Customers Celebrate Early Success With CORT`s National Home Staging Service

First Staged Home Sold in One Week Through Partnerships with Real Estate Agents
and Staging Professionals

FAIRFAX, Va.--(Business Wire)--
The CORT national home staging services are successfully helping businesses sell
their inventory of homes faster. The first property staged through the program,
which had been on the market about three months, sold in one week after being
staged.

CORT, a Berkshire Hathaway company that is both the only national furniture
rental company and leading provider of rental relocation services for renters,
launched the program in May to meet the growing demand for staging services from
relocation management companies, real estate asset management companies, banks
and corporations that own homes purchased on behalf of relocating employees.
Staging uses the right mix of furniture and accessories to accentuate a
property`s best features, and differentiates a home from the many other vacant
properties on the market.

"The relocation industry is undergoing a paradigm shift in the face of
unprecedented market conditions, including numbers of unsold homes on the market
and the competition stemming from short sales and foreclosures. CORT continues
to expand its relocation services to help our corporate partners meet the
growing demand for rental services - both for furniture and relocation," said
Mark Koepsell, senior vice president for CORT. "The early success of the staging
program underscores the great need for these services, and we are confident that
companies across the nation will soon experience the same benefits."

A company with a portfolio of unsold homes across the nation contacted CORT to
stage a 1,000 square foot condominium in Arlington, Texas. CORT worked with the
property`s real estate agent and a professional stager from CORT`s national
network of pre-qualified staging partners. The stager determined the appropriate
furniture and accessories, which CORT delivered and set up.

"I first worked with CORT 10 years ago when I rented furniture for the corporate
apartment my husband and I lived in as we were building our second home, and I
have continued to depend on CORT as a valuable resource in my work renovating
homes and now as a home stager," said Denise Smith, President and Owner of
Staged Just in Time. "Ultimately, my goal is to work more frequently with
corporations, as they have a steady volume of homes that need staging. This
property was my first referral from CORT specifically through the staging
program, and the exposure to businesses has already benefitted my business."

The staging included a dining room, living room, kitchen, bedroom and home
office for less than $3,000. An offer came in a week later. The entire process,
beginning with the initial request from the customer, was completed in less than
three weeks.

"This property needed a little updating, and staging the home was critical for
adding some color and highlighting its positive features," said Ellen Bachtelor,
real estate agent for Coldwell Banker Dallas-Fort Worth. "The feedback on this
property greatly improved after being staged, and CORT has done a wonderful job
of staying involved to ensure the entire process operated smoothly."

Staging can maintain or increase the selling price of a property in markets
where home prices continue to fall and reduce the amount of time the property is
on the market by up to 50 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development. CORT`s own study of 7,800 staged homes finds staged homes
sell in an average of 5.5 months, versus 10.4 months for those not staged. CORT,
the only national furniture rental company with offices in the top 70
metropolitan US markets, offers the staging services throughout the nation.

"We are thrilled that CORT is reaching out to the professional staging community
for assistance in their national staging program, and are confident that their
business partners will soon realize the full potential of staging," said Shell
Brodnax, president and CEO of the Real Estate Staging Association. "We are
looking forward to hearing more success stories of CORT working with
professional stagers on these projects."

Creating a positive first impression is critical to a sale. Most home buyers
decide if they like a property in the first 10 seconds. For companies with large
numbers of homes on the market, a faster sales cycle removes a burden on
financial balance sheets. Waiting too long to take advantage of the benefits of
staging is a common mistake. In many cases, companies wait until they drop the
sales price in hopes of generating interest. The cost of staging is typically
significantly less than the first price reduction.

CORT provides companies with one point of contact for staging expertise in local
markets and coordinated billing for homes staged across the nation.

About CORT

For more than 35 years, CORT has been the nation`s leading provider of rental
furniture with a global network of affiliates in more than 50 countries. CORT, a
Berkshire Hathaway company, also provides the nation`s most comprehensive range
of rental relocation services, including online apartment search services at
www.ApartmentSearch.com. CORT`s customers include more than 80 percent of the
Fortune 500 companies. For more information, please visit www.cort.com.

For CORT
Amanda Denton, 919-459-6456
amanda@largemouthpr.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009