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

Donna Muelver and her family have owned the Milwaukee-area Showhomes franchise for eight years, through the housing boom, the bursting bubble and now the slow recovery. “Showhomes will transition through whatever situation is out there,” she says. “It is a sought-after and much-needed service.”

January’s successes included a range of homes. An $800,000 home in the Mount Pleasant/Racine area closed less than five months after Showhomes staged it and installed home managers. It had been on the market for two years. Another home in Brookfield languished on the market for at least one and a half years but sold in three months after Showhomes stepped in, Muelver said.

Homes that are not put on the market until they are staged and have home managers are selling even faster, she says. In January, one property in that category sold in a week, another in two weeks.

“That seems to be the quickest pop,” Muelver said.

Showhomes Home Staging overall started 2011 with a bang. The franchsior made Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 500 franchise list for the first time and Franchise Business Review put Showhomes in its Top 50 Franchises for the third year in a row.