Remodeled dungeon (Austin, Lakeway: rental, how much, new house)

[G Grasshopper]

I was in Austin for a few days this week, and happened to go to an open house on Sunday in Lakeway. (This was not one of the objects of my trip, but I had some spare time, so I just popping into the first open house that I saw in the area that we are interested in.) The first thing the realtor said when I walked in was that the house was completely remodeled - every room. As I walked around, I discovered that it had been remodeled into a dungeon! Every room was painted various shades of brown. Not beige - brown. And most of them were dark brown. The kitchen cabinets were painted a dark olive green. Everything was dark. So what's going on here? First of all, I'm a little put off by the notion that people seem to have that you have to remodel every square inch of a house to sell it. I expect a house to be in excellent repair, clean, and nothing shockinly outdated. I don't expect a model home. Second, is this the new thing to make everything so dark? Is the brown supposed to be cooling in a hot climate? I was daunted at the prospect of having to paint the whole place to bring in some light. I mentioned it to a friend in the area, who said that brown is the trend, and will look outdated quickly. I hate it now!

[calel]

I think HGTV is a huge contributor to the influx of brown. All these Sell Your House shows tell people to repaint in designer neutrals, which can vary from dark dark brown to uninspiring beige. I saw it a lot in houses when I was looking. I preferred the As Is houses with their cheery bright yellows and light greens.

I wound up buying a former rental house, so all the walls are blessedly white except for one very disgusting looking accent wall that is painted with smears of medium brown (must be an HGTV-inspired disaster).

[CptnRn]

There is no accounting for some peoples taste. We looked at one house that had faux painted finishes on all the walls. We walked away from that one.

[TexasHorseLady]

Sounds appalling. That being said, as I tell my buyers when we walk into something like that, it's just paint. Try to get past it and look at the architecture of the house, the flow, the bones. If you like them, you may be able to get a deal because other people won't be able to see past paint.

[FueledByBlueBell]

[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
I really wish people would STOP remodeling their house to sell. I am turned off by most homes because they want to charge me for their own taste. If I am going to buy a resell then I want a blank slate to remodel to my liking. I'm not going to sink money into features that are brand new and that I don't find appealing.

I just want the house to be super clean and sparsely decorated. I'll take it from there (considering I will ever find a house that hasn't been "recently remodeled and updated")...

[Moonlady]

I agree that remodeling just to sell isn't a good idea. First of all, there's no guarantee you'll get back what you put into it and then there's the matter of taste. We gutted and remodeled our bathroom 3 years ago because I couldn't stand it anymore - it was really ugly. We did a makeover on the kitchen 2 years ago. Hopefully the designs I chose are appealing to most people when I go to sell, but I mainly did them for myself with some thought as to resale down the road. What's there now will show much nicer than what was there 15 years ago, and I would hope adds some value, if not in the price, then at least in the appeal.

[G Grasshopper]

We are also getting ready to sell our house. We did remodel the bathrooms, which were hopelessly outdated, trying hard to keep things neutral and non-offensive. And we have done lots of repairs and some cosmetics, like a new front door. We are working on reducing the amount of stuff in the house (excess furniture, clutter, etc.) and have replaced the family pictures with more neutral ones. But I am not going to drastically change every room. And nothing will be painted brown! When looking for a house, I don't expect that everything will be just as I want it. I actually expect to make some changes. Actually, I think that is part of making a new house your own. But I do look for a house that is well maintained and has been kept reasonably updated. Personally, I don't care for the house that is overly staged, because it makes me feel like the sellers are trying to manipulate me. I prefer to see step into a warm and inviting family home rather than a sterile model home that looks cold and clinical.