Belvedere Tiburon, CA

The Tiburon International Film Festival comes to town on March 19, 2009 (Opening Night Gala at the Corinthian Yacht Club - tickets still available: 415-789-8854) through March 27, 2009. Check out their web site at: Tiburon Film Festival



The hottest ticket for the Festival is Saturday night, March 21st, for the film Medium Cool. George Lucas will be presenting a tribute and the "Lifetime Achievement Award" to Oscar Wining Cinematographer and Director Haskell Wexler before or after the film.

The current issue of the San Francisco Business Times has a special supplement "Luxury Living" that features the top 4 Zip Codes in the Bay Area where property values continue to go up despite the general downturn of the real estate market. One of those Zip Codes is 94920 (Tiburon and Belvedere) here in Marin County.

A brief excerpt from the article: Yes, residents cite the excellent public schools, the burgeoning sense of community, and the Tiburon International Film Festival as reasons for moving to tony Tiburon or Belvedere, but really, in Marin's highest earning Zip Code it all comes down to the views.
You'd be hard pressed to find a house on Belvedere at any price that doesn't have a glimpse of water. At an average sales price last year of almost $3.9 million dollars, a view may not be too much to ask.
"One of the economic factors that increases desirability is there's very little land, if any to build on," said Mark Lomas , a realtor with Frank Howard Allen and a Tiburon/Belvedere resident since 1976. " To build, people usually have to buy a property, and gut it."

Mark Lomas with fellow realtor Kirsten Wolfe preview an unlisted property on Belvedere Island that is being offered for over 8 million dollars. For more information about this spectacular property located on Belvedere Avenue (Not on MLS) contact Mark Lomas at: 415-789-7777 or Kirsten Wolfe 415-789-7724.
For the whole story from the San Francisco Buisness Times click: San Francisco Business Times Article

In a recent home staging consultation I was presented with this traditional-style master bedroom, as furnished by the homeowners (picture below).

The furnishings were appropriate for the beautiful '30's-era stone house in a prestigious older neighborhood. From the master bedroom, potential home-buyers would then turn to the right to enter a small private room leading to the closets and master bath.

However...

...the young couple was using the small side room for their home office and catch-all room. It was jammed with mis-matched plastic laminate office furniture, computers, wiring, books, stacks of paper, and adorned with toys belonging to their small children. Plants were taking their last gasp.

Just how many of us live, right? Unfortunately when selling a home this presents a total visual disconnect for prospective buyers who want to envision this light-filled master suite as their private oasis.

The homeowners were happy to clean out their cluttered room, but had a limited budget for improvements before the MLS photographs were scheduled to be taken. As their Staging Consultant I knew that potential buyers would appreciate a serene room with furniture that complimented the master bedroom, and that would work with the intimate scale of the room.

But typical contract rental furniture wouldn't be appropriate for this genteel home, nor would it compliment the homeowner's existing furnishings. So I hunted through a favorite furniture consignment store and found inspiration in this chair, a lovely (and legitimate) antique:

After leasing the chair and staging it with a neutral rug and the homeowners' existing accessories and throw, the small side room was given new life as a comfortable sitting room, harmonious with the master suite and the rest of the home. One-size fits all rental furniture just wouldn't have worked in this distinctive home.

While successful staging is a very comprehensive process (to the outside it seems deceptively simple), de-cluttering and repurposing a room with carefully selected furnishings can make all the difference. And since emotion is such a fundamental part of purchasing a home, it's essential to create a warm and inviting atmosphere for potential home-buyers to linger.

For additional before and after examples of Leslie's Traditional Style Home Staging in Marin, check out:

Mill Valley Film Festival - Outdoor Art Club - Before and After Photos

Leslie Olson Interiors provides Real Estate Staging, Event Staging, and Interior Design Services for Marin County and surrounding regions of the San Francisco Bay. I invite you to visit the company web site, at www.leslieolsoninteriors.com.

Thank you for your interest!

Leslie Olson, ASID, RESA

Leslie Olson Interiors Marin County, CA www.leslieolsoninteriors.com leslie@leslieolsoninteriors.com 415.233.2633

A couple of days ago I received a phone call from the San Francisco Chronicle. The Chronicle is preparing an article that will come out on September 5th regarding some of the high end neighborhoods in the Bay Area, and how those neighborhoods have been affected by the current real estate market. The Chronicle also wanted to know why people move to Tiburon and Belvedere?
I shared that I believed that there are certain mico-communities in the Bay Area that have actually appeciated during the downturn in today's real estate market. And, Tiburon and Belvedere are just such markets.
Homes here in Tiburon and Belvedere continue to appreciate because of macro economic factors unique to this area such as high desirability, natural geographical beauty, climate, lifestyle, lack of available land for new building, proximity to San Francisco and Silicon Valley (that are experiencing strong job markets), a stellar school system supported by the tax base, and being one of the most gorgeous waterfront communities in the world!