Memphis Business Journal Features Showhomes Home Staging Franchise

Showhomes staging vacant homes with occupants to help sell homes

Been in a home for sale recently and really checked out the furniture and family photographs?

Well, they may not belong to the actual owner but to a stand in occupant hired to give the home a lived in look.

Jeff Ross, owner of the Showhomes Memphis and Showhomes Little Rock home staging franchises, firmly believes the old adage that an occupied home always sells faster and for more money, even if the occupant is just temporary.

Showhomes calls its occupants ‘Home Managers’ or people the company has carefully selected and put through the ringer – including making sure the have just the right furniture and accessories and in the right amount – to stage a home so it sells.

Memphis vacant home before staging by Showhomes

Memphis home after staging by Showhomes

“The quality of the furniture is what makes it,” said Ross, a former home builder and insurance adjuster who got into the staging business eight years ago when he purchased the Little Rock Showhomes franchise.

His wife, Heidi is the talented interior designer who puts each home together and makes sure it all works.

Ross purchased an existing Showhomes franchise in Memphis three years ago and has steadily built up a business despite the sluggish real estate market. The company is currently staging a range of homes in Collierville, Germantown and Memphis and has been successful in helping a number of local home owners sell homes faster than average.

“We want to get Realtors to embrace a different way of staging vacant homes,” said Ross. “Using live-in Home Managers to stage a home is different and new to this area but it really works better than any other option.”

Showhomes makes its money off of the monthly fee Home Managers pay. “Its the most economical way for a home owner to stage a vacant home – there is little to pay up front and most staging fees can be paid at closing.”

The Home Managers are typically people downsizing, relocating or retirees. The monthly fees Showhomes charges are typically one third of normal rental rates.

For more information on Showhomes, visit www.showhomes.com.

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