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wrote:

In article ,
Harvey Van Sickle wrote:

To be fair, they generally are idiots, though.

Amateur developers are often idiots. People who do it as a living --
long term, and successfully -- tend to be a lot more rational than that.

But would it make good television if the amateurs said, after explaining
to Sarah their plans and hearing why she thought they were pants, "You're
right, let's do it your way instead"?

Actually, I think it would. And while it would put Sarah in the position
of having to prove herself right (positively, as opposed to showing clips
of estate agents and prospective buyers echoing her words), it wouldn't
really be much of a risk, would it?

When I sold my business, for really not too bad money, it was handed
obver to a sarah like person, who reckoned 'she could have done it so
much better'

Withing two years it was on the rocks, and within three was sold off, to
a firm who has just sold the dregs of what I built to someone else again.

Subsequently I have seen so many apparently sane people go mad once they
had their own propjects to run, especially using other poeples money,
that I now realise that the appearance of sanity in business and teh
ability to actually achieve a profitable result, are not at all the same
thing.

I have a friend of SWMBO's family who runs a substantial building and
construction firm. He reckons that 50-7% gross margin is good for the
trade. He reckons to achieve that is a question of hard nosed project
management, and careful design. Inventiveness and artiness has no place.
99% of customers do not want to live in the millenium dome, but well
found properties of flexible layout, and bits that work ON WHICH THEY
CAN EASILY IMPOSE THIR OWN STYLE such as it is (not, in most cases).

Big spaces with inteseting features like alcoves and dormers, can be
adpated to make amazingly nice rooms. You don't need to make them
amazingly nice tho. Leave that to teh buyer. Just spend teh minimum to
hint at teh exciting possibilities.

Flattering the ego of the potential buyer ' of course its a very
FUNCTIONAL space that you could REALLY add character to by...'

A grotty little bathroom into which a decent bath can never be instrted
without seriosu structiral modification has limited appeal. Unless yu
can find a rich art fart sucker who thinks its the bees knees.

Zane.