:: centerstage :: staging for resale ::

The Bay Area Home Staging Newsletter June, 2007 - Vol 1, Issue 1

In This Issue

Featured Property

Taking MLS Photos

Paint 9-1-1

For More Information

Center Stage

Benjamin Moore Paint

2663-2665 Leavenworth St.

Greetings!

Home staging is where decorating meets marketing.

San Francisco and the Bay Area have some of the most beautiful and highly valued real estate in the United States. With a growing inventory of homes on the market, staging has never been more important.

Center Stage has worked with realtors and sellers to prepare properties for market since 1998. We are dedicated to being a part of your marketing team.

Please enjoy our new monthly newsletter, visit our website, www.centerstagesf.com, and call with any questions. I look forward to hearing from you!

Featured Property

Each home has a personality all it's own. Built in 1950, this property sits at the helm of Northpoint and Leavenworth Streets. Looking just beyond the bustle of city activity, you can see the wonderful attractions that folks travel from far and wide to enjoy -- North Beach and Ghirardelli Square are a comfortable walk.

After meeting with the owner and agent, we set about to create a decorative scheme that emphasized the generous scale of the rooms, while being elegant, comfortable and inviting. Rich hues of chocolate and amber were favored, with just enough contrast of sage and black. Contemporary style furnishings were a perfect compliment to the 50's era construction and silk draperies gave a bit of glamour to the floor to ceiling windows.

All was installed in two days, with photography and advertising in place for an open house at the end of the week. This property is represented by Valerie Sancimino at McGuire Real Estate. To learn more, please visit, 2663-2665 Leavenworth Street.

See More of Our Work

7 Secrets to Great MLS Photos

Did you know that 80% of buyers view photos online before visiting the property? If you are taking your own photos, here are a few basic principles to keep in mind:

1. Understand your purpose. Be careful not to focus too much on furniture and decor.

2. Use a wide-angle lens to shoot rooms. A good rule of thumb is 24MM or larger. Very few off the shelf digital cameras come with lenses that are wide enough to effectively shoot interiors. You usually end up with a photo without much information.

3. Simplify the image. Remove anything distracting, such as chair backs and door frames.

4. Render the interior light and bright. You either need an external flash unit, a long exposure shot on a tripod, or wait until the light inside and outside are close to being the same. This is especially important when light is pouring in through the windows and causing the room to look dark.

5. Render all verticals vertical. Don't tip the camera. All vertical lines in real life (walls, cabinets, door mouldings) must be shown parallel to the sides of the image.

6. Straight lines must appear straight. The "barrel" distortion in many lenses make straight lines near the edge of images appear to be curved. This can easily be fixed with photo-editing.

7. Size and crop images based on purpose. Vertical format images don't work for most real estate advertising unless the shot is for a flyer or magazine ad that is vertical format. Most websites are designed to work best with horizontal images and a mixture of horizontal and vertical format images on an website or gallery can be very distracting.

Paint 9-1-1

Crusty, white mineral salt deposits, that leach out onto the surface on mortar, concrete or masonry is usually a sign that there is moisture below. Not a conversation we want to have with a potential buyer. Common causes of this problem are the failure to adequately prepare the surface by removing all previous efflorescence (painting over it), and the ongoing presence of excess moisture escaping through the masonry from the inside.

If excess moisture is the cause, eliminate the source by repairing the roof, cleaning out gutters and downspouts and sealing any cracks in the masonry with a high quality, all acrylic or siliconized acrylic caulk.

If moist air is originating inside the structure, perhaps from an exposed soil crawl space that opens onto living space, consider installing vents or exhaust fans.

Once the source is remedied, remove the efflorescence and all other loose material with a wire brush, power brush or power washer, then thoroughly rinse the surface. Apply a quality water-based or solvent based masonry sealer and allow it to dry completely. Then apply a coat of top quality exterior house paint, masonry paint or elastometric wall coating.

For More About Paint Solutions

As always, we thank you for your support, confidence and business. I hope your have enjoyed our first newsletter and maybe picked up a good idea for yourself or your clients. I am always available to answer your questions. Please feel free to call and see how I can help you...

Sincerely,

Linda Bettencourt
Center Stage