I Want To Be Free From This BLAND House! | House Makeover | Unsellables S1 E8

this is the house that hasn't sold in six months i don't understand why it hasn't sold it's kind of an odd color choice though at the moment it's a bit dated these are killing me well i think we need to dip into the paint pot i'm really starting to panic now i thought it would have gone really [Music] quickly [Music] in a buoyant real estate market properties can go within a matter of days and bidding wars they're common so if your house has been on for a while consider why and act fast do you need to revamp the marketing consider reducing the price is the presentation letting your house down or the worst possible scenario a combination of all three lynn clark's house has been on the market for six months which in a hot market is extraordinarily rare other similar homes have sold in the neighborhood in a matter of days but not lynn's and it's standing in the way of true love she's fallen hooked line and sinker for bob and they're ready to move in together in fact they'll be ready for six months they can't do anything until they sold this place and that's why we're here to turn this house from unsellable to salt i've been in the house for 30 years my son grew up here what i love about this house is that it's so open and all the bedrooms are huge it's been on the market for six months and i don't understand why it hasn't sold i think the right person with my taste hasn't come through and seen it bob and i want to travel we want to be free this house is definitely stopping me from doing all of that this is costly this is costing us a fair amount of money per month plus we have to come down here and still do the cleaning and making sure that nobody's breaking into the house if we could get rid of this it would be financially much better for us to travel and do what we want to do lynn's house has been on for six months they've had 10 open houses and dozens of viewings but not a single offer which leads me to suspect it's either overpriced there are problems with the curb appeal or presentation what i'm going to go and find sophie nice to meet you so this is the house that hasn't sold in six months yes i'm really starting to panic now i thought it would have gone really quickly i feel a bit like i'm in a doctor's waiting room it's quite cold at the moment i think it's the white walls when did you decorate this room early 80s i see that vertical blinds are a bit of a theme i know they were popular at the time along with puffball skirts and pom poms exactly wow an incredibly clean kitchen i like clean well clean and neat is good especially when selling your house now what's through there that's the family room i'm gonna go and peep in lovely floors nice bright room but at the moment it's a bit dated it is very dated should we go upstairs yes wow this is surprising from the outside it doesn't look this big at all it is a very big house people don't realize that what's through here this is the second bedroom kind of a bit impersonal at the moment so this is the guest bedroom yes i like this blue it's a good blue it leads me onto the gray all the doors and all the trimmings are all gray it's kind of an odd color choice that well i think we need to dip into the paint pot so this is your room yes lynn these are killing me i know but i liked them at the time so now we've done the tour thinking to go downstairs sit down and come up with a battle plan to get this house sold all right i don't care how nice this street is at the moment no young person is going to walk into there and think this is the home for me i mean the exterior of this place looks completely different from any other house on the block and it's not showing well on the inside either it's just so cold and those vertical blinds are definitely not for me on paper this house reads like a dream most one most popular neighborhoods in toronto one of the biggest houses on the street and you've got a good sized lot on paper it's great but it really lacks wow factor on the outside and on the inside the vertical blinds the color palette and the dated furniture all age this house a lot of buyers they think emotionally they walk into a space and they fall in love with it and they're like i gotta have it and at the moment you walk through that door and the first things you think of is little bit dated you're not you don't have those strong emotions and that's what we want people to have but i haven't been spending any time in it the last few years i've been out living life exactly so we've got to get rid of this house so you can do more of that let's face it your house looks different on the outside and there's not a whole lot we can do about it but we can make the inside more in keeping with the neighborhood making this house less suburban and more cutting edge we just need to better work to get the house up to standard quite a bit of work i think lynn's neighborhood is now a really popular location for city folk looking for their first family home but what lynn needs to realize is people buy emotionally it's only the more experienced buyers that can see through good and bad decor and realize the potential of the space it can be difficult selling an unusual house i know how i tackle this one but i'm curious to talk to lin's real estate agent to see how she'd do it when you walk down the street you notice that this house is not typical of the street some people really like that it's very unique looking and others have found it too different for their taste the positive feedback that we've had has been that you have very large principal rooms which is extremely rare in toronto why do you think it's not selling there's a new wave of young urban professionals that are moving into these neighborhoods and they're not into updating a home in terms of its decor i have to talk to you about the the listing price you would like to take it down yes i would that's a correct decision because ultimately something's only worth what someone's prepared to pay for it absolutely the house is immaculately clean it's decluttered so we can kind of take it on from there i cannot wait to get rid of the vertical blinds yes i agree having spoken to casper and the real estate agent it is obvious to me she has done absolutely everything in her power to get this place sold and has had no luck whatsoever so it's down to us i want to give this house wow factor and turn it from a doctor's waiting room into a really warm home being the odd man out in a social situation can be tough and it's the same with houses if your house is uh dramatically different to everyone else in the neighborhood you could have a problem sometimes people come to a neighborhood expecting to find a certain type of house with associated architectural details and features so if your house is very different it can be more difficult to sell so you might need a new game plan this is the house i want to show you as you can see it's a bit more traditional than your house and more in keeping with the neighborhood but i want to show you the inside because from a real estate perspective it's really hitting all the right notes and it's showing fantastically well what i like about it is it's modern but it's kept the kind of architectural details and character of a 100 year old home that fireplace is great as soon as you walk in it draws your eye to it and it's attractive curtains rather than blinds excellent nice neutral paint color i like the way the trim is white the big difference back here is that the kitchen's bigger and it's also more high-end but in some ways they're quite similar your kitchen is incredibly clean it's immaculate so it's perfectly acceptable and you have the bonus feature of having a family room out back which this house doesn't have this house is noticeably smaller than linz in almost every aspect so what makes it more sellable it shows fantastically and the decal fits in perfectly with the neighborhood something lynn's gonna have to do to make up for her home's unusual exterior this is the smallest of the two this is more the size of the little bedroom yeah the little bedroom what i like about upstairs is the cream walls and the white trim it's just very classic i'm beginning to like that the pros of this house are it's very modern very high end and it's really in moving condition no one would have to touch a thing it's smaller than mine but it's very very modern all white trims and pale walls now i'm seeing the disadvantage of the white walls and the and the vertical blinds and i think this is a great combination of contemporary chic marrying in the period features the outside of this house is the kind of traditional house in this neighborhood so it's probably what people are going to be looking for it sold in a week for more than fifty thousand dollars over the asking price and your house is more unusual looking but if we make the interior of your house have the kind of wow factor that this house has then you know i think we're on to a winner we've got to overcome the oddball exterior of lynn's house by really enhancing the interior and i'm sure general contractor anthony says will have some great ideas on how to do it nice house by the way okay these two rooms quite large but there's no focal point when you walk into this space so my eyes automatically go to the carpet or the ceiling i think by building built-ins with the fireplace in the middle we'll just take your eye over here instead of everywhere else you don't think it'll make the room look smaller no because um the depth of it is going to be maybe 15 to 16 inches deep so you're not going to lose very much space on the wall so it'll give it the punch it needs and the top we're going to put crown molding so that'll create a nice architectural detail want to create character and window dressing get rid of the 70s and 80s kind of blinds and the carpet we're gonna take up the gray carpet because it is a little dull again nice neutral carpet and what are we doing upstairs upstairs there's a lot of gray trim so we just need to liven it up and also we're going to paint the um front door because the house almost shrinks back into the lot it doesn't pop out it's sad to see them go they were nice and that was very modern at the time that i picked them up are you crossed with me i was in the beginning but these are dated and they do look like a waiting room the reality of the whole move is really beginning to set in now that i'm actually packing stuff and moving stuff out of the house the whole house is changing [Music] this is really killing me i love this grade it's really sad to see it go but i understand why it has to and i want to sell the house and get on with my life it looks so much warmer in here yeah like all the pink hues matching the walls yeah it was the gray that was killing everything it was very old it was sucking the life out of this room well we better get a wiggle on anyway a wiggle don't you say that you know get a wiggle on get a move on we're gonna move on yeah okay i've got bedroom closet east wall and missing an action you know how long i've been looking for those pieces good thing we labeled the baseboard pieces or else we wouldn't be able to find them curb appeal is really important when you're selling your house and in this case it was really getting lost back then i don't think people were noticing it when they drove past so by adding a fire engine red door we're hoping it will really pop out and ties people in we got to make sure that the shells are strong enough to hold anything that we put on them so we use three-quarter inch material and build them two feet wide so that should be more than strong enough oh so this is gonna be filled in here yeah there's gonna be adjustable shells there and at the bottom over here is gonna be where the actual insert goes in right the fireplace so these are gonna be covered shelves here and then these are going to be like shelves that you can see so to put like cds on exactly you like it yeah i do i think the changes look spectacular i always felt the house looked a little on the white side a little drab i think it needed color i think it needed focus somewhere because it was not that nice as far as walking in and going woo it was walking and going this is nice and big making your home fit into the neighborhood is critical and this home that sold in a similar neighborhood is a great example of living up to home buyers expectations unlike lynne's house the first impression is spectacular it's a superb blend of contemporary design and antique architectural features that match the vintage of the neighborhood the original mouldings and the updated styling tell precisely the design story that a home bar would expect maintaining and incorporating original features really shows off the spirit of the home these bedrooms use props and accents with antique styling that is in sync with the home's vintage the window dressings have been removed all together which is a really great way to brighten up the presentation hopefully we'll be able to resurrect the spirit of lynn's home because this home was on and off the market in just a few days you're looking a little nervous a little it's a lot of change in just this week have you been upstairs yet yes what do you think you're adding warmth to each of the rooms you've got to admit that this carpet is nicer than the one you had way better it's gonna look like someone else's house we'll get you on a motorbike in mexico soon oh any day [Music] on paper lynn's house should have sold so it's one of the biggest houses in the neighborhood and it's got a good sized lot but lynn's plain jane house was lacking wow factor so we've warmed it up added architectural detail and i know we're going to get a lot of interest regardless of how it looks on the inside curb appeal was a big obstacle for lynn's home while a full exterior reface just wasn't in the cards we've painted the door red to add a splash of colour to the facade our real challenge was inside the first impression was in need of a major makeover the warm colours and gorgeous updated styling have made a huge difference the wall unit and fireplace adds a stunning focal point and the new carpet is luxurious and comfy the abysmal vertical blinds are long gone now this home's first impression is right on target with neighborhood expectations the second living room was just as chilly and uninviting as the first but updated furniture paint color and striking red accents give this room a welcome burst of energy we've been able to reuse both of the glass coffee tables on the main floor to help keep costs down lynn's master bedroom was huge but depressingly hollow with the grey moldings brightened up and the paint color warmed up this large space feels much more inviting this bedroom office combo was a water cooler and a photocopier away from becoming an accounting office this new design scheme and layout presents a cozy guest room much more in tune with the expectations of prospective buyers the total for this job was five thousand dollars which may seem like a lot but an investment like this can help maximize returns and help move a property quickly but there's still a lot of work to do we need to get the word out on this refurbished property so here are some tips on how to remarket your home if you've got an unusual property for the neighborhood celebrate its uniqueness start your marketing with positive features that differentiate your house from all the others in the neighborhood activity without offers can suggest that your house is overpriced ultimately your home is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it and that is dependent on the market the competition and the condition of the house if your property has been on the market for a long time you might have to get the real estate agents excited again and if it takes a bit of enticing to get them out so be it the house is totally warmed up it's more of a show house it's absolutely gorgeous i think that anybody coming in is going to say wow i could move right in and i love this house well that's that then in a few moments perspective buyers and agents will be walking into this house we just gotta cross our fingers that they snap it up so lynn and bob can drive off into the distance on their motorcycle and live happily ever after we've addressed the decor problems but this house has been on the market for six months and it still suffers from a chronic marketing problem so i've arranged a few viewings for local realtors to spark a new buzz about lin's updated interior now you've been to the house before haven't you you previewed it with catherine i did and it's certainly a dramatic alteration now do you think you're in the same house it's shocking certainly don't always stop it feels nice and warm and it feels like a home i think it's nice and wide open concept oh a huge difference dramatic i think the inclusion of a family room is terrific because a lot of properties especially in this price point they only offer a combined living room dining room area it really does have a wow factor you know when you have small kids you want a room where you can put their stuff you want your grown-up sitting room where you entertain your friends and then you can have a family room which you can just sometimes close the door and just think ah leave that there just for the fact that you can actually be making dinner and keeping an eye on your kids at the same time i think that's a definite bonus previously when i toured with it i think my clients were really impressed and they were on the fence this might be enough for them to say you know let's move forward oh very nice very calm warm kind of sophisticated i love this room i think they did a really nice job oh boy best for last for sure isn't this excellent this is a properly smart master bedroom it absolutely is you saw it when it first came on the market i absolutely did and what do you think some of the problems were people weren't looking at the huge space and huge value that they get from this property it's really exceptional for the area you're not going to get this kind of space for the kind of dollars they're looking for and now you can see the space you can picture yourself here because you're not distracted by things that don't matter furniture that isn't yours anyway so the key question is will you be bringing people back i would definitely bring buyers and since it's been a while since people have seen this property i wouldn't even mention it was the same one and we'll see what they say i love that i'm certainly going to be bringing it back to the attention of my past clients i think that they'll be fairly impressed with what they see here and i'll be interested to see what their opinions are i think the reality open house was a big success and it's definitely going to generate some interest lynne and her relator catherine are going to be thrilled so on a scale of one to ten i'd say this is probably about a ten and a half talking about money you've had a bit of a breakthrough lynn has agreed to lower the price quite drastically in the hopes that more than one person would be interested in purchasing the home lowering the price gives it a boost almost a new lease of life i think we're going to get a whole fresh new set of people people that maybe wouldn't have considered it before now we've got location style a new asking price i think it's a winner absolutely i agree this unusual house has a lot going for it but it was totally overshadowed by the featureless interior that looked a bit like a doctor's waiting room and after six months on the market they've totally lost its bus but now we've added architectural features a really nice warm paint job and we've revamped the marketing campaign so i know this house is going to go from unsellable to sellable it's a very beautiful home right now it's absolutely gorgeous i wish i was staying this weekend every evening i'll be down here enjoying it this is going to be wonderful just to sit here and reminisce but also to let go i'll take all the memories with me after revamping the decor and notching up the marketing campaign it wasn't long before someone fell in love with lynn's peculiar property now that the house is sold lynn and bob well it won't be too long before they're riding off into the sunset [Music] we've got baseball to finish the built-in to finish the dressing to do the hoovering the cleaning the hoovering the hoovering wow you're on a roll today vacuuming sorry vacuuming i've got to get a wiggle on you

Channel: Abode

Views: 261,982

Keywords: Abode, before and after makeover, home improvement tips, home selling, home selling campaign, home selling techniques, home styling ideas, home transformation, house flipping strategies, house makeover show, innovative home design, interior design trends, interior design tricks, property makeover tips, property sales tips, property value, selling tips, selling your property fast, unsellable homes, urban home, vintage decor ideas

Id: f1G5O72fKJM

Length: 22min 5sec (1325 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 12 2020