New Home for the holidays? Showhomes offers luxury living at rental prices

There’s no place like someone else’s home for the holidays. That
rings true for Nancy and Robbie Jones, at least.

The
Joneses are home managers for Nashville-based Showhomes,
which means the couple moves into and maintains high-end homes while the
properties are on the market for sale. Their task is to give each home a
lived-in feel that could help potential buyers envision themselves living
there. This unconventional work-life balance also means the Joneses have to
move out at the drop of a hat, though they say they enjoy that adventure, too.

Earlier
this month, the couple told Crain’s they were getting ready to move into their
fifth house in under two years.

Through
Showhomes, the Joneses said they are able to live in giant estates for about
one-third of their market rent. The homeowners, meanwhile, can sleep peacefully
knowing their home is being taken care of in between showings, per the
Showhomes business model.

Currently
living in a 105-year-old home, Robbie Jones said the most unique home they
lived in was a 9,000-square-foot estate with a movie theater nestled on a
semi-private lake.

Think
it sounds too good to be true?

The
catch involves strict rules and flexibility.

Home
managers have to always be ready to move, and may move up to three times a
year. The homes must remain pristine and be ready for a showing at all times.

Matt
Kelton, chief operating officer at Showhomes, said there’s never a shortage of
people interested in being a home manager.

“It’s
a different kind of life, but it’s surprising how many people are interested in
participating,” he said.

Kelton,
who’s been with the company for 10 years, acknowledged that it took him awhile
to wrap his head around the idea. When he did, he understood the value of the
program.

“The
bottom line is that the homes sell faster and for more money. When you go into
a house that’s staged with a home manager, the lights are on, clothes are in
the closet, there’s music playing and it seems to pop more than a vacant house
or even just a staged house,” Kelton said. “It’s a win-win-win. It’s a win for
the homeowner, the home manager and even the (real estate agent).”

Over
30 years, Showhomes has helped sell over 25,000 houses valued at over $8.5
billion, according to the company.

Chris
Simrell is one of the buyers. After searching for six months, she purchased a
home staged by Nancy and Robbie Jones in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

“We’ve
bought many, many homes and have lived a lot of places over the past 10 to 12
years, and it’s different when someone cares and shows that type of detail,”
she said. “Walking around the house, the decor that they chose for the home
helped make it more special and appealing rather than seeing a house empty.”

Showhomes
currently operates in 18 states. Although the company is headquartered in Music
City, the program isn’t yet active in the Nashville market.

“We
don’t currently have a location in Nashville, but we are in Memphis. Currently,
we are in talks about getting into the Nashville market. It’s such a hot market
right now that it kills us that we don’t have someone already there to take
advantage,” said Kelton, adding that Showhomes plans to have a home manager
stationed in Nashville in 2017.

Jack
Miller, a veteran Nashville real estate agent with Parks, a 41-year-old residential
brokerage with 12 offices in Middle Tennessee, said he’s curious to see how the
Showhomes service will play out in Nashville.

“When
the market was slow, there was a huge demand for their services. That’s not the
market that we’re in right now,” he said. “However, we do have a lot of empty
homes, and when they have a home manager in place, they can turn an otherwise
bland new construction home into essentially a model home overnight.”