Free housing?

[midjd]

A relative (by marriage) works for a home staging franchise on the west coast. His parents moved out to the area about a year ago. Another relative informed me that this person has set up his parents in one of the homes being staged, and that the parents have been moving between homes the entire time they've been out there.

Being equal parts nosy and judgmental, I looked it up. Turns out, the staging company only works with vacant homes and offers a "home manager" position - essentially someone to live in your home and keep it perfectly staged at all times, because "lived in" houses sell more quickly and at higher prices than vacant ones. The home manager pays electric and water, but no rent/mortgage. Not sure whether they get a stipend or not.

What a job! How had I never heard of this? If any of these companies are still around when I retire, I'm selling everything and moving to the coast. I keep a very clean house and like to live in luxury for cheap  

Anyone know anything about this? Are these companies popular in your area?

[swamp]

I have never heard of it. But sounds like good work if you can get it. 

[midjd]

I don't think there are any companies like that in this area - the one my relative works for seems to be geared to the CA/NV/AZ area. I guess it makes sense, with the boom in new construction combined with the housing crisis/strategic defaults...

Around here, the vacant homes are not usually in neighborhoods you'd want to live, even for free

[busymom]

We've got something similar here.  Imagine you're in a corporate position, & your boss wants you to work overseas for a year.  You don't want to leave your family behind, but you don't want your house empty for a year either.  You pay someone to "house-sit".  Arrangements vary, but I know someone who got a couple of gigs doing this.  The difficult part is, finding your next house.


Maybe you could set up your own business.  The houses this friend got were huge, expensive & gorgeous! 

[cronewitch]

I heard they hire actors to pretend to be families. So you get a perfect couple with two perfect children. When the house is shown they will tell the prospects about the house and model a perfect family with well behaved children. Much better than having renters who don't want you to sell the house there for the showing.

[zibazinski]

My godparents used to do this when they went to Florida from MA. What was hysterical is that they were loaded with dough but as my ex said, this is why they have all that money! They didn't spend it.

[haapai]

Does the staging company charge the client extra for placing a "home manager" in the home? 

Does the staging company work primarily with new developments? 

I can understand how a corporation with lots of houses to sell (and the threat of terminating their relationship with the staging company) agreeing to such an arrangement.  I'm not sure that individual homeowners would be quite so keen on the idea, though.  The risk of having to do an eviction from a house that you desperately want to sell, would probably chill a lot of wannabe sellers. 

[midjd]

Does the staging company charge the client extra for placing a "home manager" in the home?

Does the staging company work primarily with new developments?

I can understand how a corporation with lots of houses to sell (and the threat of terminating their relationship with the staging company) agreeing to such an arrangement. I'm not sure that individual homeowners would be quite so keen on the idea, though. The risk of having to do an eviction from a house that you desperately want to sell, would probably chill a lot of wannabe sellers.

True.. although it looks like the home managers are booted the moment an offer is accepted. (I wonder about the logistics, especially considering the blurb about the "inventory of fine furniture" required of the home manager. Fine furniture is heavy! )

From the FAQ:

Is a Home Manager present during showings?

No, Home Managers are not present during showings. Prospective buyers won’t know that your home is even staged; it will simply look and feel like a homeowner lives in and loves the home. Everything is in its place and your home shows as good or better than it would if you still lived there.

What happens when a Showhome sells?

As soon as you accept an offer, we begin the process of relocating our Home Manager. Unlike a tenant, our Home Managers are under contract to move on short notice and once we succeed in selling your home, we are often ready to begin staging another home. We return your home to you in as good or even better condition than when we received it and the new buyers get a fresh, clean home to move into.

Who provides the furnishings for a Showhome?

A critical requirement of Home Managers is that they have an inventory of fine furniture and accessories that meets our quality standards that they move from house to house. Showhomes supplements furniture as needed for each home.

[midjd]

I heard they hire actors to pretend to be families. So you get a perfect couple with two perfect children. When the house is shown they will tell the prospects about the house and model a perfect family with well behaved children. Much better than having renters who don't want you to sell the house there for the showing.

LOL! Good point about the renters, though.

When we were house-hunting, there were a few houses where the family was present while we did the walk-through. It was awkward for us to wander through and critique someone else's home while they were standing there, and it didn't seem like they were happy to have us around, either. A model family might have helped.

[zibazinski]

Actually, my godparents lived in the model home so their job was to show prospective buyers on Saturdays and Sundays how the home would look with upgrades and furniture. My godmother did this, my godfather got the hell out of dodge!

[zibazinski]

But for basically ten hours a week, they got 2k worth of housing in the winter time.

[HoneyBBQ]

I couldn't live like that. Never making a mess? Perfectly spotless all the time? Having to leave the premises on a moment's notice? Sounds like hell to me.

[The Captain]

My brother actually did this for awhile before he got settled in his current career.  His attention to detail is painstaking and he is a neat freak.  It suited him to a T. 

His eye for design and layout and suggestions for staging is what lead him to his current career.

[Angel!]

Nov 20, 2013 11:27:36 GMT -5 HoneyBBQ said:

I couldn't live like that. Never making a mess? Perfectly spotless all the time? Having to leave the premises on a moment's notice? Sounds like hell to me.

I could do it.  Just not with my kids or dogs

[haapai]

Plus there's a built-in conflict of interest.  Your job is to facilitate selling the home, but when it sells, you have to move. 

Having the staging company bankroll moving your stuff softens the conflict of interest quite a bit but hardly erases it.  You're fundamentally working against your own interest. 

[Deleted]

Are you related to the Bluth family?

[Rocky Mtn Saver]

Nov 20, 2013 11:52:04 GMT -5 Angel! said:

Nov 20, 2013 11:27:36 GMT -5 HoneyBBQ said:

I couldn't live like that. Never making a mess? Perfectly spotless all the time? Having to leave the premises on a moment's notice? Sounds like hell to me.

I could do it.  Just not with my kids or dogs

I could do it if it were just me and some necessary belongings.  But the "inventory of fine furniture" part killed it for me.  I would hate to have to constantly schlep around a bunch of carp all the time. 

[8 Bit WWBG]

...:::"I couldn't live like that. Never making a mess? Perfectly spotless all the time? Having to leave the premises on a moment's notice? Sounds like hell to me.":::...

Yeah, exactly.  If I was able to keep our house in this condition, I'd have an ecstatic wife.  But "living" somewhere occasionally means that it won't be showroom clean!

What if I want to go on vacation, or have company over?  Sometimes realtors show houses on holidays if prospective buyers are off work and want to see it.  Imagine planning to have company over for Thanksgiving or July 4th, and then be told that you have to be out in 20 minutes and the place needs to be spotless.