Long X-post with dec...odd room out in unit.

14 years ago

I may be putting my 2 BR, 1 BA bilevel condo on the market in Feb/Mar., because there is another property I am interested in.

I have one problem room, but let me give you the context of the whole apartment.

1st floor: fully restored plaster ceiling and cornice, replicated historic woodwork, tiny kitchen with custom cabinets Subzero, and Miele DW. Stack washer and dryer. Fully restored sashes and new storm windows.

(The S-Z, Miele, and level of restoration are unique to the complex; perhaps 20% of the units have W/D; perhaps 5% have restored sashes and new storms)--It's over improvement if anything.

2nd floor: stairhall, small bedroom and bathroom have crown moulding that goes well with the plasterwork downstairs, and well-repaired plaster and/or drywall. Bathroom will be all-new. New storm windows and exterior restoration of the historic windows. Small bedroom has a wall of custom recessed paneling around the closet and room door.

The large bedroom was slated to have significant work done to it, so it has remained in "as bought" condition. No moulding, closet with 60s louvered doors, and a ceiling with several large but stable cracks. (Drywall was cut to fit 45 years ago around the sags, and nothings moved). There is a small hole exposing the intact but non-functional firebox in this bedroom.

The moulding in the other rooms was special order, relatively expensive, and reguired a certain amount of ceiling work to make it work. I had planned on membraning and skim-coating the large BR ceiling. The carpenter who is doing these small jobs on the side for me has unfinished bits and pieces started in June 09. He comes when his wife lets him out of the house (literally).

I am a point of zero-incremental return on investment. I will make money, not a return on anything I am spending now.

So the large bedroom is the odd man out. Would you paint it and leave it at that? I have patched the ceiling a lot but the junction between ceiling and wall undulates. Would you paint the ceiling to match the others in the apartment and the wall a different color? Would you paint the entire room the ceiling color?; would you paint the entire room the wall color? Would you leave the hole exposing the fireplace, so people can see the decorative potential?

How much of a negative would one bland room in an otherwise restored place be for you? This room will still look better than other units for sale, but it's out of place in this unit. We do have decent furniture and lots of accessories etc, so the room would have decent "window dressing"--but I don't look at those things when I house hunt. I feel like I would see through that to the inherent "undone-ness" of the room.

What would you do? What would you expect as a potential buyer?

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Comments (5)

calliope
14 years ago
Buyers are all at different places in their expectations and perspectives. Those of us who frequent the old house forum would look at the unfinished room as a blank canvas in decent repair we could finish off to our heart's desire. It would only reinforce how much you have done to the other rooms.

Let's put it this way..........in most cases I don't think it would stop a sale in its tracks if the rest of the unit is as lovely as it sounds. It may make a difference on pricing because the prospective buyers would factor in completion costs. If they are realistic in their estimations to finish it, then it's six of one and half a dozen of the other. You either lose that amount in a potential sales price, or you finish it off and still lose that amount.

You know your audience better than we do. Are they all turn-key buyers?
palimpsest
Original Author
14 years ago
This apartment would attract a turn key audience yes. However, there are people who buy turn-key in the complex and keep everything "as is" in the condition I purchased at with a paint job, if you know what I mean. (Run down but charming anyway?)

I am little worried that this one room is going to turn off the buyer that is turned on by the rest of the apartment.

There is one extreme example in my complex where the kitchen and bath were featured in a book, but there was a divorce before the renovation was complete. (That apartment is literally bipolar in appearance. and turns off both the turn keys and the renovators and its been on and off the market for years.

I don't think this bedroom is that bad, but I feel a qualitative difference. I may be more sensitized to it than most people.
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chrisk327
14 years ago
As someone who overimproved (not historical) I understand see the hesitation to finish or not finish.

Here is what has to be done, then there is optional:
you have to fix all cracks so it looks good, and put a nice coat of paint on the walls. If there are really crappy closit doors that are out of place, you have to replace them. The fireplace has to be delt with, it either needs to be covered over, or broken through and finshed to some level of finish.

you don't need to make everything "perfect to the period" but it needs to be move in condition and nice. bland is ok, old, cracked, unfinshed,or partially exposed, it cannot be.

Granted you could put a for sale sign up tomororw, but you are really doing yourself a disservice to do 90% and leave 10% unfinished, it will cost you. However, unless you really have historical house snobs ( I mean in the nicest way) as a rule in your area, it doesn't have to be to the exacting detail that you went to in the other rooms, stock trim is probably fine.
ncrealestateguy
14 years ago
Another problem with leaving it unfinished is that, especially in this economy, it gives the Buyers the impression that the seller is broke and unable to finish. This perception, real or not, will result the buyers in presenting lower offers than if it was finished.
calliope
14 years ago
You know, I think that is a very good point.