Is Your Home Falling Out of Style?
I just read on REALTOR.com that a few important home features of yesteryear aren’t all that important today.
1. Fireplaces – report says people used to want more than one, and that’s not as important anymore – With Bay Area Spare the Air days, I also see this trend. It’s nice to have, but I rarely hear people wishing for bedroom fireplaces anymore…many want gas logs vs. wood for existing fireplaces.
2. Carpet – Many of the buyers I’ve worked with have plans to convert carpeted living areas to all wood, perhaps some tile. Carpet is still desirable in the bedrooms, but truthfully most buyers feel they need to replace existing carpet in homes. Maybe used carpet seems to personal?
3. Living Room – I haven’t noticed that people don’t want living rooms, but many are using the area for real uses – teen rooms, media rooms, etc. Many buyers don’t have the luxury to have the living room used as just pretty space. This is especially true in average sized homes (under 2,000 square feet).
4. Desks in Kitchen – Many buyers consider this a waste, a place to stack things…we’re seeing these converted to recycling centers…
5. Skylights – Always a concern for leaking, sometimes makes a home look dated.
6. Upscale Kitchen Finishes – I am surprised to see this as lacking in importance. Granite, quartz, cherry, stainless ---all still very desirable to buyers.
I’ll add one more item to the list – wet bars – these used to be an upscale feature, but in many cases these look a bit outdated. If you’re redecorating perhaps consider converting this area to a wine refrigerator with glass front display cabinet on top? Perhaps convert to built in book cases?
Read the article at http://styledstagedsold.blogs.realtor.org/?p=273
If you’re considering updating your Pleasanton home and want to make sure you’re doing things that will eventually help in selling your home, feel free to give us a call. We’d be happy to stop in and lend our ideas/opinions and let you know what our buyers are saying these days and how we feel your upgrades will affect your home’s value.
Susan Schall, The Fabulous Properties Team
Copyright 2009 Pleasanton Real Estate, Pleasanton Homes for Sale