Home is where the stay is

Some creative marketing people at Medallion Home have turned the test drive concept into a test stay.

That's a three-day stay.

The Manatee County-based homebuilder recently launched a marketing program called Guest House. For the homebuilder's Lakes of Mount Dora community, north of Orlando, the program is akin to a bed-and-breakfast weekend. Guests can stay in a fully furnished 1,798-square-foot home for two nights and three days for $149. The house includes a pool for guests to use. “We thought this was a great selling tool,” Medallion Home Marketing Manager Amanda Pearson tells Coffee Talk.

And there's more: A Lakes of Mount Dora agent/ambassador will coordinate an agenda for the stay, and take the guests out for meals in Mount Dora. Guests can also use all the community's amenities, which includes a resort-style pool, a fitness studio, tennis courts and library.

Pearson says 11 people have stayed at the house since the program was launched in January. One person bought a home directly after the stay. The roots of the program are traced to an analysis the firm did that shows the core customer in Mount Dora tends to research home purchases two to three years in advance. “It really fits with the buyers for that community,” Pearson says.

Medallion Home builds in eight communities in Florida. Lakes of Mount Dora is the only one, so far, with a Guest House stay program.

This story was updated to reflect the correct cost of the stay at the home.