(this is a guest post for 3 Ocean Real Estate Blog)

Unlike Hollywood, sex scandal is not a career launcher for politicians like Eliot Spitzer, now former New York Governor and someone who had single-handedly tanked his own career.

First of all, he is no Paris Hilton. People don’t want to link him with a sex scandal. Second of all, there is a drastic difference between his political image & persona comparing to his exposed image, unlike Paris Hilton who has at least been very consistent in her image as a party girl. So it was not a huge shock that Paris made a sex tape somewhere.

Eliot Spitzer, right, apologised to his family for “private failings” [AFP]

What does that have to do with Real Estate & Listing Photos?

Like someone in the limelight, your listing needs to present a consistent image front and back, inside and out. In a competitive market, your buyers are critical and they will be picking your listing apart. Also with the ease of internet shopping, it is very easy to overlook your listing while someone else’s looks much nicer and easier on the eye.

I see many MLS photos that present an inconsistent story that does not tell the story of the house.

Let’s look at some real MLS photos I recently pulled off the web: (Read the rest of the post over at 3 Ocean)

This is an update rewrite of my previous post: 5 Tips on How Do You Hire a Stager?!

If you run a search on Craig’s List for “staging” under real estate services, several pages worth of stagers pop out. All of them promise to sell your home faster and for more. But are they going to fulfill their promises? How do you know? Do you dare to use your equity to gamble on a stager you randomly found on the web?

Here are 6 tips to hire a qualified stager:

1.Ask for qualifications. But don’t mistake this with the letters behind this person’s name on his/her business card as qualifications. When I was working as a Realtor, although I passed my exams, taken my GRI and e-PRO courses, these letters didn’t mean anything until I was out on the field.

What I mean by qualifications is how much work has this person done in the staging industry? Ask to see resume, portfolio, past before & after pictures (*be sure to ask if the photos are done by the stager and they are not some stock photos from some website. There are many new stagers out there that use stock photos from training schools, as well as copying other experienced stagers’ photos, which is why I watermark every Staged4more’s photos, even the before. Usually a good way to tell is “Oh, tell me about the story behind this picture!”).

Also ask for certifications and continue education if this is important to you.

2.Ask for their professional policies. As a professional, everyone works to their set of guidelines. For example, if you are a bank teller, you follow procedures when a customer shows up at your window. If a customer is doing (Read more …)

UPDATE: SOLD LESS IN A MONTH, MULTIPLE OFFERS!!!

Listing Agent: Jenn Davis, McGuire

Telephone: 415.351.4694 / Mobile: 415.812.2340

Listing address: 43 Garden Grove, Daly City, CA

More listing details coming soon!

See the Before & After Staging photos below or check out the nifty slideshow via flickr:

(Read more …)

This home was staged by Staged4more Home Staging & Redesigns. To view more properties, read our staging blog, ask your staging questions, please visit www.staged4more.com.  

Received a very awesome phone call yesterday afternoon from Melissa Cassiato, the Listing Agent of 121 Wilde, San Francisco, that the property is ready to be de-staged any time because it has SOLD!

I am so very happy for the seller and the agents because I know the seller needs that money to move ASAP. Moreover, it is SOLD! We staged it on 2/29/2008 and contingencies are removed on 3/17/2008. So in less than 20 days, the property has sold in a market that media calls “slow,” with 21 offers, and sold $114,000 more than its asking price. (Listed at $498,000 and sold at $612,000)

That’s a 22.89% increase in selling price and its Return On Staging Investment is 5672.15%!

Staging really provides a win-win-win situation for everyone involved. Not only buyers find their dream home sooner, the seller sells the house sooner and for more money, the agent also gets more commission.

A happy day indeed!

Here are some of the before & after staging photos of this listing, or you can view the slide show via flickr:

Related Articles:

• Cozy San Francisco Visitation Valley Home 121 Wilde SF
• Another Successful Staging Story!!! SOLD! OVERASKING! $49,000!!!
• Another Successful Staging Story -- 2001 McAllister San Francisco | Staged Vacant Condo

This is another blog of our Wednesday Series on: Can [this] sell the house?!

Last blog we talked about if Feng Shui works, some say it works wonders and some say it is a total crock. Continuing in that thread, does St. Joe sell your house?!

Here is a little bit more background to Saint Joseph: “ The custom hearkens back at least to the great St. Teresa of Avila (A.D. 1515 - 1582), foundress of the Disalced Carmelite Order. As her Order spread, a new convent had to be built, and in order for a new convent to be built, land must be had. When the nuns found a particular piece of land that was perfect for their purposes, they also found that their coffers weren’t full enough to purchase it, so they decided to ask the intercession of St. Joseph, burying medals imprinted with his likeness in the ground of the desired property as a sign of their prayers. It worked.

It also worked for Blessed Brother André Bessette, who was able to get the land on which he built the Shrine of St. Joseph of Mount Royal, in Montreal, Canada by praying to St. Joseph and burying a St. Joseph medal on the grounds of the future site as a sign of his prayers.

Now, both of these events deal with acquiring land, not selling it, and they deal with St. Joseph medals, not St. Joseph statues. Nonetheless, over time, the folk custom came to be for sellers of homes to bury a statue of St. Joseph as a sign of prayer asking to find a buyer and hasten the sale.” (http://www.fisheaters.com/stjoestatue.html)

Apparently 2 million statues of Saint Joesph are sold each year, what do you think? Desperate times call for desperate measures?

Related Articles:

• Feng Shui -- Crazy Cults or Sells Houses?
• Buy This Home and Get a New TV + Free Trip to Hawaii
• Can Brad Pitt Sell Houses?

Woohoo! Lots of great submissions this round!

(photo courtesy of Jarrod of Yonge & Eglinton Condos)

Staging Education
Reba Haas from Team Reba Real Estate talks about Staging Education for Agents Just Got A Lot More Competitive…. I think it’s a very interesting article about staging educations and competitions. In my personal opinion, I think it’s great that this is being discussed. More healthy competitions is always great for the economy and the industry in the long run

Brian Block of Virgina Real Estate News talks about his staging education experience as a (Read more …)

Address:
121 Wilde Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94134
Neighborhood: Visitation Valley
Type: Single Family Residential for Sale
Floors: Two or More Stories
Parking/Garage: 1
Bedrooms: 2
Baths: 1
Half Baths: 1
Square Feet: 1326
School District: S.F. Unified School District

LISTING PRICE: $498,000

Located in the northern end of Visitacion Valley close to the Portola District. This lovely home features an inviting floor plan with 2 bedrooms and 1 full bath on the main level with a spacious kitchen. Recently refinished hardwood floors grace the living area. Down stairs in the garage area, you will find a spacious room, half bath, and plenty of extra space for storage. Conveniently located near Highways 101 and 280, San Bruno Avenue, and bus transportation at the corner. This property has a lot to offer! Move-in condition.

Close to 101 & 280 Highways: Close to Muni Transportation

Here are some of the before & after staging photos or you can view the slide show via flickr:

(Read more …)