Budding Showhomes Franchisees Breathe New Life into an Existing Asheville, North Carolina Location

Throughout the pandemic, many Americans have relocated from densely populated urban centers and sought out more suburban or rural homes. And with such intense interest in inventory, premier home staging brands like Showhomes play a critical role in the selling process. The Nashville-based brand has staged more than 30,000 homes over the last 34 years, and its services have never been more relevant. That’s why Don and Kathi O’Rock made the decision to purchase an existing franchise with Showhomes and provide customized staging solutions tailored to each of their clients’ homes.

With 55-plus locations across the U.S., Showhomes helps homeowners appeal to buyers by making their homes appear move-in ready, providing cosmetic upgrades to flooring and paint as well as on-trend redesign services that help its clients get the most for their money when preparing their home for the market.

“The way I see it is, Showhomes offers the ability to enhance a situation that every homeowner goes through when selling their home. When you look at all the factors that are involved, it’s home staging that’s going to help buyers commit to investing,” said Don. 

Prior to franchising with Showhomes, Kathi had experience in the real estate industry flipping houses and working as a mortgage broker — and she knows from personal experience that a staged home sells much quicker than a vacant one.

“It’s always exciting to see the transformation. For most people it’s hard to picture living in a home without any furniture,” said Kathi. “We just did a redesign of a home that was packed full of things, and once we were done it was like, ‘Oh my word!’ We’re a business that helps people, and that’s what life is about, helping people.”

Industry experience aside, it was seeing the success of their friends Robbie and Nancy Jones’ location in Triad, North Carolina that motivated the O’Rocks to make the move to sign with Showhomes. Once they alerted them that there was a territory available in Asheville, the couples decided to partner together to revamp the underperforming location — a decision Kathi and Don said was a no-brainer.

“Robbie and Nancy have been in the business for six or seven years now, and they started their Showhomes from scratch in Triad,” said Kathi. “They already have the knowledge of what it means to work with Showhomes and have been a huge help in being hands-on with our learning.”

As Kathi and Don start to take over the Asheville business, they’ve set their sights on targeting the luxury market. And with the support of seasoned franchisees like the Jones, the O’Rocks are confident they’ll be able to partner with realtors and homeowners in the community to make a name for themselves throughout Western North Carolina.

“Western North Carolina encompasses a lot of counties, and there’s an opportunity to meet the needs of the luxury market, so that’s what we’re looking to do,” said Kathi. “Having spent time with current franchisees with Showhomes has been an eye-opening experience. It’s been worth its weight in gold, and I’m confident in our ability to be successful with the brand.”

The start-up costs for a Showhomes franchise range from $85,600 to $164,500, with an initial franchise fee of $49,900. To learn more about franchising with Showhomes, please visit https://www.showhomesfranchise.com/.