Is this the Serengeti, or a California Beach town?

This is so cool, I had to share! I was working in a condo yesterday, staging it for the market, when I looked out the kitchen window and saw this view... Those are Zebra grazing on the hills of San Simeon, California at the Hearst Family ranch. This is truly the view from the kitchen window, and the view from the living room is of the pacific coast line, it is awesome! If you are looking for a 2 bedroom / 2 and a half bath get-away, look no further! I will attach a link to the full listing as soon as it goes on the market in the next few days! If you are interested sooner, please contact Sand Shell Realty in Cambria and ask for Terry Farrell, realtor- for more information - 805.927.1511

Where else can you see grazing Zebra and the ocean from the same home? This listing is one in a million!

Great new listing!

This is a great new listing just listed by Michelle Brown of Peabody and Plum. It is a large 4 Bedroom 2 1/2 Bath home in Atascadero's premier gated community! It has almost an acre of beautifully landscaped grounds and is a must see house if you are shopping for an elegant house with an open floorplan and a great setting!

Follow this link to view: Michelle Brown's Listing

The value in a good Realtor

I cannot emphasize enough, the importance of putting your real estate transaction in the hands of a savvy Realtor! This picture was sent to me by one such Realtor/Broker, Hayley Townley of Comet Realty in San Luis Obispo. The seller was asked to make sure that the water heater was strapped before the close of escrow. The seller assured all parties that this had been completed. On Hayley Townley's Final inspections -she was shocked to find, what the seller called a 'strapped water heater' - please look for yourself!

Yes that is a car seat belt, nailed to the wall and tied in the middle! This is NOT within the conforming state guidelines on proper hot water heater strapping! So please use a smart realtor, who can catch these issues like Hayley did, when you are buying or selling real estate!!

Check it out!

Sleepy little SLO made the top 10 places to live in 2009!

http://http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Best-Places-to-Live-usnews-15476164.html?.v=1

Another great new listing!

This is a great horse property! 5 Acres, close to town, yet totally country! It is in the coveted Templeton School District and offers 4 Bedrooms, 2 Full Bathrooms, a great 3 stall barn with an arena, plus guest quarters. All this on 5 fully fenced and gated acres! Bring all of your animals or just enjoy the peaceful countryside!

Follow this link to the full listing:

Lauri Strain of Peabody and Plum's Listing

Staging is not decorating!

I have said it before and I will say it again: Staging is NOT decorating! Staging is a strategic marketing plan to highlight the very best features in your home, so that buyers can see the house, not your stuff! Remember that you are moving.... you don't need to keep everything out, some items are best stored away early, so that people can better see your house! So get a POD or a storage unit and get your clutter out!

Staging doesn't need to cost a fortune, but it is part of marketing your home effectively. I like to think of staging as getting ready for the day- you wouldn't go to work in the morning in your pajamas and slippers - no... you get cleaned up and ready for a professional day. Your house needs to do the same thing - it needs to put on its best 'selling' outfit!

Your house should feel homey, neutral and move-in ready!

Good luck and happy selling!
to contact me direct please go to my website: http://www.lightbrightandairy.com/ or send email to: shannon@LightBrightandAiry.com

New Featured Listing

This is a great new listing, that we just completed staging! Follow this link for the full details and virtual tour: http://www.visualtour.com/shownp.asp?t=1859244&sk=30&prt=10003

To contact me directly please visit my website: www.LightBrightandAiry.com

Spring is Here!

Spring means 2 important things to home sellers on the central coast!

1. The rains have come and watered the weeds, and now the sun is shining and making every weed in sight take ahold of your yard! So get the weeds under control before your house is hiding behind a jungle of weeds.
2. Spring is a rare time in real estate when potential buyers have a renewed faith in the real estate market, if you are a seller.... don't miss it!

Staging for Spring!

We just got back from the Las Vegas Market and Furniture Show! Yippee- good fun was had by all and we got tons of great new ideas and stuff! Its hard to focus on Spring while its still raining, but get ready for the spring selling season! I firmly believe that this spring staging is going to be crucial to stand out from the crowd in this crazy market! Here are some quick tips for successful spring selling 2009:

• Depersonalize (as always)!
• keep the chill off your house, turn the heat on so that its not chilly when buyers enter to view your home.
• make sure that your home is priced right for your neighborhood, even the best stager can't fix - way over priced!
• Keep the rain and mud outside.
• Remember staging is all about selling, its not about high fashion - make your house look great- in a warm, neutral way, not decorator specific!
• In this tough market- get real with your budget for staging, landscaping and repairs!
• Pre-plan for success and you should see results!

Don't be a seller-zilla

Ok, here is the home staging nightmare of the week!

Beautiful, ornate home! Lots of faux paint everywhere, very peach walls! Yikes, it needs a neutral touch added to every room! The seller had made it VERY clear to me that I need to decorate in her style - perhaps this is why this beautiful home has been on the market so long.

As a seller make sure that you step back enough to allow you home to be staged for the market, not just so that you like it! For Pete's sake you are selling, what do you care if you like it, as long as lots of buyers do?

Don't be a seller-zilla and bite the hand that is going to help you get top dollar! Let your home stager - depersonalize and neutralize!

great new staging stuff!

I have just finished a big shopping trip to the California Gift Show and the LA Mart! It is always fun to attend these kinds of shows and get great new tips, trends and staging items. Some things I noticed from the decorating world: sparkling winter-white fabrics, bright oranges and greens for spring seem to be the hot new colors of 2009. For staging we would scale back on the orange and bright green, but it is always good to see what the cutting edge offers, so that we stage close to that edge, but with neutrals that have a broader appeal.

Also from the shows we got some great new table settings to make your dining area pop. We saw lots of great ideas for table arrangements and some new trends in furniture. I am looking forward to 2009 being a great year for the real estate market to take a turn for the better and I expect staging and home preparation to continue to play a big role in the saleability of your home.

Happy Selling!

Feel free to contact me directly through my website: www.LightBrightandAiry.com

New stuff headed our way!

I am off to the LA Gift Show to pick up new goodies for home staging! I will be back next week with new toys for decorating the homes of the central coast! I look forward to sharing with all of you great new gadgets and tricks for making your home look its best when you are selling!