Jim and Kaye Biby, Showhomes Jacksonville Owners
A Typical Day at Showhomes
Actually there is no such thing because Showhomes is far from typical. Operating a Showhomes franchise is exciting, and a lot happens during any given day. See for yourself:
Meet Jim and Kaye Biby, a Showhomes franchisees.
9:00 am Jim and Kaye’s day starts with a morning huddle to share customer updates and prioritize tasks for the day with their team.
Jim primarily consults with homeowners and Realtors. Kaye recruits and places home managers. As Director of Operations, Jared Biby manages staging, move-ins, move-outs, coordinates home manager training and generally keeps the office humming. Leslie Keller helps with advertising, marketing and staging along with quality control.
Showhomes is a team-business where a small group of professionals can literally change the local real estate market.
10:00 am Jim visits a Realtor’s office to deliver a proposal and invitations to a Realtor and Broker open house later that day. Realtors are always glad to see Jim because he is one of the rays of hope in an otherwise gloomy market. Showhomes sell faster and for a much higher price than vacant homes and in today’s market, and Realtors need all the help they can get.
10:30 am Jim meets the owner of a $700K home that has been on the market for over a year. It’s beautiful, but because it’s vacant, smells musty and needs a good cleaning. Realtors have stopped showing it, and the homeowner realizes that buyers will continue to make low-ball offers as long as the house is empty. He decides to contract with Jim to transform it into an inviting Showhome.
11:00 am Kaye interviews Adam, a potential home manager. He seems responsible and has brought her photos of his furniture and is ready to fill out an application.
1:00 PM Jared visits Eric and Sandy, a home manager couple that’s moving from one Showhome to another, to drop off some plastic bins and walk them through the moving timeline and checklists. As Jared knows—and has taught many home managers—moving is much easier with the Showhomes system. These Home Managers are moving to their fourth Showhome and are excited about seeing the new space.
2:00 pm Also at the office, Kaye learns that a home that had been on the market for over a year has sold in 90 days and the home owners are really excited. Because this home manager has done such a fantastic job, she has an even more luxurious Showhome picked out for his next move.
3:30 pm At his desk Jim opens enthusiastic e-mails from both the Realtor and homeowner involved in the recent sale. The homeowner is delighted that the offer—within $1000 of list price—came in such a short time after the home manager moved in. The Realtor is still amazed at how much life and warmth Showhomes added to the listing.
4:00 pm Kaye prepares for a Realtor and Broker open house by prepping her Showhome for the crowd of Realtors she expects. She chats with the caterer and makes sure her materials are in place. Kaye stages catered open houses in homes that she stages so Realtors who saw the home vacant can see the transformation. Jim and Kaye have a following of Realtors from offices all over town who love to see what she does.
4:30 pm The rest of the Showhomes team arrives at the open house, an elegant event.
Realtors at a Showhomes Open House
5:30 pm Kaye greets attendees while Jim and Jared network with Realtors. Visitors are amazed at the home’s transformation, and many make appointments to show it to their clients.
Jim’s new homeowner attends and decides to join the program, and Jim receives seven leads from Realtors.
The open house is a huge success for everyone involved!
7:00 pm Jim helps the caterer tidy up and leaves for home after a productive, eventful day, already looking forward to the next day as a Showhomes franchisee.
Some people would say Jim and Kaye have the perfect job. They are involved in real estate in a creative way, works with interesting professionals, provides positive, bottom-line results for homeowners and Realtors, and is building their own successful business!
If this sounds like a career for you, let’s talk.