Residents for Hire

Company gets paid to hire people to live in vacant homes.

Showhomes Management, LLC has taken a novel approach to showing vacant homes. They hire property managers to live on-site and occupy high-end residences, furnish the homes, and keep them show-ready until it sells. With 2.2 million vacant homes for sale in the US right now, they're doing a booming business. They have operations in 34 states, and are based in Nashville, TN.

"I hate to be the one positive person in the real estate market," he said. "We're really excited about the bust because there are so many vacant homes. We can be really selective -- almost picky," says Thom Scott, vice president of operations. With so many homes on the market now, Showhomes gets to choose which homes they represent; it makes finding managers easier when they have such remarkable properties.

The real kicker is that the resident managers actually pay Showhomes to live in the property, but it's a fee much lower than the rent on a comparable home. The company lists one 10,000 foot estate with a monthly fee of $2,500 per month. Mr. Scott says that Showhomes doesn't have any trouble finding qualified managers. Many homes that have been on the market for 8 months to a year sell within a month or two of contracting with Showhomes, and the managers that work for Showhomes are typically people that have just sold their own large, up-market home.