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Exactly. 99% of buyers want vanilla. 1% of buyers want something different. Your goal when selling, though, is to appeal to as many people as possible. Get rid of the wallpaper and you'll be well on your way to appealing to more buyers while maintaining a stylish condo.
Last edited by coastal chic; 11-08-2014 at 07:50 PM..
How are the other condos of similar size priced in your part of the city? Can people buy single family homes in your area for $200K in decent neighborhoods and in decent condition in your city?
It's not eclectic, it's called neoclassical style. Eclectic results when a person has a strong desire to express themselves but blessed with absolute lack of talent/taste resulting in visual cacophony. You don't see neoclassical often in real life because 99,99% of people are not into interior design/style. You might find it in magazines, but that's about it. 99.99% of homes on the market are furnished with Home Depot fixtures, furniture from "Walker's Furniture" and decor from Target (black picture frames, words "Family. Friends. Love" etc) and have painted beige walls throughout, with maybe a coffee "accent wall" in a different color like an climax of design. Maybe not so much in larger, more progressive cities where people are more aware of and generally understand and appreciate style like NYC, LA, SF, Miami, Seattle or Portland, but you definitely have almost zero chance of finding a stylish/well designed home in a conservative city like this one, definitely not for under a million. It's actually kind of sad. I did this remodeling once, it was a nightmare, I'd never want to do it again, but the problem is, you can't buy a stylish home... because there are none. So eventually I'll have to do it again, of course in lighter colors with resale in mind.
I can't speak for the other markets but that would be very out of place in Seattle, in any price range. I look at a lot of listings, and that would be highly unusual in a market where most of the new and renovated properties are modern minimalist or some combination of industrial/contemporary. The current crop of $1M houses is on average very minimalist. The closest I've seen to a neoclassical modern on a 'popular' listing is the house Ryan Lewis bought, which sort of stuck out as an unusual choice or a 25 year old. FWIW, his manager bought a renovated mid-century modern a few houses down from mine.
I would never call your condo neoclassical. Are you sure what neoclassical really is? Do a google image search for neoclassical interiors and while you do find a broad range of images one thing they have in common is that they're much lighter and brighter, and are inspired by the classical style and what we'd call "Georgian" architectural treatments. The contemporary neoclassical interior decorating style borrows heavily from the European neoclassical styles of circa 1800, especially the continental Biedermeier style of central/eastern Europe and the French neoclassical style of Napoleon's era.
Your condo interiors is starkly modern. It's not the minimalism modern, but something closer to art deco, perhaps. It's very well done in its own way, but the colors, forms, shapes and even materials can never be called neoclassical.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Conon6
It's not eclectic, it's called neoclassical style. Eclectic results when a person has a strong desire to express themselves but blessed with absolute lack of talent/taste resulting in visual cacophony. You don't see neoclassical often in real life because 99,99% of people are not into interior design/style. You might find it in magazines, but that's about it. 99.99% of homes on the market are furnished with Home Depot fixtures, furniture from "Walker's Furniture" and decor from Target (black picture frames, words "Family. Friends. Love" etc) and have painted beige walls throughout, with maybe a coffee "accent wall" in a different color like an climax of design. Maybe not so much in larger, more progressive cities where people are more aware of and generally understand and appreciate style like NYC, LA, SF, Miami, Seattle or Portland, but you definitely have almost zero chance of finding a stylish/well designed home in a conservative city like this one, definitely not for under a million. It's actually kind of sad. I did this remodeling once, it was a nightmare, I'd never want to do it again, but the problem is, you can't buy a stylish home... because there are none. So eventually I'll have to do it again, of course in lighter colors with resale in mind.
Last edited by Tallybalt; 11-08-2014 at 10:09 PM..
True neoclassical is only the green room. The rest is just contemporary with some japanese twist to it.
Anyway, just for fun sakes, I took the pictures of kitchen/living rooms from each house within 150-300k range across one "nicer" neighborhood. I literally took one from each house as I browsed west to east, spanning the whole neighborhood.I stopped at 8 houses, I'm sure you'll get an idea. I'm sure each of these owners remodeled their house "to their liking" like everyone in this thread swears would do and yet everybody ended up like this:
And they all look 3X the size of yours, and people can decorate/renovate to their taste.
I'm sorry, but your apartment looks like a noncommittal art student kept having random ideas with his trust fund. All that and grey carpet?
You're just going to have to come to terms with the fact that your buyer pool is 3 people deep - and those want to live in a real building. I found the listing too, and there's just too much disparity.
I saw your listing and what I immediately noticed was that you do have nice views. The building seems to be an unremarkable garden condo complex and not a fancy high-rise one might expect, but I will ignore that for now and focus on your views, which should be the selling point of your unit. You can see the mountains and what passes for city lights in your small city in western Washington State. It really is a pleasant view.
When I visit family and friends who live in the West, especially close to the great outdoors, what their houses have in common is they are light and airy and have sense of open space. That seems to be the prevailing desires for people who live in the western states.
Your condo doesn't embrace the views, it doesn't draw in the great outdoors into your inside living spaces because you made it too dark and too urban for your market. As others said, your interior style would pass muster in New York (although you'd still have a limited market), but not in a smaller/western city.
It's wonderful to do what you want to do with your home, but unfortunately you're learning the hard way what the consequences are for decorating wildly out of your market's norms as well as overpricing yourself out of your comps within the building. While there are probably people in your hometown who would happily buy your condo, you are drawing from a much smaller pool and all the factors have to be perfectly aligned, and that includes getting a mortgage approved. You may sneer at the houses you used as comparables but to be frank, I'd take every one of these houses over your condo because they're bigger and as you admitted, they're in a nice neighborhood, and I hate dark, enclosed spaces, and unfortunately your condo is dark.
I can appreciate the design and effort that went into the condo. I like the kitchen and the one bath. I even like the dark wallpaper. The other bath is over top for my tastes and it would be something I would want to change.
Sounds like you went against the grain. I also live in a conservative area and basic taste rules. My husband and I looked at house after house (all built between 80's - 90's) and every house looked the same. Builder oak cabinets, beige tile floors, white walls, mauve goodness. We had to nickname the houses because they looked so much alike we found ourselves saying...wait..wasnt the house on such and such street the one with the bigger yard? We couldn't keep track. So it was squeaky floor house, baby blue house...etc.
The house we found was different. The owners built the house and chose classic details that stood the test of time even if their choices were limited by the builder grade options. Then over the years they swapped out light fixtures and painted the oak cabinets. The wife worked as a designer for a high end furniture store, so she knew how to fake it or do nice knock offs. The husband was into creating charm so he built bookcases, adding woodwork and other features the other houses didnt have. My realtor that grew up in the area, flat out told me she thought the house was ugly. She liked the basic homes better. Our neighbor turned up her nose and said, "the people that lived there were always doing something!" It annoyed her and I am sure I am equally annoying as my husband and I have done more since we bought the place. Her house is as dull as it gets.
So I can say that when buyers walk into your condo they probably think you are a pimp or a drug dealer. Also the furniture is throwing them off. Its bold and loud. If they don't like the furniture the whole design of the place leaves them reeling on what they could do to make it their own. Also, people feel odd about changing out things they know were expensive. I remember looking at one house that had horrific granite counters. The thought of tearing out newer granite because I didnt like the color made me not want to buy the place. Also if they wanted to change out the gold sink, what would they do? Whatever they chose wouldn't exactly go with the whole place. Not everyone has vision. Decorating can stress people out. Just look in the house forum.
So here are my suggestions.
1. Hold out for a buyer that likes what you like (could take a while)
2. Have a stager come in and add neutral furniture. This will allow them to focus on the details of the place and not be distracted by your furniture.
3. Paint the bathroom that is red, a light color that compliments gold and softens it.
True neoclassical is only the green room. The rest is just contemporary with some japanese twist to it.
Anyway, just for fun sakes, I took the pictures of kitchen/living rooms from each house within 150-300k range across one "nicer" neighborhood. I literally took one from each house as I browsed west to east, spanning the whole neighborhood.I stopped at 8 houses, I'm sure you'll get an idea. I'm sure each of these owners remodeled their house "to their liking" like everyone in this thread swears would do and yet everybody ended up like this:
I know everyone here sounds like they'd do something good about it, but 99% of the houses on the market share the same look just like these ones.
I would bet the ones that have furniture are staged. When we bought our house, we wanted to do the work, and we did. Our taste is dramatic cool colors, a neutral in our house is gray, not tan. And it's decorated in early kitsch.
And when we move, we will have to repaint and neutralize this place to get top dollar. We have enough set aside to have down payment for the next home, and will buy and move before we sell this home. It only makes sense for our lives.
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She liked the basic homes better. Our neighbor turned up her nose and said, "the people that lived there were always doing something!" It annoyed her and I am sure I am equally annoying as my husband and I have done more since we bought the place. Her house is as dull as it gets. 
