I'd love to buy it, I love the location, the view, BUT..... An architect, a re-modeler, and a creative, construction-savvy Realtor can change lead to gold:
I'd worked with Jim for over a year, looking at La Jolla condos, La Jolla ocean view condos to be exact, but either the place was out of date with a great view, or was updated but the view wasn't so hot. To get both, the price was too high. One answer was to raise the price, which we did but not enough. It was enough, however, to go another route. My Dad, a Realtor in Chicago, used to bring home stories of how he could see potential in a place that other people couldn't see, and he'd sell the vision. I designed and built homes for years which really helps me be able to do the same thing, so when I previewed a beach property with a great ocean view, but was built in 1951 and never changed, it seemed to me it had potential. I tried to see it's floor plan in my minds eye. The ideas I came up with made sense to me, but I wanted a second opinion, an architect. I called upon a well known La Jolla architect who offers his help to Realtors who are trying to turn lead into gold, and he confirmed my design concepts and added some of his own. Now it was time to show the place to my Buyer and he made the trip based on my promise of something very interesting. I was on pins and needles waiting for him to get there, worrying that some other Realtor would see the same diamond in the rough, but no one did. When I showed it to him I was already moving walls and placing furniture, before he could even say it was too dated, goodbye. He then said it would cost too much and put him over budget, but my architect collaborator had already given me a ball park price (which I had verified before hand with another construction contact). That price was enough less than my Buyer thought it would be so we were able to stay under budget and the deal was rolling. The moral of the story is, it doesn't cost as much as you think it will, and, like in this case, the place will be quite a bit less than if it had been updated by the Seller and then put on the market. And, it will be just the way my Buyer wants it, all his choices and selections.
So, if a place with everyting exceeds the budget, be on the lookout for a place like the one in this story. That unappealing out-of-date home could be a deal maker with a little creativity.
And, so the project is underway. Does the Buyer really want to look at the demolition phase?
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