Carla Chiefietz, Showhomes Princeton

Meet Carla and Jonathan Cheifetz.  Jonathan used to work as a Wall Street executive and Carla was the director of a non-profit until they both became victims of the economic downturn of 2008.  Frustrated after many months of unsuccessful job searching, the couple decided to take their careers in a totally new direction.  They now own a Showhomes franchise in Princeton, New Jersey.

What impressed Carla most about Showhomes is the fact that the company has been around for 24 years.  “It’s an especially effective solution in our Northeast housing market,” Carla explains, “where many homeowners are incredibly frustrated because their properties have lingered on the market for so long.  You see vacant homes for sale on every street – the opportunity for this business in this region is huge.”

Jonathan Cheifetz agrees that there is an overwhelming need for Showhomes services.  The husband and wife team is currently working with a client whose home has been on the market for six years.  “She sat down and cried when she found us,” explained Jonathan.

And as the economy continues to sputter, the high-end real estate market is quite obviously still in the dumps.  Its lower-end counterparts are being sold at a slightly higher rate, but the sales of homes over $500,000 are moving at a glacial pace – if at all.

The good news?  Showhomes, America’s largest home staging company, is helping Realtors get it done.  Our approach to home staging is creating sales of higher end homes that consistently defy today’s down market.

Showhomes has beaten its franchise expansion goals for the past two years and expects to sell out in the next five years.  We estimate that the company has helped sell more than 25,000 homes valued at more than $8 billion across the U.S. by using people as props to live in and stage vacant homes for sale.  This innovative spin on home staging is one of the few approaches to selling a home that is working in today’s market.

So what does this mean for you?  Simply that Showhomes is the right company and this is the right time.

“Thank you so much for all your company did  in helping me sell my home in Old Ponte Vedra.  The house was on the market for seventeen months before your company moved in a home manager.  Within 5 weeks of your home managers moving in I closed with a very attractive price. In the current market, that is quite a feat.   Not only did the home sell, but the service that you provided made it one of the easiest transactions I have ever been a party too. I enjoyed working with you, and pass on my highest recommendation to future clients.” – Homeowner, Jacksonville, FL

On a $1 million dollar home, the majority of Realtors surveyed at the 2009 National Association of Realtors Expo agree that it stands to lose at least 15% if left vacant. That’s a whopping $150,000 below the list price and that is before price reductions.

But that is just the beginning of the story. Monthly holding costs take a toll on most homeowners: add the cost of keeping a high end home on the market for an additional year to the erosion in selling price from leaving it vacant and a typical homeowner with a $1 million dollar home for sale in today’s market stands to lose a tremendous amount of money!