you present a Showhome, buyers are able to visualize the fully furnished and decorated space as their home. This personal connection leads to a premium sale price. Buyers make higher offers because they have already bought a home in their mind – they can see it as theirs, and will offer a premium price to make sure it becomes theirs.

Q – If I were a seller, explain the steps involved in contracting with Showhomes.

EW – Contact us directly www.showhomesstpetersburg.com for a no obligation proposal.

Q – What is the cost of your services?

EW – Nominal Set-Up fee when Home Manager occupies the property, No monthly fees. Staging fees are paid at closing when the home sells.

Q – What types of homes do you accept into the Showhomes St. Petersburg program?

EW – Vacant homes generally starting from 300K to 8,000,000k.

Q – What are the benefits of staging a home using the services of Showhomes St. Petersburg?

EW – Transforming vacant houses into valuable, cared-for homes that buyers respond to.

Q – Do you have any statistics to back-up the benefits of your services? [Does a home sell faster? Receive more offers? Gain more traffic?]

EW - According to a survey from National Association of Realtors Showhomes sell 10%-20% faster and an average of 93% of list price.

Q – Besides staging a home, what role does the Home Manager play in the sale of a home?
EW – Keeping each home in show-to-sell condition seven days a week.

Q – With the Home Manager living at my home, do I have any guarantee that nothing will happen to the property?
EW – Showhomes contractually indemnifies the homeowner and backs this with property damage insurance on every home, plus $2,000,000 general commercial liability insurance. We also require each Home Manager to carry a minimum of $500,000 personal liability insurance.

Q – Are Home Managers’ backgrounds screened?
EW – All Home Managers undergo detailed credit and strict background checks.

Q – Can a Showhomes staged home be viewed 7 days a week?
EW – Homes will be accessible for showings seven days a week. Our Home Managers will open blinds and curtains and turn on lights to ensure that your home is in perfect condition when a buyer arrives. Buyers will see a perfectly maintained, tidy and clutter-free home.

Q – Where does the staging furniture and accessories come from? How is the staging-style determined, i.e., modern, eclectic, country, Florida-style, etc.?
EW – Home Managers who have contracted to keep your property looking like a model home. Furnishings and accessories that are appropriate for the property are owned and provided by the Home Manager and Showhomes supplements these as needed to make the property look its best.

Q – What happens if I do not like the way my home is staged?
EW – We inspect and arrange every detail to ensure that your home is shown at its best.

Q – Is there a ‘best’ time of the year to stage a home?
EW – Every time a home is on the market is the best time to state a home.

Q – Do you stage a home for holidays if requested by the seller? Do your stagers take requests for specific styles/designs if the homeowner requests this?
EW – We will use furniture and accessories that appeal to the demographic group most likely to be searching for a home in this area. We will create a warm and inviting environment.

Q – Are you specifically a staging company or do you have realtors on-site/staff selling my home in addition to staging it? Or do I use my own realtor?
EW – We are specifically a staging company. Many of our staff are licensed agents, but we work with agents as an extension of their marketing efforts and not competition.

Q – Showhomes is a franchise. Please tell us about the St. Petersburg franchise. Is your seller unique to other areas where Showhomes franchises are located? If so, explain why.
EW – Showhomes – known as America’s largest home staging company – began its operations in 1986 and started franchising in 1994. It currently has 67 franchises in 24 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.

Q – Is there anything else you would like people to know about your company?
EW - When your home sells, we prefer a 30-day notice to give us time to relocate our Home Manager; a minimum of 21 days notice is required. We will have your home cleaned and returned to you in the same or better condition than when we received it. We will work with you to make sure your closing goes off quickly and smoothly.

Thank you, Elayne.

Contact Elayne Wooding:
Elayne S. Wooding CMP, MIRM
Franchise Owner
Showhomes St. Petersburg
111 2nd Ave. N.E. Suite 919
St. Petersburg, Fl. 33701
ewooding@showhomes.com
866-797-7426 ext. 706
www.showhomes.com
www.showhomesstpetersburg.com

Will Tenants in Your Listing Doom Your Chances for a Sale??

Elayne Wooding -Showhomes St Petersburg (Showhomes- St. Petersburg) — Mon, 24 May 2010 11:58:01 -0400

Why take your chances and not use Showhomes? www.showhomesstpetersburg.com

Via John Elwell (CENTURY 21 Bill Nye Realty, Inc):

A colleague and I had a listing in Zephyrhills, Florida that was a rental home. When we first took the listing it had some deadbeat tenants in it and it was a mess. We entered it on day one, and when we came out we were covered with fleas! After a fumigation and a complete emptying of the home (a lot done by us), a total cleaning was conducted, a lockbox placed on the door, and the home was "on the market".

Unfortunately, in our current market this type of home draws more buyers who want to use FHA financing, something that is hard to work out with this home due to its age, wiring, etc. The seller would have had to spend a lot of money and do a lot of work to bring it up to HUD standards, and he was not able do that. But the home was shown a number of times, and we had hopes that an investor using cash or conventional financing might come forward to purchase it. That. we thought, would be the most likely outcome.

However, several months later, the owner said he could not afford to have it vacant any longer so he rented it to some tenants who promised him that there "would be no problem when the home needed to be shown". As often happens, what is promised is not what is done. And it does not seem to matter if the rental property is a basic house or a $500,000 home.

On many occasions I called to arrange showing appointments, but with no cooperation from the occupants. One time they did agree to a time, but when the agent and buyers arrived the tenants would not open the door. The agent could hear them inside, but they refused to answer the door. After that, they stopped answering their phones and did not return voice messages that we left. So for all practical purposes, this home was off the market since it could not be shown to any buyers.

When the listing period ended we did not renew it since it made no sense to continue to spend time and money on a property that we had no chance of selling. No one is going to buy a "pig in a poke". The seller, who went through a divorce and needed to sell the home, was up the creek. However, there is nothing we could do. He had effectively tied our hands.

Sellers of rental properties need to:

1. Make sure that they and their tenants clearly understand each others rights when it comes to showing the homes to potential buyers.

2. Landlord sellers need to know federal, state and local laws that regulate when and how a property can be shown. These can vary greatly from area-to-area. Your lease with the tenant should clearly state what both parties' rights are under the law. You as the owner need to make sure that the tenants comply so that your agents can do their jobs. Agents cannot initiate a legal action since they are not parties to the agreement between the landlord and the tenants.

3. Landlords also need to clearly inform their real estate agents about any special restrictions that may apply due to contractual agreements between the tenants and the owners. For example, state law may mandate a 24 hour notice before a showing, but an owner may have been more lenient and given a promise of 48 hours. Your REALTOR® needs to know this.

4. Be aware that a vacant property is MUCH easier to show, and therefore, may sell much more quickly than one that is occupied. Easy and immediate access is a big plus. Delays and hassles are NOT! So if a property is already vacant, you may want to think long and hard about putting a tenant in it.

5. Often new tenants will convince you that they will cooperate completely when you need to show the home. But once they are in, you will be amazed at the excuses that some of them will come up with and the roadblocks they will put up to prevent entry. You need to be clear from the onset that problems of this type will not be put up with and that if necessary, appropriate and swift legal action will be taken. You might also remind them that when they do eventually move, you want to be able to give them good references. Remember, you are only asking them to obey the law and your lease, just as you have done. Of course, if you are not a very good landlord and have not adhered to the law or lease, then you will have a problem convincing your tenants that they should. So be a good landlord.

6. Tell tenants, if the law allows, that the property will need to be shown whether or not they are at home or not. Otherwise, trying to coordinate showings with all of their schedules will be nearly impossible. Trust me.

7. If you allow tenants with unfriendly dogs to rent the property, keep in mind that even if the tenant will let your agent and buyers to enter the house or apartment, they may hesitate to do so due to the danger or perceived danger that exists. If the renters have indoor cats, you will likely have odor issues that could cause a buyer to reject your property.

8. Do not blame your agent if your home languishes on the market due to uncooperative tenants. Your agent has a contract with YOU, not the tenants. The occupants' contract is with you, and it is your responsibility to make sure they comply with contractual obligations in regard to access for real estate agents and prospective purchasers.

Both landlords and tenants have rights AND responsibilities. The better both parties clearly understand these, the more likely it is that the landlord will be better able to market his property.

If you have any questions or need more information about this topic, or real estate in general, please feel free to call me at: 813-783-4444 or e-mail me at: jelwell1@tampabay.rr.com

I also invite you to visit my website where I think you will find a lot of useful information. To get there just click on the following link: www.jelwell.century21bnr.com

Home Staging Class in Nashville Helps Attract Buyers for House

Elayne Wooding -Showhomes St Petersburg (Showhomes- St. Petersburg) — Tue, 04 May 2010 17:32:17 -0400

Via Thomas Scott - Showhomes (Showhomes):

Showhomes held its first annual Home Staging Certification class this past Thursday at a $1 million dollar Brentwood, TN mansion that has been on the market for some time. 35 Showhomes home stagers from markets all over the country descended for an intense Home Staging class taught by the Decorating and Staging Academy, Showhomes' advanced staging trainers.

The builder of this home graciously agreed to open the home for our group of talented stagers to transform and the results speak for themselves:

Dining room before (above) Master Bedroom before (Below)

Staging class prior to the hands-on

Sandra Racz, staging intructor from the Decorating and Staging Academy talks with over 30 Showhomes franchise owners and stagers. Talk about some strong opinions in one room! I learned a ton myself listening to so much talent.

Dining Room after (Above) and Living Room after (below)

Master Bedroom above and below - Showhomes stagers Carla Chiefetz from Princeton, NJ and Sandra Wicks from LA

This is an actual home for sale and all training aside, we staged this home in an unbelivable 3 hours (having 30 expereinced people helps.) Just in time - a Realtor showed up for a surprise showing as we put the finishing touches on the home followed by the listing agent and the builder and his wife.

The buyer spent over an hour in the home and at least 30 minutes in the master - it was calm and serene. This was their second showing and it made a real impact; we bet it sells!

This event was both educational for our group and clearly beneficial for the builder and Realtor - we're planning to make this an annual event in Nashville so stay tuned!

What do you think?

Thomas Scott

Showhomes

www.showhomes.com

We're recruiting: www.showhomesfranchise.com

Why Selling Your Vacant House is a Mistake

Elayne Wooding -Showhomes St Petersburg (Showhomes- St. Petersburg) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:00:00 -0400

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

Why Selling Your Vacant House is a Mistake

Elayne Wooding -Showhomes St Petersburg (Showhomes- St. Petersburg) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:59:44 -0400

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

10 months on market then finally they get it.... STAGE IT!

Elayne Wooding -Showhomes St Petersburg (Showhomes- St. Petersburg) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 09:20:22 -0400

Buyers nationwide are using the tools neccessary to sell their home faster and for more money. Top Producing Real Estate agents are staging homes for sale at time of listing. Can you afford not to?

Via Melissa Marro www.StagingAndRedesign.com www.WeStageSC.com (First Impressions):

Home Staging may not be the first thought to many agents or sellers, which is unfortunate because so often it can be the best investment they make in the sale of their home. The home that I staged last Friday was one of those homes that languished on the market waiting for the 'right buyer' or the 'right price'.

Some of the details of the home were easily overlooked in MLS prior to staging. Most of the rooms looked too small for the average family as the scale was off without anything to compare it to. There were minor imperfections that nearly every home has - a small stain in the carpeting, nail pops or even a scuff mark here or there. Unfortunately with nothing else to cast your eye to, they were glaring imperfections rather than a minor defect.

Proper home staging helps control the buyer's eye to the features and benefits of the individual spaces, it minimizes any imperfections and shows how the space could be used. (note: while imperfections may be minimized they are never hidden)

Over the course of the last year, we've seen many of these homes - homes that just aren't selling - have staged with multiple offers at typically close at 98% to list price or better. Unfortunately these sellers have missed months of possible offers and have paid thousands in carrying costs that could have been avoided.

For all of the sellers that are sitting on the market wondering when/if an offer may happen. For all of the agents who have clients who are frustrated that their home hasn't sold yet.... isn't it time to try something new? Why not do what the nations top producers do... STAGE IT!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Melissa Marro, a published artist, now turned staging advocate and national speaker speaks her mind about real estate and the home staging industry. In her 'no holds barred' approach, audience members find real answers to the industries pitfalls and learn how to overcome them with tried and true information and guidance. With marketing as her passion, she turned a small home based business into one of the nation's largest home staging and training facilities. She now operates as the CEO of First Impressions Home Staging & Interior ReDesign as well as an instructor for Certified Staging Professionals International Training Academy (CSPI) - the world's largest Staging Training Organization, and regularly speaks at the StagerList Expos and Real Estate Staging Association (RESA)'s trade events.

For more information on having Marro speak at one of your real estate functions, please contact her at 843.822.2622 or email at marro.melissa@gmail.com

If you would like Marro's team to provide information on staging a property in the state of South Carolina, or the Greater Charleston Area, please visit www.WeStageSC.com, email marro.melissa@gmail.com or call 843.822.2622.

For more information on Marro's CSP Staging Training, please visit www.StagingAndRedesign.com, visit the CSP Calendar for dates or email marro.melissa@gmail.com. Below is a list of Marro's current CSP Certification class dates:

May 4-6 Covington, KY

May 18-20 Columbia, SC

June 26-28 Marietta, GA

July 5-7 Memphis, TN

July 10-12 Charleston, SC

August 2-4 Washington DC

August 24-26 Chicago, IL

Staging Luxury Property | The Emotional Quotient

Marcus Martin "Your Vacant Home Rescuer" (Showhomes-St.Petersburg) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:17:35 -0500

This is an Article that every Realtor should read. Just more proof that the idea of "Staging" homes for sale is here and will become the norm in our industry. I hope you see the value as I do....

February 7, 2010

DuPont Registry

http://dupontluxuryhomes.com/staging-luxury-property/...

All My Best,

Marcus Martin

"Your Vacant Home Rescuer"

Showhomes-St.Petersburg

Vacant and Fully Staged Homes: which sells?

Elayne Wooding -Showhomes St Petersburg (Showhomes- St. Petersburg) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:45:32 -0500

www.showhomesstpetersburg.com

Via Thomas Scott - Showhomes (Showhomes):

Showhomes is a national franchise and we train new Home Stagers often. One of my favorite parts of training is a field exercize that clearly demonstrates the difference in a vacant home for sale and a home that is both occupied and fully staged. Our company's success is based on the premise that vacant homes are much harder to sell, take much longer to sell and sell for far less money.

For this exercise, we used two homes for sale in a suburb north of Nashville. Both homes are in the same neighborhood, are priced the same and have been on the market for the same amount of time. We carried a group of people through both houses and recorded their feedback from both homes:

House #1: vacant house:

Here is the positive and negative feedback from 5 people who visited this home:
Negative Feedback Positive Feedback weeds in planter Lot of space dark – lighting Master bath big temp cold, uncomfortable Well maintained No color Tray ceilings nice Inconsistent shine of wood floor Bonus room nice and private Sink dirty Like high finish in garage no fridge like recessed stair lights portable chairs Good windows and lighting fixtures empty mantle Solid house Tub dirty Good looking house shower missing enclosure high ceilings nice house seemed not finished wood floor nice Misc parts on counters Carpet dirty. Dusty windows have dead bugs dirty windows Toilets not clean Large empty loft room No place to sit No window coverings – no privacy Too close to neighbors Front yard not kept Lot of leaves no curtains – feels colder To big – get lost Unfinished room at top of stairs Hard to visualize space smells like paint Paint peeling on back door jamb spiderwebs creepy scrap of carpet for welcome mat Storage by fridge left over Cold and dark Echo on floor Echo on marble made subfloor seem hollow or poorly built Granite didn’t match house – colors don’t match dead leaves in front dust bunnies on floor low outlets framed awkward – looked like substandard building dead grass wood floor to marble floor uneven House empty Master tub too small shower odd scratched wood floor in study lights out living room and kitchen eating area small Pink tint odd

Here is the home staged by Showhomes with a live-in Home Stager:

Here is the positive and negative feedback from the same people:
Negative Feedback Positive Feedback
too many personal photos wel lit clean homey feel – warm comfortable very nice colors – eye catchy great furniture felt luxirous upstairs bedroom nice as master big house – good space felt more usable, easier to live in music and fans full of life really liked it – cozy very welcoming music makes great impression sitting area in master great very funstional house great floorplan keeping room – great space extra family room – bonuns room huge nice playroom smells nice closets really nice garage not cluttered food in fridge nice and clean home curb appeal great wreath on door seems like a model felt like a perfect model home linens like a spa patio nice staging really great master bedroom awesome music really helpful clean garage warm and very clean woman’s touch holiday decorations tasteful feels like a great family house live plants look great
Look at them side by side and it’s obvious which home is going to sell faster!

In a pricing survey, all 5 said they preferred the staged home and if they were to put in an offer would start at 5-10% below list price and would all go up to list price to get the home. Several stated they would ‘be embarrassed to low-ball the owner since the home was so well cared for.”

The vacant home, on the other hand, did poorly on the pricing survey. Even though the homes were comparable in most ways, the viewers said they would submit a low-ball offer starting at 70% of the list price and would only go up to 75%.

What do you think?

Thomas Scott

www.showhomes.com

IS YOUR GOAL TO SELL MORE HOMES THIS YEAR?

Elayne Wooding -Showhomes St Petersburg (Showhomes- St. Petersburg) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:51:36 -0500

Old Northeast Broker Open

Elayne Wooding -Showhomes St Petersburg (Showhomes- St. Petersburg) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:47:56 -0500

Dividing the spaces in a small place

Elayne Wooding -Showhomes St Petersburg (Showhomes- St. Petersburg) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:40:45 -0500

Via Thomas Scott - Showhomes (Showhomes):

Dividing the spaces in a small place

It's an age-old problem with small houses: how do you make the spaces look larger and more functional so the spaces don't seem so SMALL??

This problem is even tougher in a condo where all the spaces are small. Cindy Montgomery in our Showhomes Minneapolis office emailed me these photos to explain how she divides up small spaces and uses small-footprint furniture to enlarge a room:

I believe that the more activites a buyer can see themselves doing in a space, large or small, the more attracive the home becomes. Great job, Cindy!

Thomas Scott

www.showhomes.com

Showhomes Sees Spike in Sales of Luxury Homes

Elayne Wooding -Showhomes St Petersburg (Showhomes- St. Petersburg) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:49:48 -0500

Showhomes are correcting the housing market one Showhome at a time in the Greater Tampa Bay.....

Via Thomas Scott - Showhomes (Showhomes):

Innovative Home Staging is Key to Home Sales in Down Market

With a $569,000 Tampa home sitting on the market for a year and a half and no signs of a sale, Tracy Truitt was a disheartened Realtor looking for a new approach that would help her sell her listing.

Truitt, a Realtor with Century 21 Elite in Tampa, discovered Showhomes, a pioneer in the home staging industry, and its unique spin on traditional home staging: the nationally franchised company finds people to live in and help stage vacant homes so that they show better and sell faster. Given the declining real estate market, mansions and just about every other type of home are difficult to sell.

Showhomes staged Truitt’s home and it sold in eight days.

“I had an almost full price offer within a week of Showhomes’ staging, and a 25 percent higher offer than the two offers that had come in previously to the home being staged,” Truitt says.

Showhomes Tampa owner Linda Saavedra says Truitt’s experience isn’t a fluke.

Saavedra’s magnificently staged homes are selling in a fraction of the time most homes are taking to sell. So are homes all over the country staged with Showhomes’ one-of-a-kind system. A typical $850,000 home in Florida is taking well over a year to sell in today’s market and the average time it has taken Showhomes to sell these homes is a staggering 132 days.

“Recently we’ve had six major success stories with homes that have lingered on the market for over a year,” she says. “Three homes sold within 35 days and two others were contracted within seven days of staging. The home that sold in 8 days has been on the market for over two years and the sale price was 20 percent more than the offers they received when the home was vacant.”

“Our approach is working when nothing else is,” says Thomas Scott, VP of operations at the Nashville-based corporate headquarters of Showhomes. “We are experiencing similar home sales results in southern California, the Midwest and Northeast. Despite the glut of inventory, there are buyers in the market and they are choosing to purchase homes we have staged.”

Tracy Truitt, the frustrated Realtor, can’t believe it took her so long to use Showhomes, “Showhomes’ results speak for themselves.”

For franchise opportunities and more information, please visit www.showhomes.com .

Banks turn to home staging to sell homes

Elayne Wooding -Showhomes St Petersburg (Showhomes- St. Petersburg) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:26:13 -0500

Via Thomas Scott - Showhomes (Showhomes):

The Jacksonville Business Journal ran an article on Showhomes today and how we are doing more and more bank business nationwide. For many banks, the type of staging we provide fits their needs. Showhomes got its start doing bank owned homes in the 1980s and we contiue today. Take a look:

Heritage Bank Senior Vice President Greg Totten was a skeptic when he decided to try using a home staging company to sell a bank-owned property that had been on the market in Queens Harbour for nearly a year at $2 million.

After a home manager moved in and staged the 6,000-square-foot home, the number of showings increased as well as the dollar amount of the offers before it went under contract in September to sell for $1.5 million. Totten’s now a believer in home staging.

Home stagers specialize in furnishing and decorating vacant homes to make them look lived-in for prospective buyers. Although the industry started as an indirect result of the savings and loan crisis in the mid-1980s when lenders needed help selling a glut of foreclosed homes, since then most homes have been staged for homeowners — until now.

“Banks are looking to try to get the most from the homes they now have,” said Totten, who is the branch manager at the Ponte Vedra Beach branch of Heritage Bank. “We came out, over all, I think pretty well.”

In the last three to four months Showhomes franchise owners Jim and Kaye Biby said they’ve seen an increasing interest from lenders looking for help to sell some of the homes they’ve had to foreclose on. The Queens Harbour home was the first foreclosed home the Bibys helped sell with a home manager who actually lived on site during the staging process. They’ve already signed a contract with a regional bank, which preferred not to be named, to help sell one, maybe two foreclosed homes and is negotiating a contract with a third.

Kaye Biby, Showhomes Jacksonville

The Bibys have also staged a short sale home in Palencia that sold in 21 days in March and have signed a contract to stage another short sale in the World Golf Village.

The Bibys say they think lenders are becoming more interested in their staged properties, which typically include live-in home managers, because it reduces the bank’s overhead.

Even though bank-owned home staging is growing, the Bibys expect it to remain a small portion of their overall portfolio. So far this year, the franchise has helped sell 17 homes for a total value of $16 million compared with 21 homes for a total value of $21 million in 2008. Only one of the homes sold so far this year was a foreclosure and one was a short sale. They had no foreclosures or short sales last year.

In the past most banks maintained minimal upkeep on foreclosed homes, often selling them as is. Lynn Vitel, broker at Vitel Realty Group of Keller Williams Realty, said now with competition stiff in the residential real estate market, banks too are looking for a competitive edge.

“Staging means everything. It lets people visualize what the rooms are,” Vitel said. “The banks are having to smarten up.”

Sandy Steiner, an agent with Re/Max Specialists who used Showhomes to stage a property that was not a owned by a lender, said she expects that as market values continue to decline more lenders will reach out to home stagers.

“Banks are taking on a larger responsibility,” Steiner said. “They don’t want to be blamed for that one foreclosed property bringing down the property value for the whole neighborhood.”

Christy McCarthy, owner of Jacksonville-based Interiors Revitalized, said that while she hasn’t actually staged any lender-owned properties yet, she too has noticed the interest, and she understands why.

“It’s crucial to get these homes back in top-dollar condition so they don’t lose any more money,” McCarthy said.

Thomas Scott, Showhomes

Franchise Information

Home Staging Testimonial in Milwaukee

Elayne Wooding -Showhomes St Petersburg (Showhomes- St. Petersburg) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:25:00 -0500

Via Thomas Scott - Showhomes (Showhomes):

Donne Muelver, owner of Showhomes Southeast Wisconson, emailed me this excellent testimonial from a listing Realtor on a home we just staged and sold:

Hi Donna,

I was very impressed with Showhomes! After six months on the market, our sellers were relocating and needed to have their home staged and decided to go with Showhomes. We were thrilled to receive two offers within three weeks of the staging! Donna's professionalism and expertise made the entire process seamless. I would highly recommend Showhomes, and encourage Realtors to contact Donna for details on this very innovative and unique way to help sellers with a vacant home.

Sincerely,

Sue Nikolic ABR

Take a look at Donna's work:

Great work and yet another reason you should stage a home in today's market. You DO have to win the beauty contest in today's market to sell a home!

Thomas Scott, www.showhomes.com

We're recruiting