Model Homes that Sell

The housing market is starting to come back! There’s lots of interest in new homes again and communities are seeing better traffic.  Are your models staged to show and sell or are they still targeted to last years buyers?

Something I see more often than not is models that are over merchandised for the buyers that they are trying to attract. Even with budgets as tight as they are right now I think some builders thought that “pulling out all of the stops” would wow the buyers and make their homes stand out. Instead the buyers feel intimidated and think there is no way they could ever afford to have their home look like the model. Do buyers coming to your homes feel comfortable enough to sit down and chat with the sales person in your home or do they hurry through?

Today’s buyers are much more conservative. Gone are the days where we felt secure about our jobs and our investments and people are starting think more about living within their means.  Approachable design is about just that – creating a warm, inviting space that makes the buyer fall in love all over again.

Great design doesn’t have to be expensive, and mixing in some fun thrift store or vintage pieces can give your house lots of personality while keeping costs down. The home that we merchandised for @home Builders last year that was done with all gently cherished items that had been donated to The Ronald McDonald House not only kept the builders costs in line, it also helped generate great media exposure and had over 25,000 visitors.

Now may be the time to rethink and remerchandise your existing models to make them more approachable and believeable to the new buyers coming to your doors.

I’ve been struggling with trying to learn all of the new technology that’s out there to get the word out and trying to understand what works and what doesn’t. I love blogging and having the opportunity to share my experiences so I signed up for Twitter but I just didn’t get it. The other day I stumbled across some of Holiday Builders “tweets”  and discovered how effective this form of viral marketing can be.

Holiday sends out a tweet when a Realtor® sells one of their homes and identifies them as well as congratulating them for getting one home closer to wining a trip in a promotion they are having. Everyone loves to see their name in print and the tweets are also proof that Holiday is selling a lot of homes!

I feel empowered now and I’m ready to try and conquer the Twitter challenge again. Be sure to check in and let me know how I’m doing.

Today many of us gathered to say goodbye to a great man – Norman Brinker. Most people know of Norman as the mind who started and refined the trend of casual dining and the founder of Brinker International, but to me Norman will always be a horse lover, polo player and wonderful father first.

In my horse days I had a barn behind Norman’s equestrian center – Willowbend Polo Club. We would ride back and forth between barns and most of my horses came from owners at Willowbend that owned horses that were too much for them and wanted to unload them. Those were wonderful days and how fortunate we all were to be able to watch Norman streak across the polo field doing what he loved. Norman had an uncanny knack of knowing and remembering everyone’s names from the grooms to the owners and he treated everyone equally.

When I had two very young children I decided to work as a waitress at Steak and Ale – a concept that Brinker owned and was fairly new at that time. I helped open the Plano location and Norman spent an amazing amount of time with us learning what worked and what didn’t. He also wanted to make sure that we knew our jobs inside and out and we did a lot of wine tastings to learn about what we were serving. That was my first exposure to wine and it’s an experience that I still enjoy. His passion about the company made us passioniate about what we were doing, and we took our jobs personally and wanted to make Norman proud of us.

Our lives continued to intertwine – my sister was married at Willowbend and went on to work at the corporate offices at Brinker International. Being a “Brinkerhead” she loved being a part of that culture and was always amazed when she would visit a Chili’s and Norman would be there often by himself just enjoying a burger. He always remembered my sister and made her feel special.

What Norman and many great self-made leaders understand is that to succeed it has to be personal. Your own integrity, how you treat people and love of what you do  is not a small part of why these people have succeeded and why so many people people love and respect them in return. I wish I had taken a pen and notepad to the service because the wisdom and stories that were shared were incredible. Ross Perot and Mr. Brinker were good friends for many years and I can understand why – they are a lot alike, and both have a great, dry sense of humor that I love. Mr. Perot spoke and he was able to capture what made Norman so special. Even though he had been in a coma and had health issues from a polo incident and had other obstacles, nothing was going to keep Norman down and no matter what he did it was always with an amazing positive attitude and a love for life and everyone around him.

We’ll miss you Norman, but know that you are happily playing polo on the most heavenly fields any of us have ever dreamed of.

I grabbed my family and went to visit some new home communities in Orlando yesterday. After bribing them with lunch at Five Guys we went out to visit the Holiday Builders community at Covington Chase.  Besides making my son and daughter-in-law cry because they couldn’t get these homes in the market they are looking in we had fun touring the community and I was able to hear what they liked and disliked about the homes. A lunch is a small price to pay for the information you can get out walking models with potential buyers – even the youngest ones.

One of the things I liked the most about the visit was that the salesperson let us know that a church group had a meeting in the model that Holiday had hosted so they were still doing some “housekeeping”. As a Lifestylist® I always talk about the fact that one of the best ways to let the community know about your homes and build brand loyalty is to let them have meetings or events in your beautifully furnished models. Again it’s a great way to get feedback on what they like and dislike as you listen in on their observations, and I will guarantee you that everyone that attends will tell at least one person about your homes and their experience.

A great model home and the sales team that staffs it should take on a life of its own developing the character and goodwill of the community that it has become a part of.

This seems to be a question that’s answer has been changing by the hour. The media is full of tales of woe about foreclosures, prices plunging and the market being glutted with empty homes no one is buying.

I know there are still buyers out there, and I’m on my way to Florida to help some potential buyers find the home of their dreams. There’s nothing like seeing and hearing it firsthand so I’m anxious to experience the buying process right now and share my experiences with you.

I’m also curious to see what’s new in merchandising in the Florida market – some of the best including Kay Green are based there so I’m hoping to see recent models that she has done.

Now that the weather is getting nicer and school is almost out people are starting to think again about looking for the home of their dreams. Be sure that when they come to your door the first impression that they get is a positive one.

When finishing up a new group of models I went through one more time to make sure that everything was in place and never fail, I had forgotten the towels for the towel rack! I had looked at that bath so many times I thought everything was in it’s place, but when another person did a walk-thru for me they immediately saw that I was missing those items.

When buyers are walking through your model homes for the first time they may discover things that you have missed – broken items, burnt out bulbs, stained carpets… wear and tear happens when you hopefully have lots of people visiting your community.

Attention to detail and making sure that your models are as fresh as the day that they opened can make the difference between a looker and a buyer.

While preparing your annual marketing plan be sure to set aside some funds to be able to keep your models in opening day shape. Don’t forget that first impressions start before the potential buyer even leaves their car. Windows should be washed, doors should be painted and landscaping should be well watered, weed and dead plant free.

How could you possibly resist a title like this?

I recently saw this as a topic on the Potterhill Homes blog. Potterhill Homes understands marketing and the value of a properly merchandised home which is why they have had such tremendous success in the Southern Ohio market. They also have always realized to be successful you need the right product, location, and personalities. If your model home or sales team doesn’t relate to your potential buyer  you won’t sell homes.

Carolyn Rolfes learned this from one of the best in the business – her Dad. Being around Dan and Carolyn is such a treat – you immediately feel the respect and love that these two share. I haven’t visited the Potterhill website lately, but I was curious as to what this dynamic duo has been up to. I was thrilled to see that they now are very active in the Southern Ohio market and are obviously doing well. I was fortunate enough to merchandise three homes in their Mills of Carthage community, and some of the ideas and photos that I have from that community are my favorites.

Take a look at their site and their blog – I promise you will learn a lot and it might even convince you to take a trip to Cincinnati and try the famous Skyline Chili and view some fantastic communities full of ideas for urban renewal, green building, and how to integrate manufactured and modular homes into your communities.

Selling homes is about building relationships, and a salesperson that really understands that is Annie Ortiz with KB Homes in Dallas. I met Annie when she attended one of the IRM Classes that I co-instructed with the wonderful Roger Fiehn, and she stood out as someone that was all about selling homes. I try and keep up with all of the people that take my classes, and Annie has always stayed in touch as well sharing her successes and challenges.

Annie called the other day with some opportunities – she has some homeowners that had purchased homes from her and needed help. Typically I don’t do a lot of work with individuals, especially when the builder isn’t a client, but one of her buyers was a family with 4 children with special needs and I saw it as an opportunity to learn more about designing homes for families with needs and also getting first hand feedback about what these buyers are looking for.

What an amazing family! I’m really enjoying digging into what I can do to make this home  their dream home that can serve as a sanctuary for all of them.

Annie is a super star for going the extra mile and helping her customers in every way.