Fraud and Prevention

Home Staging Company Employs Live-In Caretakers to Protect Homeowners

By James Comtois
November 4, 2009

With foreclosures and the number of vacant homes on the market for sale on the rise, homeowners are becoming more vulnerable to fraudsters and scam artists. As a means of protecting homeowners from being exploited by fraudsters, a national home staging company is employing live-in caretakers.

According to Showhomes, with 56 franchises in 23 states, the company is seeing dramatic results with its method of employing qualified people as live-in caretakers to keep homes in show condition. The practice, according to the company, prevents squatting or taking possession and mitigates the potential for scams.

Thomas Scott, vice president of operations for Showhomes, says conditions are ripe in the foreclosure and high-end housing market for exploitation, where such a high percentage of vacant homes are lingering on the market for two years or more.

"These are really scary times for owners of vacant homes," he said. "Almost daily, we read in the paper about vandalism, theft, parties in vacant homes, expensive repairs and plummeting property values that come from leaving homes vacant and for sale. In some cases we're seeing fly-by-night companies moving home squatters into vacant properties in the hopes of wrestling possession of the home from the owner."

Mr. Scott pointed out that using live-in caretakers for homes has been effective in mitigating these problems. According to the company, Chicago-based homes staged by Showhomes with live-in home managers sold for 93% of the original list price when using home managers to stage. Comparable homes left vacant for sale sold for 75%-85% of the original list price. Homes staged with home managers sold in four to five months, while vacant homes took well over a year to sell, if they sold at all.

"Letting a home sit empty is a recipe for disaster," Mr. Scott added. "Home sellers need reputable managed staging and live-in stagers more than ever these days."

Showhomes began its operations in 1986 and started franchising in 1994. It has helped Realtors and homeowners sell more than 25,000 homes worth more than $8 billion across the U.S.

"The prospect of selling a home for 20%-30% below its real value, and in many cases waiting years for it to sell, is hard enough," said Mr. Scott. "Now you have to worry about sneaky scam artists trying to take advantage of distressed homeowners."