A model way to get new furnishings
By Pat
Curry • Bankrate.com
Plenty of homeowners have picked up great decorating
ideas from spending a Sunday afternoon wandering through model homes.
It's amazing how good a house can look in the hands of a professional
decorator with a great big budget.
In industry parlance, it's called model merchandising,
and builders spend big bucks to make them look fabulous. Experts
in residential sales and marketing say that model merchandising
is one of the best ways a builder can make himself stand out from
the competition in a large community. The right furnishings and
accessories create a place where prospective buyers want to hang
out, giving them time to imagine living in the house -- and giving
the salesperson more face time with them.
If you think that kind of furniture is way beyond
your budget, think again. After the community sells out and the
models aren't needed, builders are keen to dump the furniture and
accessories.
"Most builders would be happy to get rid
of it; we are not in the furniture business," says Richard
Staky, president of the Colorado region of John Laing Homes. "Short
of going to a manufacturer, it's a great way to get a good deal
on furniture."
Staky says that his division usually sells liquidated
model furniture to its employees. Recently, though, they had accumulated
10 to 12 models' worth of furniture and worked with a charity to
sell the items to the public.
"It worked out pretty well," he says. "Half
the proceeds went to the charity and we got rid of a ton of furniture."
He also noted that his company will participate this
year in the Parade of Homes, a collection of high-end custom homes
that are extremely well decorated. At the end of the Parade, usually
no more than a six-week run, all the furniture in the homes is sold.
Of course, it's not a good strategy if you need a
sofa next week. Most builders will recycle furnishings at least
once, mixing and matching items to use again in another community.
But if you have the luxury of time, you can get some tremendous
deals on everything from kids' bedroom sets to place settings and
maybe even appliances.
When they are ready to get rid of the furnishings,
builders dispose of their furniture in one of five ways. They give
it to charity, send it to consignment shops, sell it at rock-bottom
prices to their employees as a company perk, sell it to their home
buyers or hold a public sale or auction. Most of the builders that
do offer items for sale to the public will give their employees
first dibs.
For that reason, if you're friends with someone
who works for a builder, ask about their policy. If the builder
holds public sales, employees often get to shop a day ahead of the
public and will get the cream of the crop. If you visit a model
home and see something that catches your eye, ask the salesperson
about that builder's process. If you've bought a new house in a
community, definitely tell your salesperson that you'd be interested
in buying a few pieces from the model when it comes up for sale.
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