Model Homes that Sell
Model Home ideas that help sell homes
It Takes a Gingerbread Village
Dec 1st
Builders, chefs, and community members teamed up today to start the “Home Sweet Gingerbread Home” competitions at NorthPark Center. Lifestylist® Suzanne chaired the event which looks like it will become an annual favorite.Chef and cookbook author Karel Ann Tieszen teamed up with Shared Housing board member Mona Lincoln and TX State Fair Celebri-chef Peter Clarac (he was a winner in the Oprah cook-off) to decide which of the houses would be awarded the coveted blue ribbon. Pastry Chef Instructor at the Art Institute of Dallas Nina Hunter amazed the judges with her beautiful victorian home complete with playful penguins enjoying the pool in the backyard and was awarded first place.
Thursday the “Builders and Bakers” competition will be taking place from 12pm to 4pm also at NorthPark. Teams comprised of members from the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas will be creating homes on-site with celebrity chefs from Stephan Pyles, Sambuca, Old Hickory Steakhouse at the Gaylord Texan, DC’s Catering and The Cupcakery. They will then be judged and awarded various prizes in different categories.
The competitions will benefit two great organizations – Shared Housing Center and HomeAid / Homebuilders Care, both which break the cycle of homelessness and abuse in the Dallas area.
It Makes Scents
Nov 23rd
A friend of mine introduced me to a great new product (at least new to me) – Scentsy Candle Warmers. They are perfect for model homes-the wax is heated by a bulb that is part of the warmer so you don’t have to worry about fires and the soot that can come from burning candles. With over 80 fragrances you can change the scent you use to suit your mood or the lifestyle of the buyer you are trying to attract!
Take a look at Susan Taylor’s website where you can see the huge assortment of what is available – you can even place an order right on her website. I can’t wait to get my order so I can have my home smelling as fantastic as the show house did!
Where Am I?
Nov 18th
One of the things I spend a lot of time doing even when I am on “vacation” is visiting new communities and model homes. It is always an invaluable education and a way to track trends in different regions.The Frisco / Little Elm corridor of Dallas has had an incredible growth spurt so I decided to spend a pretty Saturday out there seeing what’s going on. I visited probably 25 model in 10 or so communities and after the first few I couldn’t tell you which was where or who the builder was. I took 100′s of photos and from doing this a lot I’ve learned to keep notes on what order I visit the homes in because sadly, after awhile they all start looking the same.
Here are some tips and observations to make your homes stand out or fade in with the rest.
1. Attitude
I’m going to put that first, because no matter what the model looks like, if the home has a great sales person who promotes the builder they will become the memory point. One of the worst homes had the best sales person, and she made the best impression out of all of the homes I visited. I’m not going to tell you which community because any smart builder would try to hire her off, but it was a Meritage Home 
This community was in a closeout situation and the model was hopelessly dated and over-merchandised, but she was fantastic and I would trust her to sell me a home or refer her to any of my friends. Her attitude is what stood out and made the experience memorable.
2. Color
There is such a fine line between when color can help or hinder a sale. Not only does the wrong color taint the buying experience, if your homes are merchandised with the same color pallette as others in the area they are merely going to blend in. Amazingly I walked at least 4 models withing 2 miles of each other and they all had the same color palette -browns, rust and red. Even worse is that they were built years apart so if the merchandiser had walked the competition before deciding on a color scheme they woudl have realized they had a great opportunity to make their homes stand out from the competition.
3. Theming
It saddened me to walk homes in master planned communities that the new homeowner would be paying HOA fees to that didn’t relate in any way to the amenities they had to offer. One community was absolutely amazing, but when I walked the models they were beach, surfing, and snowboarding themed. Keep in mind we are talking about land locked Dallas, Texas. What could they have gone with? The schools, golfing, swim club, school activities… there was a lot to chose from. Model homes are there to help the buyer see themselves having a better live in their new home – show them how great theirs can be in yours.
4. Over Merchandising
Some builders (and merchandisers) believe that if there isn’t something on every wall, and if there’s a sq. ft of countertop without something on it the house isn’t merchandised. Wrong! Many times consumers are living in clutter in their existing home and they want to move to have more storage so they can get out from beneath the clutter. We are selling and merchandising houses – not furniture or decors. This is a common mistake a furniture store will make because they are there to sell their merchandise and services.
There’s more, but I think this will give you a place to start to think about why you should use a Lifestylist® to merchandise your next model home.
HomeAid Dallas to build Sweet Houses
Nov 6th
HomeAid Dallas is teaming up with Shared Housing Center this year to host “Home Sweet Gingerbread Home” at NorthPark Center in Dallas. There will be two separate competitions on which is the traditional contest where chefs will create their elaborate gingerbread houses in their kitchens and then bring them to NorthPark to be judged. This part of the event will be held on December 1st and the homes will be offered at a silent auction until December 3rd when they will go home with the lucky winners.
The other competition will be “Builders and Bakers”. Ten celebrity chefs will team up with builders, Realtors®, and others active in the home building industry to create their gingerbread homes live at NorthPark on December 3rd. Celebrity Chefs will include executive or pastry chefs from Samar by Stephen Pyles, Old Hickory Steakhouse at the Gaylord Texan, and Todd Events.
Lifestylist® Suzanne Felber, Bob Cresswell – president of HomeAid/Homebuilders Care Dallas, and Sherry Turner of HomeAid/Homebuilders Care visited the Gaylord Texan to view in person the incredible display that Art Surman – Executive Pastry Chef of the Gaylord Texan created. Chef Surman will be participating in the traditional contest.
For more information on how you can get involved, please contact Sherry Turner at: Sherry.Turner@dallasbuilders.com
Budgeting for New Model Homes
Nov 1st
When a new client called me the other day the first thing he asked me was how much we charge per square foot. For some reason builders think this is the best way to cost out model home interiors. It may be the easiest, but it really doesn’t reflect the true cost of what a model home should be and you may be paying too much or even too little for what you are trying to achieve. I’ve decided to be a myth buster today and discuss what you really need to be factoring in when budgeting for you new model homes.
Buyer Profile: What is the lifestyle and expectations of the potential buyer? As a Lifestylist® one of the things I really focus on is what the buyer is looking for and how to portray that to them. Over-merchandising and doing a home that they don’t feel they can ever achieve is many times worse than under-merchandising. You would be amazed how many model homes I’ve walked that intimidate the potential buyer into thinking their home could never look as good as the model. A model should inspire the potential buyer with creative ideas and solutions to their decorating dilemmas.
Age of Life – Stage of Life: Are your potential buyers buying their first home or their last? Do they want to have kids and are worried about the schools or are they empty nesters? All of this should be reflected in your models.
How Many Models? Depending on how many homes you hope to build in the community and what the competition is doing this can play a huge part in your budgeting decisions.
Upgrades and Built-ins: These can make a huge difference in your budget and need to be discussed at the first meeting with your merchandiser. Another big part of this is who is going to pay for the materials and labor for these items.
How many Rooms: What really affects the budget is how many rooms are to be furnished as opposed to how many square feet. A dining room can be very expensive to furnish as opposed to a child’s room or a breakfast room.
Cost of the Home: This should be one of the biggest factors in coming up with the budget for your new models. a 3,000 sq. ft home can be an entry level home in one community and a multi-million dollar condo in another. It’s critical that the cost of the home, costs of competitive homes, and the level of buyer sophistication should all be taken into consideration.
We are here to help. If you would like us to take a look at your upcoming models and give you an idea of how to merchandise them we would love to. We are also strong believers in referrals and know merchandisers coast to coast that we would be happy to refer. Feel free to contact us at: answers@lifestylist.com
I almost Met Oprah at the State Fair of Texas!
Oct 11th
Today was a very exciting day. One of the ways as a Lifestylist I search out trends and try to understand what today’s buyer is looking for is by being a part of the Great State Fair of Texas. Some years I enter the Creative Arts contests – especially cooking. You’d be amazed how much you can learn about people and their lifestyles by sitting with them and chatting while we wait for the judging to be over and those coveted ribbons to be handed out. This was a great day – my second red ribbon and a blue! I love giving back and sharing, so when my competitions are over I share my remaining goodies with the parking lot attendants, ticket takers and fair workers. Ribbon or not, they are always very appreciative of what I make.
This year has been more exciting than most because Oprah is taping at the State Fair and they have been doing a lot of taping in the Creative Arts Building which is where we hang out. We saw a lot of people walking around with crew passes today and I asked someone if I could take a photo of theirs – they actually let me hold it! Why was that important to me? I have so much respect and admiration for Oprah – I can’t think of anyone who gives back as much as she does, and we have the connection of rebuilding the Gulf Coast after Katrina - I worked on over 2,500 Katrina Cottages and she made a huge personal investment of getting people back into homes after the storms. If you have spent any time there you know how important that work still is.
So as we were walking out of the building getting ready to pass out my remaining entries who should be in front of us but Oprah and Company! It was so exciting, and I ran up to her car to try to get a better look – she looks AMAZING in person by the way – I saw someone in her car so asked if I could give her my blue ribbon. They said that was very sweet but I should keep it, but I gave them some of my caramels. I believe in sharing with everyone. I was honored that they were so excited about my goodies, and now can’t wait to see the show after they tape it. I didn’t get to meet her, but you just never know what tomorrow might bring.
More State Fair Updates
Oct 11th
If you haven’t found this website yet you should – Nancy does an incredible job writing and showing everyone why the State Fair of Texas is so magical. Thirty Favorite Things makes you just love living in America.
DR Horton Knows how to find Great Ideas
Oct 1st
I am so impressed with DR Horton right now – specifically with their marketing team in Orlando. It’s getting harder every day to call a business especially when you are not sure who you need to talk to or what department and to be able to get an actual human without pressing 1, press 6 for the directory, etc.
DR Horton is now building in my daughter’s community in Apopka, FL so I wanted to contact them about their models. Any reason to see the grandbabies is a great reason I actually had a pleasant woman answer the phone when I called, then she was very helpful in putting me through to the right person / team. Adam wasn’t in, but I thought his message was perfect – he wasn’t in, but if I had an idea that might work for DR Horton please put it in an email and send to: abc@xyz. What a great way to handle things, and what a smart marketing guy! Most of the time it’s easier to put information in writing so he can have the information in front of him before we further discuss.
I was curious if other DR Horton divisions handled incoming calls the same way so I called a few. The voice messages were not -(didn’t hear any that topped Adam’s and his teams) but it was always a human that answered the call. As a Lifestylist®, I’m seeing consumers want high tech but high touch. Customer service handled by easy to understand, caring individuals that you can reach when needed is going to be the difference between barely being in business or thriving in the next few years.
I’m sure that homeowners are having the same experience, and if I was trying to contact a corporate office and couldn’t get through to someone because of the press6, press 7 business before I bought a home, I would doubt I would be able to find anyone after the sale. Great job, DR Horton and the Orlando marketing team!
Missed Opportunities
Sep 26th
Yesterday was one of my favorite days of the year – the opening of the State Fair of Texas! Millions of people go through the gates looking for entertainment and many are even looking for a new home.
Big Texas is always the focal point of the fairgrounds, and Palm Harbor Homes has been very fortunate to have a home displayed just behind the big guy himself. I can’t imagine how much of an investment this is for Palm Harbor and I was anxious to see the home.
Imagine my surprise when I walked into the home, oohing and ahhing and taking a ton of photos and not one salesperson (there were multiple) approached me or said a word to me. Or to anyone else walking the home for that matter except for talking to them about buying a chair.
What a missed opportunity! These sales people had more traffic in this time period than they probably see in a year, a beautiful home to sell and educate visitors with about manufactured housing and Palm Harbor, but instead they stood there looking like they hated being there. I felt really bad for Palm Harbor that their investment was obviously not being appreciated by their sales team.
When a consumer comes into a model home, it’s for a reason – they are looking for decorating ideas, they are interested in buying a home, or they may be looking for someone else who wants to buy a home, but bottom line there is an interest that brings them in our front door. Consumers don’t want to be sold anymore, they are looking to us for information and to be educated to help them feel secure about their buying decision. Until we open a discussion with these potential buyers, we won’t be able to sell them a home. As a Lifestylist® I make make the homes as beautiful, meaningful and interactive as possible, but it’s still up to the sales team to engage the buyer and sell them the home.
Job Security
Sep 19th
I was working with a wonderful retailer last week – Youngs Factory Built Homes in Hobbs, NM. No one could believe that I was traveling to Hobbs to merchandise and re-position 6 model homes in this economy, but Young’s is a perfect example of how if you do things correctly and treat your customers like you appreciate their business you can be successful anywhere.
How many times have you visited a beautifully merchandised, landscaped, and presented community but when you go in to the sales center the sales person doesn’t even get up out of their chair to greet you? Every time this happens I feel sorry for the builder who has put their trust and their future in this sales persons hands who is obviously not taking this responsibility seriously.
When I drove up to Young’s the first thing I noticed is that it was spotless – not a piece of trash anywhere, fresh paint, landscaping groomed… I felt welcome. Then when I walked in the door I was immediately greeted by not one but two different people wanting to know if I had been helped, and to the right was a great bulletin board loaded with photos and hand written letters from happy homeowners. Youngs has been in business since 1958 for a reason.
Then I had to go back to the warehouse behind the sales center to get something and saw this written on the employee break wall – “Our Customers are our Job Security”. Truer words were never written! If we lose sight of why we go to work every day and who makes it possible to have a job we are letting ourselves and our customers down. This Lifestylist® is going to put this in writing by my office door so anytime I’m having a bad day I’ll remember to count my blessings and say thanks to my wonderful, loyal customers – present and future.