As a builder, you already recognize the importance of show-ready model homes to help your prospective customers make that critical buying decision. While today’s home shoppers can do a lot of research online and start to learn more about home layouts and amenities, there’s nothing like actually standing in the space, being able to touch an actual model home and imagining themselves living there. And when you’ve added a home steam shower to new construction? That’s a WOW factor that can often tip the scales and convince your buyer that your property will clearly match their vision of a beautiful and well-constructed new home.

steam showers make a strong first impression

Consider what a model home does for you – and how steam can make an impact. Obviously, a model home is staged to showcase your professional expertise, including superior design, décor, and, of course amenities. Steam showers are among the most popular of bathroom enhancements today, especially for health-conscious consumers. Installing a steam shower in the bathroom is a clear signal to your buyer that you will work with only the very best fixtures and models. And it can also serve as an upgrade to your standard construction package – especially if you showcase some of the added steam shower therapies that can transform the bathroom into a home spa.

With a model home, you are targeting specific markets, demonstrating to the customer that you recognize what is important to them, and how your construction can address their specific lifestyles and needs. Adding steam to your bathrooms can instantly resonate with your client base. For instance, if they are:

• Young millennials who work hard and play hard: let them know that steam will help cleanse and rejuvenate their skin, reduce stress, and even help them recover from that hangover!

• Working adults with a growing family: show how steam allows them to come home from a busy day and decompress by taking a few minutes for themselves in the shower. It is also an ideal way to recover after a workout, or to get a restful night’s sleep.

• Elderly residents: in addition to relaxation and skin care, also discuss how steam helps support joints and muscles. A steam shower with a low- or no-threshold door shows that you’ve made their safety a paramount concern as well.

Benefits of a Home Steam Shower

With steam as a feature of your model home, you may want to include MrSteam’s Benefits of Steam Bathing in your package of hand-outs. This will let your prospective clients know the various ways steam can enhance their new home and their overall health and wellness. A short-list of these benefits shows that a residential steam shower:

• Promotes relaxation

• Supports optimal breathing and lung health 

• Promotes deep, restful sleep

• Cleanses skin

• Supports athletic performance and burns calories

And, as you or your sales team address potential new homeowners, you can also share the eco-friendly and cost-effective aspects of steam. A 20-minute steam shower consumes a mere two gallons of water when compared to 40 gallons for a conventional bath. 

Include these must-have Steam shower amenities

In most cases, clients interested in steam showers hope to bring the spa experience – a place to rest and rejuvenate in a beautifully aesthetic setting – into their own home. Additional steam therapies can be enticing upgrades to a standard steam shower. Having them installed in the model home will inspire your customers to transport themselves to that future moment when, after construction on their new beautiful home is complete, they can luxuriate in their new home spa. To help them visualize this aspiration, you’ll want to be able to demonstrate these therapies:

• Aromatherapy. As a home seller, you know the old trick – bake cookies in the kitchen to give the house a homey feel. Well, the analogy in the bathroom is to infuse the room with aromatherapy – using scents such as lavender to engender a sense of relaxation, or crisp and invigorating mint, to help them make that on-the-spot decision. You can point out how injecting aromatherapy into the steam shower evokes a variety of moods – great for both the beginning of the day when you need more energy and the end when you need to unwind and relax.

• Music Therapy. The next staging technique is to swirl sound through the bathroom with Music Therapy. We all know that music works wonders – and the ability to select any audio desired, including music, meditation, and the sounds of nature through a built in sound system is certain to appeal to your clients.

• ChromaTherapy. Finally, for a touch of drama, introduce your buyers to ChromaTherapy. The different hues available can influence mood, with calming blue, energetic red, and so forth. If they are looking for a true at-home spa experience, these colors are sure to excite them.

Bring the Spa Experience Home with Steam 

For many home buyers, resale value is a critical factor, too. They’ll want to know that, according to Zillow, having a steam shower in the home could earn you a 29% higher sale price than listings without it. Just as they were attracted to building their new construction with steam – so, too, will customers down the road appreciate this amenity when it comes time to sell.

Steam showers are touted in home design publications, online, and on TV, as one of the most popular additions to a residential bathroom. As you stage your model home, complete with all the bells and whistles, you simply can’t afford to leave steam showers and therapies off your list!