Getting your Home Ready for the Photographer!

Fashion models don’t pop out of bed and get in front of a
camera.  Houses shouldn't either!   When your home goes on the market, the buying public will truly scrutinize the photos of your home as they determine whether or not they even want to visit it.  



 Here are a few guidelines for getting home
ready for a photo shoot.  As you go
through each room, remember less is more because even the

Vote for My Photo Please :0)

Staging! How to Make the Perfect Bed

If you're like me, no matter how hard I try I can't get the bed to look like they do in the magazines and showrooms.  Here's a nice little clip that demonstrates how to make the perfect bed.  I'm going to try it and I hope you will to.  Having a beautifully made bed is important for photo day and showings when you house is on the market.

Good Morning Rochester

I love it when I'm in the newspaper and it's not the obit page.  Enjoy this beautiful autumn day.

And an update on my story earlier this week about the family moving back home!  We got another offer that is coming together nicely so my open house is canceled!  YAY!

Rural Real Estate

I've spent the last few weeks running from Kendal to Canandaigua to Byron.  Tomorrow I will be near Lyndonville.  I love everything about the jaunts into the country side except filling my gas tank.





Here are a few shots from the last two weeks. Kind of nice to see the ground again, isn't it?

Time Flies

Gosh, it's the middle of February and the blog still screams "Happy Holidays!" No, I've not gotten fat and lazy this winter. It's been extremely busy.

I started the new year on January 2nd, by working with three different buyers that day and I've been running ever since. Just as predicted, the spring market hit Rochester early this year even if the weather was still winter-like. And for all the

Neighborhood of the Arts - A Great Place to Live and Play

Rochester has many great neighborhoods but one of my favorites has to be the Neighborhood of the Arts. Jammed packed with culture, the NotA features the Memorial Art Gallery, George Eastman House, Village Gate and ARTWalk. The neighborhood also offers great shopping, restaurants and drinking holes. If you've not checked it out, ARTWalk is a permanent urban art trail that connects the art

Location! Location! Guess this Location!

Do you know the location of this photo? Be the third person with the correct answer and I'll give you a $20 gift certificate to Tim Hortons. (No licensed realtors, please.) Leave your answer as a comment or shoot me an e-mail.I've been supplying photos to the Greater Rochester Real Estate Board for a similar contest during the past few years and its been a ton of fun. I hope you enjoy it as

I'm in the Capture Rochester Book!

Maybe you got an e-mail from me asking you to vote for my photos. Maybe I tried to bribe you with coffee and asked you to vote for my photos. Or maybe it was the tears as I pleaded with you to vote for my photos. Whatever it was, it worked because not only is one of my photos included in the Capture Rochester Book but it also won a People's Choice Award for being one of the top 25 photos in the

Rochester River Walk

I set a goal this year to walk the entire Riverwalk, a 15 mile urban trail that starts at the Port of Rochester and runs south along the Genesee River to Genesee Valley Park. I've done numerous mini trips and have yet to see the entire thing, but I got to tell you it is TREMENDOUS. The walk includes a lighthouse, three waterfalls, numerous historic districts, the Erie Canal aqueduct, many parks

Sunflowers at Highland Park

I've been working with a number of families relocating to Rochester and they have suggested that I add some blogging posts about fun and/or unique spots to visit in Rochester. I've added a tag line of Discover Rochester so click on it for fun places to explore.If you are near Highland Park this summer, you may want to check out the sunflower patch that was planted near the corner of Goodman St

Capture Rochester Dot Com

I finally did it. I signed up and submitted a few photos to the Capture Rochester program being conducted by the Democrat and Chronicle. You can check out my photos here: http://www.capturerochester.com/people/MaryShelsby And if you want to vote for them, well, I'd like that very much too!It is a pretty neat project for those that love photography. Photographers submit their photos, complete with

Itchy Belly

The folks at Eagle Vale Golf Course in Fairport were nice enough to allow me to wander the course to attempt to photograph blue herons. The herons were not very cooperative but this teen-aged goose didn't seem to notice me as he scratched his belly.It's summer in Rochester and the weather is simply glorious! I hope you are getting out to enjoy it!

Attack Duck!

Yes, my photos are usually in focus. But when I took this shot last night I was shaking with fear.I was showing property in Avon, NY last night and this duck seemed very happy to see me. When I reached out to pet him, he bit me! It hurt and left a pretty good mark too.Enjoy the rest of my photos from Avon, NY!

Think Spring

Ahhh, it's warmer today than it been in a while. The snow and ice are melting. I've seen robins and heard geese flying overhead. Oh, I long for spring!And so I spent the last hour or so going through some of my flower photos from Highland Park and decided to share them. Maybe if we all start thinking real hard about spring, it will come sooner than expected. Be sure to make a point of visiting

A Good Picture's Worth Thousands of Dollars

Yesterday, I wrote about some very bad photos in the Rochester MLS. Today, I'd like to provide a few tips to get your home ready to be photographed to put on the market.Looks are everything in today's real estate market. The current public watches tons of HG-TV and their expectations are often unrealistic. A colleague recently described the current Rochester market as a beauty contest. And just

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

A client I'm currently working with suggested that I put together a course to teach fellow Realtors how to photograph houses. The first thing that went through my mind was that he felt I need to supplement my income. After all, things are pretty slow. But this afternoon I took a hard look at some of the stuff that's in the MLS and they are just to funny not to share.This first gem is from a

Harvest Season

One of the things I like most about my job is the diversity. Just yesterday, I was in a very urban setting and today it was out in the country. Today, it was Mendon, last week Perry and the week before Macedon. I do love the local countryside. I've been too busy the past few weeks to take many new photos but I've pulled out a few of my favorite shots of old barns and pastures.

Home Again

A few days off is a wonderful thing! Especially for your frame of mind. I realized I was getting punchy before I left and was having a difficult time finding anything I liked about real estate! The couple of days home in Maryland were wonderful. We played golf in 100 degree temps (which wasn't so wonderful) but drank beer to cool off. I also played with my camera a lot and shot some cool

Nothing's Slick Right Now

It seems like real estate is meaner than ever these days. Buyers and sellers bickering over little stuff (like the cost of a broken window) as well as big stuff (who pays the bill for the new sewer line?). Nobody wants to agree to pre-possession or post-possession which means everyone needs to live in a moving van while all parties are at attorney offices conducting the closing procedures! (