Aesthetics vs Practicality in Selling a Home

[tvguy]

I will also add those Home remodel shows pricing are way off. Lets see. new kitchen, new flooring, new bath, re roof, move walls, new windows new landscape for $60,000. More like $200,000

New kitchen, new flooring, 2 new baths. new roof, remove a wall, all new doors (including $5,000 front doors) and moldings, $130,000 here for a 2010 square foot house. A house I paid $101,000 for plus $24,000 for an addition 20+ years ago. Worth about twice what I have in it.

 

[Darcy03231]

I will also add those Home remodel shows pricing are way off. Lets see. new kitchen, new flooring, new bath, re roof, move walls, new windows new landscape for $60,000. More like $200,000

We did new kitchen cabinets, granite counters, sink/faucet and backsplash with new paint and two new bathrooms (gutted to the studs) with a custom tile shower in one of the bathrooms for $35,000. We more than made our money back when we sold. We used a contractor who allowed us to buy all our own materials.

 

[kerry1379]

I just wanted to pop back on and thank everyone for their responses. They have helped me to gain a lot of perspective! I have had a chance to scour MSL listings in our neighborhood and I have come to realize that, in our area, and for the price point we are going for, painting, upgrades, etc. make sense-up to a point. But it is a whole different world for sure-researching to find out what upgrades will be worth it and which ones won't. I am learning a whole lot!

 

[tvguy]

We did new kitchen cabinets, granite counters, sink/faucet and backsplash with new paint and two new bathrooms (gutted to the studs) with a custom tile shower in one of the bathrooms for $35,000. We more than made our money back when we sold. We used a contractor who allowed us to buy all our own materials.

LOL. My wife insisted on Corian for the bathtub sized shower in the master bath. All the way to the ceiling. That alone was $7,500. Plus $1,200 to remove the black mold that had formed behind the old tile walls from tiny cracks in the grout.

 

[ronandannette]

We've updated our home within the last 6 years and with the exception of moving walls, did everything else and I just added it all up. It was under $40,000 all in. What saved us a TON of money was not replacing the 100% useable and still in great shape kitchen cabinets. Replacing those alone probably would have been $20,000 if we would have priced it out.

We reno'd our current place after purchase and also did absolutely everything cosmetic except the cabinets. The fact the kitchen was practically new was what sold us - we knew it would save us a ton. Like you, everything else added up to about $40,000 because that's what we had to work with. We would have had to really compromise on a lot of other things if the cabinets needed to go.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

This house has neither. Oh noes. It's a mini me McMansion.



Hmmm. 3 exterior treatments that don't know each other. Notice the full windows on the ground floor and mini me windows upstairs. But the mini me windows protested so they got shutters. Which of course don't match the completely different shutters on the left and no shutters in the middle. 3 keystones and 4 non. Standard gable on the left and inexplicable dutch gables in the middle. And Oh look. Someone took a chain saw to the roof on the right there. Where's the door? Oh it's peaking out behind its hole there.
Sorry. But mini me McMansions don't come with Pringles can turrets.

 

[NotUrsula]

This house has neither. Oh noes. It's a mini me McMansion.

Hmmm. 3 exterior treatments that don't know each other. Notice the full windows on the ground floor and mini me windows upstairs. But the mini me windows protested so they got shutters. Which of course don't match the completely different shutters on the left and no shutters in the middle. 3 keystones and 4 non. Standard gable on the left and inexplicable dutch gables in the middle. And Oh look. Someone took a chain saw to the roof on the right there. Where's the door? Oh it's peaking out behind its hole there.
Sorry. But mini me McMansions don't come with Pringles can turrets.

Wait ... you want architectural integrity in a 21st century suburban tract house? Talk about unrealistic expectations.

Also, shouldn't there also be a keystone over the "porch" archway?

(Actually, the chainsaw isn't a half-bad idea. If you cut the house in half just to the right of the righthand porch pillar and swung the rest of it around to the back, it would be greatly improved, IMO. Well, except for those mismatched gables ...)

FWIW, I *truly* hate mixing brick and siding on a single facade. I'm not all that wild about front-only brick construction, but I understand the economic reasons for that. (There have been a few teardowns in my neighborhood replaced with these -- they stick out like a sore thumb in our all-brick neighborhood -- and lower the property values. Buyers here very commonly specify an "all-brick" block when stating their preferences.)

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Wait ... you want architectural integrity in a 21st century suburban tract house? Talk about unrealistic expectations.

Also, shouldn't there also be a keystone over the "porch" archway?

(Actually, the chainsaw isn't a half-bad idea. If you cut the house in half just to the right of the righthand porch pillar and swung the rest of it around to the back, it would be greatly improved, IMO. Well, except for those mismatched gables ...)

FWIW, I *truly* hate mixing brick and siding on a single facade. I'm not all that wild about front-only brick construction, but I understand the economic reasons for that. (There have been a few teardowns in my neighborhood replaced with these -- they stick out like a sore thumb in our all-brick neighborhood -- and lower the property values. Buyers here very commonly specify an "all-brick" block when stating their preferences.)

I've given up on architectural integrity. But could I at least get a house that someone put some real thought into how it looks? I'd rather eliminate the keystones. I'm not a big fan of concrete keystones. At least it doesn't have concrete quoins. I'd rather eliminate the arches too unless you're going around a window instead of a pediment. I really don't mind some siding in the front. But not in hap hazard placement like that. This could have been a cute house if the left side remotely matched the right and you got some shutters on those bottom windows.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Oh Dear Lord no. ME EYES ME EYES!!!

 

[NotUrsula]

Have to agree on that one, LOL. Aside from the gratuitous fake gables and the out-of-place Craftsman doors, what kind of lunatic puts the utility meters on the FRONT of a new house??

(Full disclosure, mine has the gas meter out front, where it is at foundation level and is shielded with plantings. However, mine is a retrofit from the original meter, which is INSIDE my basement, just on the other side of the foundation wall. My electric meter is original and where it belongs; in the back.)

 

[kirstenb1]

This house has neither. Oh noes. It's a mini me McMansion.

View attachment 471827

Hmmm. 3 exterior treatments that don't know each other. Notice the full windows on the ground floor and mini me windows upstairs. But the mini me windows protested so they got shutters. Which of course don't match the completely different shutters on the left and no shutters in the middle. 3 keystones and 4 non. Standard gable on the left and inexplicable dutch gables in the middle. And Oh look. Someone took a chain saw to the roof on the right there. Where's the door? Oh it's peaking out behind its hole there.
Sorry. But mini me McMansions don't come with Pringles can turrets.

The whole thing is a visual nightmare. For some reason the entryway especially bothers my eyes.

 

[tcufrog]

Someone's been reading McMansion Hell.

 

[kdonnel]

My electric meter is original and where it belongs; in the back.)

Meters are not allowed in the back in new construction in my county. They must not be in an area that can be enclosed in a fence. That does not mean they have to be in the front, they are placed on the sides. In my case the electric meter is on one side together with the cable and phone demarcations, and the gas meter is on the other side.