Maybe Not Designing to Sell.

15 years ago

There is a lot of television based upon the assumption that homes must be 'freshened up" and depersonalized, because buyers aren't intelligent enough to look past your own taste.

Taking down some really outdated drapes or wallpaper I am all for, but a lot of these shows do superfast kitchen facelifts etc, and I want to offer some food for thought.

There are a group of houses nearby that I look at every time one comes on the market (There are perhaps thirty c.1964 traditional row houses).

The baths are colored tile: french blue, yellow, peach, with accents in pink, mint, cream, etc, including baths sinks and toilets...dated, right?

I have got to say after looking at perhaps 7 of these houses over the years, (one of them three times!) that the updated or newly renovated baths were without exception, a major step down in both quality of materials and workmanship compared to the originals.

Of the houses with the original tile, one or two managed to find some nice wallpaper that made the whole thing look intentional, or some kind of minor update that made you not see the tile in such a negative way.

If you are going to do a facelift with cheap materials, think twice, despite the current prevailing thoughts.

An extreme example of this is a story I heard from a realtor. Her clients, a year before they moved, decided to do a complete kitchen remodel of their original kitchen (knowing they were moving). They did an expensive remodel (40K thereabouts,expensive neighborhood) complete with Rutt Custom Cabinetry. They were able to use it for a few months before they put the house on the market.

The the new owners told the realtor after the closing the first thing they were going to do was tear out that "Horrendous Kitchen"!

**I have no idea what the kitchen looked like, it may have been beautiful, but it was obviously not the new owners' taste**

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Comments (5)

lindac
15 years ago
I have not sold very many houses....but my feelings and experience are don't paint everything beige and do a cheap kitchen re-do!
Price the house without and let the new buyer do what they want to do.
I have seen both my kids buy beige houses and paint wild patterns on the walls etc ands ell them again in a blink...
Yes, clean up, spruce up, patch and repaint what is shabby....but don't do a re do to sell the house.
Linda C....not a Realtor
golddust
15 years ago
Exactly! One of the reasons we liked our house was because it hadn't been remuddled to death. Carpets were gold shag - and the kitchen was all harvest gold everything - but everything big that had been done really had improved the house. PO's updated the original 1912 era kitchen w/ upscale appliances and custom cherry cabinets (that we still have). We had a 1973 era s/s Jenn Air cook top and hobart brand (now kitchen aid) trash compactor, etc. The layout was great.

When it was time, we just had to get new appliances, sink, countertops, new floor and call it a day. I think it was designed by someone who knew what they were doing.

Many of the wonderful old homes in our area look like new homes inside. No more character at all. May as well buy a tract house.

My MIL lives in Santa Clara. They built their home when my DH was a baby. She still has the original bathroom tile and it's lovely! Every time I use it, I start counting all the classic pencil trim in her bathroom, thinking how much it would cost to do that in my bathroom!

Her sister remodeled her bath with cheap everything. Yuck.
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ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
15 years ago
I sold my house without doing one single thing and, since it was priced correctly, it sold within a few weeks (this was several years ago). I'd bought custom made drapes for the living room the year before so that helped. My house wasn't cluttered (no children and I hate clutter), it was clean and I think well-decorated. I told the prospective buyers that I was going to put in a new kitchen floor but they didn't even want that. I think a lot of it is common sense and just having a house that is clean and uncluttered and where everything works, and where the price is right. Having said that, in today's market it's really difficult to say what will work and I count myself very lucky that I live in a house I love and don't have any plans of moving. My heart goes out to people who must sell and cannot find a buyer.
palimpsest
Original Author
15 years ago
I think the concept is misleading as well. The shows always reflect materials cost and not labor. If the homeowner is not DIY, the same results could cost 10K, not the $2K seen on TV. Are you going to recoup that?

I watch these shows and they present a lot of good ideas but I also think that they give the impression that the buyer is not going to change anything.

I worked with a client on a recently purchased house that had obviously had a recarpet right before going on the market. The entire first floor was removed within three months for hardwood, and while the upstairs remains, it is such a low grade of carpet that the simplest stain cannot be removed. In fact, the stain removers change the color of the carpet. It will soon need to be replaced and it is three years old. What a waste! More fodder for the landfill!
moonkat99
15 years ago
I know this isn't the OP's point (which I agree with), but the flip side of this is designing to sell only after living in a house for years & not doing much of anything to it until it's sale time. I'm in & out of other peoples' homes all the time, and I can think of 3 acquaintances in the past 10 years who were ready to sell & move, fixed their homes up with a sale in mind, fell in love with their house all over again, and stayed. At least 2 of them are still there, & still loving their home. :)

It just amazes me that people will let things go until they're ready to sell. Why not fix it up for YOU, enjoy it while you're there, & then do the minimum required for a sale?

If & when I sell, I may need to paint out a few colors, but I'm just figuring that anyone who wants my house, with all of its quirks, will probably appreciate many of the quirky things I've done to it. If they don't, THEY can change it lol!

Maybe Not Designing to Sell.

Comments (5)

lindac

golddust

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Maybe Not Designing to Sell.

Comments (5)

lindac

golddust

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