Nashville, Tennessee - Showhomes, America's largest home staging company, ranked high in several categories in the 2012 Entrepreneur Magazine Franchise 500 list. The magazine released their 33rd annual list last week, ranking America's top franchise opportunities. The list also looks at trends that are impacting the franchise industry. Showhomes ranked at #256 for in the overall Franchise 500 list.
The company ranked at #100 in the category of Fastest-Growing Franchises, which [...]
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Press
What they are saying about us...
Like any great business concept, Showhomes enjoys a lot of attention in the press. Take a look at what they are saying about Showhomes .
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January 1, 2012 - 12:40 PM
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October 10, 2011 - 12:02 PM
Home staging becomes standard part of selling a home in today’s market
In recent years, especially since the housing market tumble, home staging has become the secret to selling a home. Only it’s not really a secret anymore.
According to Matt Kelton, COO of Showhomes Home Staging, the entire mindset of home selling has shifted, and investing in home staging to help sell a home has become mainstream.
“I don’t know why a homeowner would choose not to stage a home,” says Kelton. [...]
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October 10, 2011 - 6:53 AM
Popular home staging business grows at 20 percent in 2011
Business continues to increase at Showhomes Home Staging, defying the long-term slump of the national housing market.
Showhomes posted a 20 percent increase from 2010 to 2011 and has continued to add new franchise locations despite the tough economy and slow housing market. The home staging franchise has posted positive gains six out of the last seven years.
Showhomes provides a unique twist on traditional home staging: [...]
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September 9, 2011 - 5:37 AM
Existing-home sales fell nationally in July from already-low levels, and experts say the housing market will take at least another year, or longer, to emerge from its long slump. The stock market is on a bumpy ride too; and no one has a clue when it will stabilize.
But there is good news emerging in this uncertain economic scenario, especially for homeowners trying to sell their homes and the Realtors who help them. We are thriving at Showhomes Home Staging. In fact, our growth is [...]
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September 9, 2011 - 5:07 AM
Tom Seifert is living the dream. A single guy in an 8,000 square foot house, Tom is not only free of mortgage payments and house repairs but also is able to entertain female friends and family in his million dollar home - all while saving money.
Sound like one lucky guy?
Tom didn’t win the lottery or find a recipe to get rich quick, he simply became a Showhomes Home Manager. He was in the midst of selling his house in Minnesota and didn’t plan on buying in the near [...]
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August 8, 2011 - 5:54 AM
For five months, Sandy Crawford watched uneasily from her new home in Georgia as her old home in St. Petersburg's Shore Acres neighborhood sat on the market with little interest from potential buyers. Discouraged, she turned to Showhomes, a company that places people — and their attractive furniture — in vacant houses. A fastidious man moved into Crawford's house, and things changed. "The house looked fabulous," she said. "Every little thing inside and out was constantly being [...]
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August 8, 2011 - 5:05 AM
Showhomes Home Staging was recently recognized for being a Top 50 franchise in The Franchise Business Review. Cindy Montgomery, franchise owner in La Jolla, Calif. was recently featured in The La Jolla Light. Read more about why Showhomes is a franchise to be a part of in the article below.
Showhomes among top franchises
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 [...]
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July 7, 2011 - 9:58 AM
Bob Kohlruss, owner of Showhomes Folsom Lake talked about his experience as a Showhomes Home Staging franchisee. The article, written in Mountain Democrat, also points out several of the reasons why owning a home staging franchise is very advantageous during the current economic downturn. Read more about this in the article that follows:
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 [...]
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June 6, 2011 - 2:38 PM
Vacant houses are a tough sell in any market and getting them to stand out in the minds of Realtors can be equally difficult.
Showhomes Home Staging is shining the spotlight on the dilemma by hosting successful open houses specifically tailored to Realtors and brokers. The highly effective events take place onsite at previously vacant properties, many of which have lingered on the market for months or years before being staged and maintained by Showhomes.
The 25-year-old national home [...]
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June 6, 2011 - 12:34 PM
It’s no secret that the economic tumble of 2008 hurt many professionals in the real estate industry -- Realtors, mortgage brokers, contractors and home builders among them. Many have scaled back their careers, left them altogether or are searching for a related alternative.
For many, Showhomes Home Staging has emerged as a profitable career option. Multiple Showhomes franchisees are current or former licensed real estate agents, mortgage brokers or property management specialists, allowing [...]
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June 6, 2011 - 12:37 PM
Franchises costing less than $50,000 to start gaining popularity
With the economy struggling to recover and the housing market showing little life, one franchise industry sector has a healthy pulse: franchises that cost $50,000 or less to start.
Entrepreneur Magazine, considered by many as the bible for small business owners, listed Showhomes Home Staging on its annual low-cost list of franchises to watch.
Here’s what the magazine said about the low-investment sector:
The economic [...]
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June 6, 2011 - 12:52 PM
Cutting-edge home staging pioneer marks 25th anniversary
When Showhomes Home Staging launched in 1986, few people understood what home staging was, much less the critical role it played in selling a house faster and for a higher price.
The Nashville-based franchisor changed all that with its dynamic ‘home staging with a twist’ concept that combines live-in Home Managers with impeccable home staging standards.
Now in its 25th year, Showhomes Home Staging is the only national [...]
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June 6, 2011 - 5:30 PM
Showhomes has industry high franchise owner satisfaction
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.
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 [...]
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May 5, 2011 - 8:33 AM
Five reasons vacant houses are hard to sell
Musty smelling, bare-walled, vandal-prone properties just don't sell, said Bob Kohlruss, franchise owner for Showhomes — Folsom Lake.
Last year’s U.S. Census figures show that, of the estimated 130 million housing units in the United States, 11.3 percent, about 14 million stood vacant, according to Kohlruss. A large portion of these houses are vacant and for sale, leading to a glut of vacant houses crowding the market. Given the vast [...]
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May 5, 2011 - 10:39 AM
May 22, 2011 | By Al Heavens, Philadelphia Inquirer Real Estate Columnist
American Public Media's Marketplace radio program appears to be fascinated by unusual trends in real estate.
(I hate to pick on the program, which I listen to frequently, but I didn't start this.)
Two years ago, it reported on real estate agents in Los Angeles hiring professional actors to populate a neighborhood during a weekend tour by buyers. Consumer advocates cried foul, and the buyers were ticked off, too. It [...]
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May 5, 2011 - 1:51 PM
Linda Saavedra’s Showhomes Tampa franchise has soared since opening in 2009, despite its launch during tough economic times. Just two short years later, Saavedra, a former corporate executive and veteran small business owner, picked up Showhome’s most prestigious award – Franchise of the Year.
When Saavedra first encountered the Showhomes Home Staging business model, she had a hunch that it would take off in Tampa’s hard-hit housing market. “I loved it from the beginning,” she says. [...]
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May 5, 2011 - 4:33 PM
Showhomes home staging was featured in The Times of London, the UK's largest newspaper today by US Business columnist Alexandra Frean:
By Alexandra Frean American Notebook
May 5 2011
It’s tough to sell an empty home. Buyers can be put off by the bare surroundings and a single nail hole in the wall can assume cavernous proportions.
So, as tens of thousands of vacant houses remain on the market, many of them foreclosed properties owned by banks, one real estate company has come up [...]
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April 4, 2011 - 2:21 PM
Stingy Banks Come Around to Quirky Home Staging
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011, by Blake Farmer, NPR
Tens of thousands of empty houses remain as evidence of the mortgage crisis. In Tennessee alone, census data show nearly 320,000 vacant properties. Some are houses that just won’t sell. Others are foreclosures – bank-owned properties. And now a handful of financial institutions are turning to a Nashville-based company that uses human props to sell a home – live-in staging.
There’s an [...]
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April 4, 2011 - 4:59 PM
Mary Ellen Podmolik
The Home Front
April 15, 2011
When does a vacant home for sale, foreclosure or not, have that lived-in look? When someone is living in it.
Arnold and Mary Jo Baratz just moved into, but have no intention of buying, a sprawling 7,500-square-foot home in Wayne that includes a sweeping cherry staircase, an elevator and a two-bedroom coach house with its own kitchen.
The couple doesn't need the space. In fact, with their youngest child headed to college in the [...]
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April 4, 2011 - 4:34 PM
Tuesday, April 12th, 2011 | Posted by Marni Jameson
I should be in Vegas. Just when I thought my luck had run out I won a long shot with 100 to 1 odds. Partly because I make my bed every day.
The lucky streak began with a great job offer — except that it was out of state. More luck followed when my youngest daughter, who’s in high school, not only didn’t mind changing schools but also wanted to move to Orlando, where the job was. Then a lovely family came out of the blue and asked to [...]
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April 4, 2011 - 4:11 PM
Staging: Get Your Property Ready For Its Close Up
What are the benefits to using a professional stager?
Although not a new concept, staging homes has come more into focus with the abundance of homes on the market -- especially vacant properties.
Staging a home allows that home to sell for a price that is 10 percent to 20 percent higher than a home that is not staged, according to a 2004 National Association of Realtors survey.
So, what exactly is staging a home?
There are [...]
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April 4, 2011 - 4:01 PM
April 15, 2011, Examiner.com National Edition
A vacant home is a tough home to sell, and a growing number of them are clogging the pipeline.
Of the nation's estimated 130 million housing units, 11.3 percent or some 14 million units stood vacant last year, according the U.S. Census.
Among properties defined as "vacant" are rental units, vacation homes, properties rented or sold but not occupied and others, but a growing number are foreclosed, abandoned, distressed or otherwise [...]
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April 4, 2011 - 7:18 AM
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 [...]
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March 3, 2011 - 7:48 AM
Showhomes Home Staging in Orlando was featured on FOX News this week:
Franchise owners Jeff and Nancy Smith have been operating a Showhomes home staging franchise in Orlando for 17 years with great success.
Home staging for years was a well-kept secret of only the most successful Realtors. Today, virtually all Realtors agree that professional home staging will help you sell your home faster while commanding the best possible price.
On the web: [...]
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March 3, 2011 - 2:06 PM
Million-dollar lifestyle on a middle-class income
Showhomes Orlando puts "home managers" in homes for sale to help attract buyers
By Jon Busdeker, Orlando Sentinel
March 1, 2011
John and Faith Forsythe live in a million-dollar mansion on Deer Island, but they don't own it. And they're not renters, house sitters or squatters either.
The Forsythes are "home managers" with Showhomes Orlando, a home-staging company that specializes in placing individuals and families in upscale homes [...]
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February 2, 2011 - 3:56 PM
New Business Helps Occupy Local Luxury Homes
Showhomes works with "home managers" who fill vacant luxury homes in Potomac, Bethesda and Chevy Chase to help sell them on the market
By Sarah Beth Hensley | Email the author | February 23, 2011
You could have a new (temporary) neighbor in Potomac, thanks to a newly launched luxury home staging company in the area.
Showhomes, which opened an office on Foxcrest Court in Potomac in January, is working to fill vacant luxury homes in Potomac, [...]
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February 2, 2011 - 3:19 PM
By: Aaron Park
January 18, 2011
Do you have a Vacant Home? Take a look at this idea...
What’s at risk when your vacant home is for sale?
It’s not a matter of selling your house, packing up your stuff and moving on. Now there’s the issue of your vacant, unfurnished house that remains on the market. Worse, your homeowners’ insurance rates just went through the roof because of the extreme risks of a vacant dwelling.
Picture this: A Realtor’s lockbox hangs off your home’s front door, [...]
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January 1, 2011 - 10:08 AM
Staging Dreams
STACEY WIEDOWER | Special to The Daily News
Jan, 2011: With a plethora of homes on the market – many of them languishing there for months – home staging is one of those rare subsets of the housing industry that’s benefited from the economy’s downturn.
Home stagers specialize in arranging furniture, decluttering and accessorizing a house to make it as appealing as possible to prospective buyers. On a street with multiple “For Sale” signs in the yards, staging a house [...]
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January 1, 2011 - 2:16 PM
Real Estate News
Local couple to run Charleston home staging company
Jan 8, 2011
An Isle of Palms husband and wife have lined up the Charleston home staging franchise for a company that ensures houses for sale look their best when shoppers visit.
Lorelie D. Brown and her spouse Coy Brown head up Showhomes Charleston, which will serve Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties.
“We’re here to create major buzz about a home by staging it perfectly and offering [...]
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January 1, 2011 - 11:11 AM
Dena Kouremetis, Housing Examiner 12/30/2010
The once-elegant, sprawling home now sits empty, silent in it memories of warmth, laughter and belonging. The ‘for sale’ sign swinging in the winter wind invites prospective buyers, but the brochure box hasn’t seen a fresh brochure in a while and the lockbox is accumulating cobwebs. Agents showing homes in this lofty price range find that most of their buyers tend to rush through cold, vacant rooms unable to picture the purpose of lovingly [...]
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December 12, 2010 - 10:48 AM
By KAREN RIVEDAL, Dec 23, 2010
As if the owners of mansions weren't burdened enough.
Now comes a report from Showhomes, a nationally franchised network of home stagers based in Tennessee, that the number of ne'er-do-wells shacking up in vacant mansions is on the rise.
The increase is tied to the wave of temporarily vacant homes being created by the struggling home market, Showhomes said.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported vacant homes increased to 19 million in the first quarter [...]
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October 10, 2010 - 4:46 PM
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 [...]
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October 10, 2010 - 1:10 PM
Occupants also are home managers who will move when house is sold
By Nancy Mueller • FOR WILLIAMSON A.M. • October 15, 2010
If you are neat, looking for a house to rent and have good furniture, a local home staging company might have a deal for you.
Showhomes Nashville offers discounted monthly fees to those who qualify, provided they are willing to act as live-in "home managers" who furnish the rooms, keep the place perpetually clean for showings and are willing to move out when [...]
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September 9, 2010 - 1:33 PM
Roy Krautstrunk, franchise owner of Showhomes in the Monterey and Santa Cruz area of California, had this promotional video produced to help market his services:
This is a great video that explains a lot about how Showhomes works and why our home staging solution for vacant homes is such a win-win-win for everyone involved in selling a vacant home. It is less expensive than traditional home staging, produces a better Home Staging product because every room is staged and the home is [...]
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August 8, 2010 - 8:05 AM
Showhomes – a home staging company – allows a hired home manager to live within vacant homes for sale with the intent of making the environment more welcoming to potential buyers.
By Nicole DeCosta
The West Linn Tidings, Aug 19, 2010
Vern Uyetake / West Linn Tidings
Edie Moll with Showhomes in West Linn — a home staging company — visits the house for sale at 2335 Oswego Glen Court in Lake Oswego. Her company places home managers and furniture within vacant homes for [...]
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August 8, 2010 - 10:48 AM
Showhomes' Extreme Home Staging Spotlights Human Props
National Public Radio featured Showhomes Home Staging on its Morning Edition radio show, August 18th, 2010.
NPR reporter Carolyn Beeler interviewed Jonathan and Carla Chiefetz, franchise owners of Showhomes Home Staging in Princeton, NJ, and interview Showhomes Home Manager Bill Worthington.
Here's a link to the full NPR story which talks about new forms of Home Staging including Showhomes' highly successful use of 'human [...]
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August 8, 2010 - 6:48 AM
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (CBS 8) - David Wiemers is trying to sell his lovely townhome in Rancho Santa Fe.
"It's three bedroom, three bathrooms, 2,129 square feet," he said.
It's filled with beautiful furniture. None of it is his. The furniture belongs to the home's current occupants, Darla Allen and her husband.
"We just relocated here from another state for my husband's business," Darla said.
Darla and her husband aren't renting or leasing. They are home managing.
"We manage the [...]
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July 7, 2010 - 3:51 PM
Jack Hungelmann, an insurance industry expert and author of the bestselling 'Insurance for Dummies' book, recently published an online article about the issues owners of vacant homes have with homeowner's insurance.
In his article: "Showhomes" Solves the Coverage Problems of Home Vacancy", Hunglemann had this to say about Showhomes:
How Showhomes Works
Showhomes solves both the vacancy and unoccupancy problems. A resident manager moves in and completely furnishes the place. The [...]
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July 7, 2010 - 3:24 PM
Pat Hermann poses before the mansion she stages in Minnetonka, Minn. AP
Steve Ladurantaye, Real Estate Reporter
Globe and Mail
Forget fresh flowers and percolating coffee, human stagers are where it’s at in the tough, high-end U.S. home market
Patricia Hermann is the ultimate house sitter.
In the past four years, she has lived in six monster homes in Minnesota, where she works as a nurse at the Minneapolis Heart Institute. The average emergency room nurse in the state makes about [...]
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July 7, 2010 - 3:20 PM
June 03, 2010 — TAMPA - FOX 13 News: Selling a home in today's economy isn't easy, but there are ways to speed up the process.
The last two years have been a rollercoaster ride Jim and Nancy Ward. They have been realtors in the Bay Area for nearly 16 years, having gone through the boom and the bust.
"It takes more creativity to showcase a home," said Nancy, "to put it in its best light, because there is so much competition."
To help them showcase, they've teamed up with a company [...]
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May 5, 2010 - 9:08 AM
By Tom Bailey Jr. / Memphis Commercial Appeal
May 5, 2010
About a year ago, the same Brandi Jackson left a $700,000 home in Collierville’s Braystone neighborhood after living in luxury there just 30 days.
Photo by Karen Pulfer Focht / Memphis Commercial Appeal After a successful staging, Brandi Jackson loads up her belongings in a Germantown house for mover Sherrod Farmer on Tuesday. Jackson lived in the Oakleigh subdivision house for six months as a “manager,” helping [...]
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May 5, 2010 - 3:04 PM
By K.A. Turner, Mobile Register
Custom builder Jerry Smith of Fairhope staged a few rooms in an empty, high-end house to make it more homey, then liked it so much he staged most of the house.
Kate Mercer/Press-RegisterAngela Blankenship and Tammy Boothe of Show Homes stage the dining room in home in Fairhope’s Rock Creek.
“A lot of times people will walk into an empty home and it feels kind of cold,” he said. “They can’t envision how to decorate it. Staging has made a big [...]
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April 4, 2010 - 1:46 PM
Wall Street Journal Features Showhomes and its Innovative Internal Financing Solution
by Julie Bennett, 3.25.2010
During the worst credit crunch in decades, franchise companies have been finding creative ways to open new units.
While banks are expected to lend $6.7 Billion to US franchises this year, it would take $10.1 billion in lending to fully fund newcomers who want to start franchised businesses and existing franchisees who hope to expand, according to Frandata, a reserach [...]
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April 4, 2010 - 2:28 PM
To get a leg up in a buyer’s market, the real estate industry turns to a little-known niche: professional house sitters.
by Amy Biegelsen
Last weekend, Michelle Sifford and Jennifer Ding helped the Armstead family move into a house in Church Hill with lightning speed. In five days’ time they fully arranged the furniture in the three-bedroom renovation, made sure the décor tied everything together and removed every speck of dirt. Most importantly, they made sure the family was ready to [...]
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April 4, 2010 - 2:48 PM
Home Staging Franchise Showhomes listed as best bet in down market by The Street.com:
The Great Recession has made some would-be entrepreneurs skittish about starting a business from scratch.
For them, it may make sense to buy a business franchise. While franchises have taken a hit, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) forecasts that the number of franchises will expand 2% from 883,292 last year to 901,093 in 2010.
"Franchising lets people get into business for themselves, but not by [...]
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March 3, 2010 - 12:57 PM
March 13th Marketplace: Parkites make home staging easy and affordable
Showhomes Park City says there's no reason to leave a house vacant
by Andrew Kirk, Park City Record
http://www.parkrecord.com/ci_14665400
Ryan Sapp is a developer and Realtor. His wife Angie is an interior designer. They're painfully aware of how long some homes take to sell in the current market and how dangerous it is for a house to remain vacant during that time.
That's why they and friends Drew and Katja [...]
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March 3, 2010 - 10:57 AM
Showhomes franchise owner Donna Mulever was featured on The Morning Blend, a popular morning TV show in the Milwaukee market. Donna brought along Michael Samik, a happy home owner and builder who has used Showhomes to talk about his expereince:
What do you [...]
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Copyright © 2010 Showhomes Management LLC. All rights reserved.
Showhomes is America's largest home staging company based on the number of home staging franchises
it maintains and
the number of homes it's franchises collectively stage annually.
Showhomes Franchise Corporation is a member of RESA, the Real Estate Staging Association and in that organization,
it is the largest single home staging brand and stages more individual homes than any home staging company.