Jeff Ross of Showhomes

Jeff and Heidi Ross purchased their first Showhomes home staging franchise in Little Rock, Arkansas in 2002 after living as Home Managers for several upscale homes in Mobile, AL.

They not only are top performers, often earning awards and making the top 10 list, but also are experts on finding and keeping quality home managers. They should know: The Rosses have lived in over a dozen Showhomes properties, and they are still active home managers in Little Rock, Ark. The couple since purchased the rights to the Memphis, TN, franchise and has been focused on building it up this year.

Showhomes: How long have you been a Showhomes franchisee?
Jeff Ross: We’ve owned Showhomes Little Rock for eight years. We bought a Showhomes Memphis franchise two years ago.

SH: Why Showhomes?
JR: We liked the low franchise fee and low cost of entry, but even more important we loved the concept. We live it; we have passion for it. We became Home Managers for the Mobile, AL, franchise when we sold our home more quickly than we expected and didn’t want to purchase another home. Our Realtor suggested we move into one of Showhomes’ properties because Heidi is an excellent designer and she thought we would be able to help sell a few homes. She was right! We liked the fundamentals of the business so much, we looked into buying a franchise. From the very beginning, Heidi and I made a commitment to build a franchise on quality, not quantity. Showhomes makes it easy to focus on quality. It’s a strong player in a niche industry, offering a superior service and an ingenious business concept.

SH: How did you hear about us?
JR: From an ad in the Mobile Press-Register and our Realtor. We became home managers first. In fact, after eight years of being a franchisee we are still home managers. We’ve now lived in 13 Showhomes. It’s not really typical for franchisees to continue so long as home managers, but it’s a lifestyle for us. We’ve got it down, and it works very well! We get to live and raise our family in gorgeous homes for a fraction of the price it would take to own them. Living in a Showhome has some real sales advantages and its a great perk – you can save thousands on housing costs.

SH: What’s your background?
JR: Heidi has a background as a registered nurse. She’s also extremely passionate about interior design and staging. My background is in insurance sales and marketing and I was working on the Gulf Coast as a claims adjuster when we found Showhomes. We have compatible professional skills that work together well in managing a Showhomes franchise.

SH: What do you like best about the Showhomes franchise opportunity?
JR: We wanted something we could do together. We like the fact that each day is different. The variety is great. You have to be detail-oriented. If you aren’t willing to multi-task, it’s probably not for you. But we are energized and challenged by it. It’s very gratifying to help people get the best bang for their buck. It’s a great feeling to know you are giving clients peace of mind that they don’t have to take low-ball offers. Overall, its a great business for couples.

SH: What keeps you active in your free time?
JR: Almost everything revolves around our family and the Showhomes franchise. We have an 11 and a 9-year-old, so you can imagine how much we transport them around from place to place. We’re active in church. We really do live and breathe Showhomes. It’s not a 9 to 5 job for us. At the same time, it allows us the flexibility to be there for our children because we can control our hours. Yesterday I worked from home because my daughter was sick.

SH: Why would you recommend Showhomes to someone interested in owning a business?
JR: Showhomes really works. I don’t know where you can find a better investment. If you are disciplined, organized and passionate about working with people, you can really succeed with this franchise.

SH: Can you share one of your secrets? What really works for you in your market?
JR: We over-communicate. I think I may have that etched on my gravestone. But seriously, keeping everyone informed is extremely important.  Call everyone just to find out how things are going. We are constantly following up with emails and phone calls. You don’t want all your communications to be about sales, you’re just keeping everyone in the loop, keeping them informed and finding out if there are any issues or concerns.

SH: What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned?
JR: That you have to constantly be on your toes when it comes to marketing. You have to find ways to continue to stay top of mind. You can’t ever let up, even if you’ve been in business for a few years. Yes, you have credibility with clients you’ve had successful working relationships with. But that doesn’t mean they are going to remember you the next time unless you’re connecting with them consistently.

Showhomes Home Manager Heidi Ross

Pair Right at Home as House Managers

By Tracy Rogers

LITTLE ROCK — Heidi Ross is a bit different from most home stagers. Instead of staging a place and forgetting it, Ross, co-owner of Showhomes Little Rock and Memphis franchises, places furniture and people in vacant houses to help sell faster.

Ross and husband Jeff first learned about Showhomes in 2003 when they sold their house in Mobile, Ala., more quickly than expected. The Rosses were looking for a temporary home while searching for a place to live in Little Rock.

“We needed temporary housing.” Access to that temporary housing came in the form of an advertisement by the Showhomes franchise in Mobile. The Rosses became Home Managers, moving into a vacant house, paying for utilities and yard upkeep and using their own furniture to stage the house while it was on the market. The family liked their temporary abode and asked about moving to another Showhome in Little Rock, but the city didn’t have a franchise.

Heidi and Jeff Ross featured in Arkansas Online

“We realized, ‘Hey, maybe this is a good opportunity for us,’” Ross says. So the couple bought the franchise for Central Arkansas and two others that include the Memphis metropolitan area.

Today, Ross and his team manage about 10 houses in Little Rock and 10 in the Memphis area, using Home Managers selected for their furniture and how it fits a particular house on the market.

“We find individuals in transition,” Ross says.

That could be a family that sold their house too quickly, as the Rosses did, or a couple that needs to move to Little Rock, but has yet to sell their house elsewhere. It could be a divorcee who’s used to a certain way of life and has the furniture for that lifestyle but can’t afford a $500,000 house anymore. Or it could be someone who’s sick of apartment living and wants to live above their means.

There are other benefits for homeowners. They do not have to maintain vacant homeowners insurance, which can be costly. Showhomes also stages every room in the house instead of just key rooms as some home stagers do.

“We even put food in the refrigerator and have clothes in the closets,” Ross says.

Having the house occupied also keeps pests from moving in, as they so often do in vacant places, and keeps plumbing and electrical problems at bay.

“It’s actually good for the home,” Ross says. “A house that’s unoccupied will start to deteriorate.”

Shoowhomes featured in Mountain Democrat

Showhomes Home Staging ranked in Top 50 by Franchise Business Review

For the third year in a row the Franchise Business Review ranked Showhomes Home Staging one of the Top 50 franchise systems based on franchise owner satisfaction, according to Bob Kohlruss, franchise owner for Showhomes – Folsom Lake.

The Franchise 50 2011 Franchisee Satisfaction Awards ranked franchisors by their overall levels of franchise owner satisfaction. The Top 50 ranking puts Showhomes in a select group of the best franchise companies in the country, and only companies with excellent fundamentals, a great financial position and high franchise owner satisfaction scores earn a spot.

“This is the most important award in franchising,” said Matt Kelton, Showhomes COO. “More than 80 percent of our owners said they would make the decision to purchase a Showhomes franchise again.”

Showhomes – Folsom Lake provides a twist on traditional home staging, using live-in home managers to occupy and help stage vacant houses so they are kept in perfect show condition. Showhomes whole-house staging dramatically improves the speed and price of a home sale and with millions of vacant houses on the market Showhomes is poised for additional growth.

The ranking comes as the home staging pioneer celebrates its 25th anniversary. Showhomes started staging homes in 1986, long before widespread use of home staging in real estate, and has evolved into a national franchise system with more than 70 locations.

“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 franchise opportunities.”

“Showhomes is a unique franchise that fills an important niche,” said Kohlruss. “I’m very happy with my business, and I believe it is one of the best franchises to open.”

For more information about Showhomes – Folsom Lake contact Bob Kohlruss at 916-204-2378. For information on a Showhomes Home Staging franchise visit showhomesfranchise.com.

Local home staging company kicks off 2011 with award for January

Showhomes-Southeast Wisconsin posted the highest revenue in January among more than 75 franchises in the national home staging system, turning tough times into a win for local homeowners.

This was the first top sales award for the local company, which provides home staging services and live-in home managers in seven Wisconsin counties. Showhomes Home Staging, based in Nashville, TN, has gained national media attention for its “home staging with a twist” business model. Focusing on vacant houses, franchisees recruit and train live-in Home Managers to stage and maintain the home while it is on the market and for sale.

Before and After

At a time that has seen the real estate market fall to a low point and struggle to rebound, Showhomes Home Staging continues to beat market conditions and increase revenues. In many markets, staged Showhomes are beating local market conditions by as much as 50 percent and this success is fueling the company’s growth, according to Matt Kelton, Chief Operating Officer for Showhomes.

Cindi Stringer

“Showhomes Home Staging is a great idea for today’s economy,” says Cindi Stringer, co-owner of the new franchise in Franklin.  “There are a lot of foreclosures in this area and sellers are competing with the prices. Showhomes Home Staging helps make homes stand out so they can compete in a buyer’s market, and allows buyers to make an emotional connection right away.”

Showhomes Franklin is a family affair. Stringer and husband Mike, daughter Amanda Stringer and son-in-law Chris are all partners. A former nurse, Cindi Stringer is excited to change pace and introduce North Carolina and Northern Georgia to the possibilities that professional home staging offers. “Franklin is a vacation home community,” she says. “Locals need their homes to stand out against foreclosures and they can depend on Showhomes Home Staging to do just the trick.”

Kelton said he knows the new owners are ready to get to work. “This community is filled with many vacant homes, and all they need is a little staging by Showhomes.”

Before and after transformations by home-staging company Showhomes. (showhomes.com)

TESS VIGELAND: Hundreds of thousands of homes in this country are somewhere in the foreclosure process. They’ve received notice of foreclosure, or they’re awaiting final seizure and sale by the bank. Once that happens — the house can sit vacant for weeks, months or longer. That, of course, contributes to lower home values throughout a neighborhood, making it even harder to sell that house. Now some enterprising banks are filling foreclosed homes with what you might call ‘human props.’

From WPLN in Nashville, Blake Farmer reports on “live-in” home staging.

BLAKE FARMER: Most realtors will tell you a furnished house is easier to sell. That’s why there’s a whole home-staging industry, complete with a show on HGTV.

HGTV’S “THE STAGERS:” Staging is about selling homes fast and for top dollar. It’s making people really want to live here.

Instead of moving in a love seat, a few paintings and an area rug, Bert Lyles’ company called Showhomes just finds someone to live in the house and help stage it.

BERT LYLES: You do get weird looks occasionally when it’s first presented. But the truth is, it is a better program in our view, all the way around.

Another company could give the illusion a home is lived in. But Bert Lyles contends live-in staging is a cheaper way to get the job done. Finding the home managers, as he calls them, is the hard part. They need their own high-end furniture. And they have to make their bed, everyday.

LYLES: They have to be willing to keep the home show-ready seven days a week. They have to be willing to leave the home on 30 minutes notice. So if you’re not a neat-nick, this might not be the program for you as a home manager.

TERESE BAKER-BELL: Hi Blake, come on in.

Terese Baker-Bell and her two daughters live in this 4,000-square-foot home in a wealthy suburb of Nashville, at least for the moment. This is her second Showhomes rental, and she estimates the arrangement saves her $1,000 a month.

SELAH BAKER-BELL: I’m organizing my stuff.

Selah, the 6-year-old, is still rearranging her toys, including the pots and pans of her play-kitchen. Downstairs in the real kitchen, the granite counters are spotless. The hardwood floor is clean enough to eat off of. Baker-Bell relocated from St. Louis and figured she’d rent a home for a while until she got the lay of the land.

BAKER-BELL: I went online, and I saw some great homes for what I thought were unbelievable prices.

Then she stumbled onto the catch.

BAKER-BELL: It asked questions like, do you have nice furniture? And I thought, I wonder why they’re asking that? Showhomes is neat – they recruit Home Managers and we are a subcontractor. We help stage one until it sells then move to the next one and we save a lot of money. Its very different and it works for us.

The constant threat of showings doesn’t really bother this family of three. They’re hardly here. The oldest daughter is a competitive gymnast with out-of-town meets every other weekend.

BAKER-BELL: So for us, it works because we are extremely busy.

Other home managers are divorced dads or even professional athletes. For companies that do this live-in staging, it’s a booming business right now. Showhomes reports record growth in six of the last seven years. And increasingly, new business is coming from banks, which have historically been stingy property owners.

JASON WEST: We have no emotional ties to properties as a bank.

Jason West disposes of foreclosed properties for Pinnacle Financial Partners, based in Nashville. It’s one of the 22 banks — spread from Maryland to California — that have started using Showhomes over the last two years. For financial institutions, West says selling a home is just a numbers game.

WEST: You say OK, is there a benefit for having the home occupied? And is the cost of staging going to either shorten my sale cycle or get me a higher price?

If the answer is yes, West says live-in staging makes sense — as unusual as it sounds — particularly if the home sits on a block with half-a-dozen other empty places.

In Nashville, I’m Blake Farmer for Marketplace.

Live-In “Managers” Make Show Homes a Living Stage

By Gita Sitaramiah, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

March, 2011 – - Instead of buying their own home, Kim Gaddes and her husband live in a high-end Sunfish Lake house staged for sale. In exchange, they pay a really cheap monthly fee.

The catch is that they have to keep the four-bedroom house ready to show at all times and be prepared to move to another listed property when the $749,900 house sells. In this case, that’s May when a closing is expected.

They’re hired by Showhomes home staing in St Paul, which pays their moving fees but also requires that they own contemporary furniture that works well in many home styles. They pay $1,100 a month to Showhomes plus utilities and consider that a deal.

Minneapolis home staged by Showhomes

Gaddes, 48, and her husband sold their Inver Grove Heights house and planned to buy a town home when they discovered Show Home Minneapolis nearly a year ago. Instead of buying right away, they decided to sock away more money toward retirement. She works for a home party business; he’s employed by Cub Foods. They’ve made a previous move, also in the Sunfish Lake area.

“We look at how the market is right now,” Gaddes said. “I think, ‘Do I want to invest a huge amount in a house when I can be in this program and live in beautiful, unbelievable houses and not invest my money?’ ”

Denise Gartner, owner of Showhomes home staging in St Paul

As more houses sit vacant in a tough market, sellers are trying creative strategies to make the empty properties look enticing. Some hire professional stagers to furnish the homes. Others tap firms like Showhomes St Paul, which stage a home and place a “home manager” on site to keep the snow shoveled and provide some income for the seller.

While there’s no data to pinpoint how many houses for sale in the Twin Cities are unoccupied, it’s becoming more commonplace as houses take longer to sell and sellers find themselves needing to move because of job relocations, divorce or other issues.

“I do see, besides the foreclosures, that there are a number of vacant homes on the market,” said Pat Paulson, an agent with Exit Realty. “There are some that are short sellers.”

These days, Sharon Mitchell’s North St. Paul staging business is sometimes hired to furnish houses for sale by owners who already have relocated. The sellers who hire Simply Staged want to ensure the house is seen in its best light and that potential buyers don’t notice a stained floor or nick on a wall.

“If it’s vacant, buyers notice everything,” Mitchell said.

Most foreclosures are vacant. They’re often at the low end of the market and banks don’t put much money into marketing, let alone staging them. Foreclosures accounted for more than half of all home sales last month.

In rare cases, smaller banks have hired Show Home Minneapolis for high-end foreclosure listings to ensure someone is there who can alert them to, say, a leaky roof, before it becomes a disaster.

Highland Bank in St. Paul hired Show Home a couple of years ago to manage a foreclosed $1 million-plus house for sale in Eden Prairie’s Bear Path golf community, said Rick Wall, chief executive of Highland Bank.

Being a small bank, Highland was able to try something new to sell the high-end property, he said.

“We wanted to ensure that we had the best face on the property all the time, so we thought we’d be best off with someone who lived there and had an interest in keeping the property up,” Wall said.

Jim Knutson, a special assets manager of KleinBank, hired Show Home to manage the sale of a high-end home under $1 million near Delano. He didn’t want to discuss specifics, but did talk about why KleinBank hired Show Home.

“The difference is, on a high-end property, how do you maximize your return to your shareholders versus just unload it?” he said.

Showhomes has two successful franchises in the area – one in St Paul owned and operated by Denise Gartner and another in Minneapolis owned by Cindy Montgomery.

Showhomes Minneapolis owner Cindy Montgomery

Showhomes Minneapolis, a franchise of the national firm, closed on 65 homes in 2010, up from 42 in 2009. Owner Cindy Montgomery said she’s seeing steady growth since launching her franchise eight years ago. Sellers pay Show Home Minneapolis a $1,500 setup fee and 0.75 percent of the list price at closing.

Showhomes works in all price brackets as well as condos and moves home managers into similar units in the areas they want to live.

So far, she’s finding enough potential home managers willing to put up with keeping beds made at all times and the frequent moves. Montgomery also believes her services help vacant properties sell faster and with fewer issues.

“We’ve saved a couple of homes from having problems,” she said.

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To see more of the Pioneer Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.twincities.com.

Copyright (c) 2011, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

By Evan Nemeroff
Showhomes home staging, a nationally franchised network of home stagers, is working with bankers and asset managers to help them preserve foreclosed listings, minimize costs, reduce insurance exposure and sell homes for higher prices.

The Nashville, Tenn.-based company places a live-in stager, also called a home manager, as an occupant in the foreclosed property to keep it in show condition until it sells.

Showhomes’ business model is based on the fact that well-furnished homes kept in show-to-sell condition sell faster, and for higher prices, than vacant houses.

Before Staging by Showhomes

“Once a home is foreclosed, banks want it off the books as soon as possible, but too often just the opposite happens,” said Matt Kelton, Showhomes COO. “So many distressed properties, especially the high-end houses, sit empty and deteriorate quickly. They don’t stand out and they attract low-ball offers that lower property values.”

After staging by Showhomes

The live-in stager service picks up utility bills, handles minor maintenance and takes care of cleaning for the banks. Another feature of the service is that it does not make banks pay monthly staging fees, making it an inexpensive staging option for banks handling foreclosed homes.

A recent RealtyTrac report estimated that banks repossessed more than a million homes last year, not including up to delayed 250,000 foreclosures. RealtyTrac said the four largest U.S. banks hold $7 billion in foreclosed houses on their books.

“Nationally, banks can save millions by using Showhomes,” Keaton said. “It’s a no-brainer for any sized bank.”

Before staging.

Before staging

The homeowner hired Showhomes Home Staging in the East Valley section of Pheonix to fully stage the home with one of its live in home stagers, believing that a the home’s vacant rooms might be the problem. Showhomes’ Janelle Joyce moved in an expert Home Manager and staged the entire home.

“The house had a few minor flaws, and the furniture was able to highlight the beautiful features, not the flaws,” says Janelle Joyce, who owns the Showhomes franchise.

The most difficult part of staging this house was finding the furniture to occupy all 6200 sq. ft. It took a lot of work moving the furniture in and unpacking the house, but they completely staged the entire house in only five days.

“Agents who showed the house before it was staged and after called and said what an amazing difference the staging made in the home,” said Joyce.

After staging.

After staging.

Within a short period, the home had an accepted offer that came within 1 percent of the list price. In foreclosure-torn Phoenix, currently one of the toughest real estate markets in the country, this is no small feat.

The Realtor of the house was thrilled about the sale. He was part of an investment group that has bought a number of high end homes, and they plan to stage more homes with Showhomes East Valley. The fact that the staging fees are paid at close makes it possible to stage more homes.

The Phoenix home is the first staged home Showhomes sold for 2011.

Great work, Janelle!