Tuesday, May 23, 2006

LA Daily News - Seller hopes model behavior will give homes lived-in appeal:

SANTA CLARITA - The scent of baking scones wafts through the house as children's feet pound the floors.

"Dad" rushes to get things ready as "Mom" lounges on the couch.

It's a birthday party for Camille Chen. "Husband" Jaason Simmons has breakfast in the oven and there's about to be a surprise: He and the kids remodeled the den into a game room and won't Mom, a notorious poker fiend, be pleased.

Except Chen and Simmons aren't married, the kids aren't theirs, they don't really live in the house and they're all Centex Homes marketing director Amanda Larson's employees.

They've been hired to lounge around a model home, read magazines and occasionally pretend like they're having breakfast.

Welcome to the new reality of real estate.