FREE STAGING TIPS....  So often I only get called out to work on the hardest houses with the most awkward floor-plans - or after a house has languished on the market for 6+ months without offers.  I love a good challenge, but it made me realize that the tips that I apply to a difficult house, also apply to all kinds of Do-It-Yourself types of rooms too.

1. Make sure that you give each room a true purpose!
2. If the room feels small, use smaller or less furniture.
3. If the room feels too large, add a few pieces from another room to fill some of the space, but not all of it.
4. Also if the room feels awkwardly large, pull the furniture off the wall and "cozy it up" by bringing the furniture closer together.
5. Watch-out for themes or collections, pack those away now, they are not selling friendly - I get called in all the time to talk to sellers about their beloved collection of ....
6. Choose mostly neutral colors for furniture, pillows, wall hangings etc., but add one stronger color to add a pop for the pictures - I like red, blue or green.

Here are some before and after examples of a tough to decorate house I just finished that went into escrow in 4 days.  This is an open Studio type guest cottage with no real focal point or kitchen.


After

Before

How is it already May?

May is here the flowers are blooming and real estate sales are picking up.  Prices are getting stronger, inventory is down and interest rates are still excellent.  But even with all those factors you still must prepare your home to look great for a strong sale.

In honor of may being the fifth month of the year, here are 5 quick tips to help with selling your home:

• Clean!!!!
• de-clutter
• Pack personal items and collections now
• Ventilate - fresh air is best!
• Mow the weeds

Happy selling!

Summer is in full swing!

Wow- Real Estate Season is ON! Staging has been hopping and so is the real estate market! What a fresh change from the past two years! I have seen some great houses lately that have had trouble selling for one reason or another.

The best advice that I can give to sellers is prepare your house and stage before it hits the market- its hard to take back a less than perfect first impression!

Here is a great newly staged listing! It is a beautiful home in Cambria- just 2 blocks from the beach!! Click on the picture to view the full info from Cambria Pines Realty.

Don't forget to check out our website for other great listings and staging tips!

http://www.lightbrightandairy.com/

Spring has sprung!

Spring is a great time to refocus and retool if you are planning, hoping or trying to sell real estate. As the weather changes and the rain stops, everything starts to bloom and house shoppers start to come out and look at new real estate options. As you have heard 1,000 times, you only get ONE chance to make a first impression. Real Estate is no different.

• Buyers shop first from the curb appeal, make sure that you tidy up your yard after all that rain!
• After buyers have decided that they like you curb appeal enough to make an appointment- they then shop with all of their senses, address them ALL: sights of your home, sounds, smells, and feel- we will skip taste!
• Sights- Make sure that your home looks GREAT- clean, tidy and clutter free!
• Smells- Make sure that is smells fresh, the best way to do that is to let in the smells of spring! Baking cookies is good too!
• Sounds- Make sure that it is peaceful, not over stimulated in the sounds- remove pets during showings- chatty birds and barking dogs can be a huge seller turn-off.
• Feel- Make sure that it is not too warm or too cold, either one can be a distraction from a great home.

Good luck and happy seeling!

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!

Winter Staging Tips

Happy Holidays and happy winter home selling. As winter gets off and running there are some things to keep in mind when your home is on the market.

• As it gets rainy and wet, make sure that your door mats are clean and dry, and at each door, so that when people show your house, they don't track muddy footprints throughout.
• Make sure that your heater runs at least enough to keep the chill away, since a frigid house can be a turnoff to buyers.
• Change your heater filter regularly during the winter- it helps your heater and it helps reduce the musty smell of winter -plus filters are a cheap way to keep an expensive appliance working well.
• With sunset being so early, many buyers will be seeing your home at dusk or in the dark- make sure that it all looks as good in the night as it would during the day.
• Remove tripping hazards and illuminate dark spots in your driveway and rooms.
• Make sure that your entry light has a good bulb and gives good illumination.
• Set a few lights on timers that come on at dusk.
• Check your rain gutters and drains- few things show worse than if your house looks like it could flood from a small drizzle, just because you forgot to clean away the debris blocking the flow of water.

Good luck and happy winter home selling! For more information or to contact us directly please check out our website: www.LightBrightandAiry.com

Staging + Professional Photos / Virtual Tour Sale!

Light Bright and Airy Home Staging and Central Coast Virtual Tours are now offering a coordianted sale for a limited time only.

Staging + Still photos
Includes: Photos sized and formatted for the MLS
· Hi resolution photos for flyers and submission to real estate magazines
· Slideshow with no branding for the MLS
· Slideshow with office branding
$475 right now only $400

Staging + virtual tour
Includes: Photos sized and formatted for the MLS
· Hi resolution still photos for flyers and submission to real estate magazines
· Virtual tour with no branding for the MLS
· Virtual tour with office branding for internet
$600 right now only $500

To check out our websites, please visit:
www.LightBrightandAiry.com
www.CentralCoastVirtualTours.com

Expect more!!

In this down market everyone has excuses for homes not selling and homes declining values! But this is the time we need to all dig deep and expect more from ourselves and our professionals! Realtors need to be helping you with what they do best... Marketing!

They need to be helping you

1. Stage your home so it looks great
2. Get great photos taken
3. Do virtual tours
4. Make great flyers
5. Give your house a great internet presence

Gone are the days of homes selling above asking price in hours. We are into the time when houses take months to sell, but the ones that look great and are marketed effectively ARE still selling. Make your sales team work for you, after all you are paying them thousands of dollars to sell your house! Make sure you get your money's worth!

Home Staging on a tight budget

I hear a lot these days that home staging is too expensive and my house doesn't warrant the expense!

Let me first dispel the first part of that myth: home staging costs too much. If you use the right stager, it can be done on a VERY tight budget. Maybe as little as $100 if you have some good stuff to work with. Of course you can always spend $5,000, but in many cases that isn't necessary. YOU set the ground rules and the budget, and a smart home stager can work within your budget, as well as prioritize for you the most important places to spend those dollars.

The second part of the myth: my house doesn't warrant the expense of home staging. If you look at the simple math of letting your home sit on the market for 2 or 3 extra months and make 1 or 2 more price reductions, you have probably already lost $10,000 with those 2 options alone. Most price reductions in most markets around the country today are going to be at least $5,000 and even 1 extra month of mortgage to pay will probably run at least $1,000. As compared to maybe $500 worth of home staging for a furnished home and about $1,000-1,500 for a vacant home. That is not even taking into consideration that if your home is looking its best, buyers will probably ask for less money off and fewer repairs than if you list the home in its current state.

Great home stagers have lots of tricks up their sleeve about how to make your home look great with a few easy trade secrets that can really help your home look its best! Plus home staging is now a tax write off, just like realtor fees, it is considered part of the expense of selling your home! I urge you to at least call a home stager and get a quote before you list your home, most stagers should give you a quote free of charge, no strings attached. So why not see if having a professional make your home look its best is a possibility for you?