Manufactured Housing Life

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 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

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.

The days of being able to tell if a home is manufactured or a site built are quickly coming to a close. Today's manufactured home can offer as many options as it's site built competition if not more. Technology and manufacturers have come a long way in what we can offer consumers today anywhere in the country.

I just got back from Hobbs, NM working with an amazing retailer - Young's Factory Built Homes. This isn't your "old school" retail center - even though they have been in business since 1958 nothing at this retail center is aged or dated. You can tell be the photos that the homes are well presented and would make anyone a proud homeowner. They asked me to come in and add some design trends to their interiors and I'm hoping to share what we accomplished in the next few months.

Making your house feel like a home doesn't have to cost a fortune - something as simple as adding color with colors in trendy colors and adding a few accessories can make all the difference. Pillows are another easy way to add warmth and softness to any interior - plus they are great to curl up with on a cold day!

If you have a chance stop by Young's and experience in person the trends we have shown. Tell them The Lifestylist® sent you!

As I’m sitting here watching my grandchildren, nieces and nephews run around having a blast this week I’m realizing what’s missing from most of our model homes – life. Real Life isn’t perfect, and that’s what makes things interesting. It’s those special touches like a handwritten note from a 4 yr old or a handprint on the wall that make us remember how precious life is.

That’s why I love being a Lifestylist – it’s all about injecting those memories that make life exciting into living spaces that then become very personal.

Nothing can hurt or help more than words and they are something that's truly priceless.

I was checking my LinkedIn page today and saw that a few people had given me recommendations including Sam Weidner Jr who was the VP of Patriot Homes and who had written the following:

"I have had the honor and the privilege to see a true artist at work. I hired Suzanne Felber to help Patriot Homes take a new, innovative, and aggressive role in helping redefine manufactured homes as people new them. Without question she tackled that task with enthusiasm, and a creative vigor unlike anyone had seen in our industry at the time. Suzanne has a brilliant mind for knowing design trends and how to present her designs in a way that attracts buyers from all walks of life. With her help Patriot was able to win over 9 housing design awards including an award for best marketing campaign awarded by the NAHB. If you want your products to look the best the hire the best, Suzanne Felber."
Service Category: Professional Lifestylist
Year first hired: 2002
Top Qualities: Great Results, Good Value, Creative

It's one thing when you think that you have given a job your all, but when you receive something like this out of the blue it makes you want to go out and work that much harder, and give that client a big hug!

I'm honored to have worked with Sam and his company, and I'm looking forward to working with him even more in the future!