congrats to you!

--
rosie
(who has st. joseph planted upside down in the front AND the back)

In article ,
RPC wrote:

Within days of my extended whine in this NG, we have a contract. Not full
price, but we're happy with it. Attorney/inspection still remain.

We dug up the St. Joseph my wife had buried in our yard, and broke it
into several pieces. This is probably what did it. Post hoc, ergo
propter hoc.

Many thanks for all the sympathy and advice. Indeed, as Mr. Gerasimatos
perceptively predicted, what happened was that after weeks of rejection
we finally found a buyer with our taste, who really loved the house and
all the natural woodwork. Earlier, an agent visiting the house had
described it as "brown", meaning, I think, that she would have liked it
better if the woodwork had been painted over. So it goes.


I guessed something like this or like the room sizes (below). I have an
older house (1929) and I love old houses. People who love old houses will
probably like my house. People used to living in modern houses with
vaulted ceilings and "family rooms" hate my house, I am sure. So when time
comes to sell, I am going to have to wait for a buyer who likes older
homes - especially since I am going out of my way to emphasize all the old
character of the house and not "modernizing" or "remuddling" it.


Also expectations for house size and room sizes have really changed over
the years. When we bought this house in 1990, we had elderly neighbors
who told us our house had been too expensive for them in the late 1940's,
so they brought up several hildren in a 2-bedroom house. Subsequently
there were a couple of owners who brought up several kids in our (3-
small-bedroom) house. We are a couple without children; we are selling
the house to a single woman, no children. No couples, with or without
children, wanted a house this size (1400sf).


3 bedroom/2 bath is the norm for a house now, but that was a big house
back then. I have a nice formal dining room that I use, but that a lot of
people would not. Yes, I eat dinner there about 50% of the time. Crazy,
huh? I also have a very small bedroom that is quite functional, but to
people used to 300 sf "walk-in" closets it would seem to be a closet. I
think it was designed as a parlor once upon a time. So, unless you have
terrible taste (which it seems not with the natural wood) then it's just
a matter of waiting for a person to come along who appreciates the same
things about the house that you do.


Dimitri

On 29 Jul 2003 13:42:01 GMT, RPC wrote:
Within days of my extended whine in this NG, we have a contract. Not full
price, but we're happy with it. Attorney/inspection still remain.
[snip]
Many thanks for all the sympathy and advice. Indeed, as Mr. Gerasimatos
perceptively predicted, what happened was that after weeks of rejection
we finally found a buyer with our taste, who really loved the house and
all the natural woodwork. Earlier, an agent visiting the house had
described it as "brown", meaning, I think, that she would have liked it
better if the woodwork had been painted over. So it goes.

This must happen a lot. While we were making plans to build our
current house, I went to open houses to get design ideas. One was at
a 1-story home that looked very out of place in its neighborhood. It
had a "mountain resort" look, with stained cedar siding and large
windows on the exterior, and lots of naturally stained woodwork on the
interior. All the houses in the subdivision were on large lots, but
the others were traditional 2-story brick homes with the interior trim
painted white.

I was the only person touring the house at the time, so I told the
realtor why I was there. He relaxed, took off his sales hat, and told
me about the house. Apparently, it had been custom-designed by the
current owners, who had to sell because one of them was gravely ill.
As I stood there admiring the stained window and door casings,
shelving, cabinetry, etc., another visitor walked in. Soon I heard
her complaining to the realtor in disgust about the "plain" interior
trim--"Why would anyone leave it looking that way? Why didn't they
*paint* it???" She only stayed a few minutes, before muttering
something about wasting her time and then walking out.

When we finished building our current house and put our other one on
the market, we were faced with a similar situation--our old house had
natural (unstained) redwood siding and stained (not painted) interior
trim. It was on a heavily wooded lot in a rural subdivision. We were
lucky--we had 3 prospective buyers within the first 3 days and a
contract signed by the end of the week. Our realtor told us those
buyers had been waiting for months for a "casual" house like ours to
come on the market. "Unique" doesn't always mean weird.

C. Brunner

C. Brunner wrote in message

I was the only person touring the house at the time, so I told the
realtor why I was there. He relaxed, took off his sales hat, and told
me about the house. Apparently, it had been custom-designed by the
current owners, who had to sell because one of them was gravely ill.
As I stood there admiring the stained window and door casings,
shelving, cabinetry, etc., another visitor walked in. Soon I heard
her complaining to the realtor in disgust about the "plain" interior
trim--"Why would anyone leave it looking that way? Why didn't they
*paint* it???" She only stayed a few minutes, before muttering
something about wasting her time and then walking out.

Anyone who walks from a house because of paint is either not a serious buyer
or a complete idiot.

In article ,
Wendy Chatley Green wrote:

I walked out of a house where the original stonework
(two-story fireplace with large hearth) had been painted white. I
knew that every time I looked at that paint, I'd curse whoever did it.


It could probably be restored.


Sometimes, though, things are painted because they need to be to hide
flaws or lower grade materials. I know someone who spent a LOT of time
stripping paint off of her redwood entryway only to find that the wood,
while indeed redwood, was just not very attractive. She painted it.


Dimitri

D. Gerasimatos wrote:

Sometimes, though, things are painted because they need to be to hide
flaws or lower grade materials. I know someone who spent a LOT of time
stripping paint off of her redwood entryway only to find that the wood,
while indeed redwood, was just not very attractive. She painted it.

My mom did something like that. She stripped all the paint off the
cabinets in her kitchen only to find the wood was ugly and in poor shape
to boot. She ended up repainting it too.