Skyline Loft......

From Anna Matsunaga, Team Momentum, Keller Williams Realty Tacoma, 253 353 2662

A couple of months ago I was contacted by a client I had worked with in the past to list his Condo, since he was moving out of the area and his renters had just purchased a home of their own he wanted to sell this unit.  This condo was one of the best maintained I have ever seen ( with the exception of carpet damage from the renters) and in a great location ( with a view of the Narrows bridge and right on the cusp of North Tacoma and University Place)....but well, it was dated.....and on top of that all the elements in the place were fighting eachother.

We had it on the market for about 6 weeks with the renters in it while they were closing on their home.  My client intended to replace carpet and do a bit of painting when the renters moved out, so I asked Connie Kay to take a look at it and give us some suggestions for paint and carpet.

I really did not feel up to the job, because for the life of me did not know what should go in there to pull the whole thing together and still I knew it would be dated even with the carpet and paint changed.  Problem was that with all the elements fighting each other in other in the unit and it being so dated as well no one was even noticing the incredible view at all.....there were just too many other things fighting for the eye's attention in the unit.....I really after seeing the feed back we had and updating our analysis felt the tops we could get for the unit in as is condion would be under $130K.....

Well Connie and I went to the unit to take a look.

This is what you saw as you came into the living room and looked @ the wall that opens onto a covered enclosed balcony with a view, as you can see the view was in no way the focal point.

Here was our focal point in the living room.

This was the view of the inside of the front door.

Now mind you I took these pictures that day because I wanted to use some of them for marketing, so I was not trying to get a bunch of bad pictures....but as you can see so far, the elements were fighting eachother and where they were not, the place was simply uninspiring.  Now in any market the home must at least have some real design appeal or you will pay in what the market place will command for it, but in our current market, having design appeal is often the difference between whether or not the property sells at all, or whether or not the owner takes a huge LOSS to get it sold.

Here are some pictures of other parts of the condo.....

This likely was the most disconcerting part of the condo.  What should have been a huge selling point, ( an oversized master bath) was actually a minus.  Why?  Because just walking into the room was disorienting.  Let me explain, since it is hard to tell what you are looking from the picture, and it was hard being there to tell too.  No this room did not and does not now have 2 toilets.....what you are seeing is a large floor to ceiling mirror on the wall, reflecting the cabinets and toilet.  Entering the room gave you a funny feeling like you were seeing into a second room, the floors as you can see were dated and did not go with the door, nor the cabinets, nor the wall treatment.  There was nothing that really felt great about the room....

This is the master bedroom the bath opened to.

Here is a look @ the sink area......

This is the wall opposite the one with the mirror, notice the mirrror reflecting the large mirror reflecting the small mirror over and over, a big design no no. 

This picture should give you an idea of how the carpets went with the flooring in the place....I think the linolium was original.  The carpet was high quality, but was not the best with what was there and also had been damaged by the renters.   Originally we came in and were trying to get a paint color that would look good with these carpets as well as the other things in the unit.....in the end we decided it would be better if the unit was redesigned instead....one of the great things is if there is flooring that will be replaced it makes the whole job easier, you can just work and not worry about protecing the carpet....then when you are done with everything else you can pull out the old and put in the new....in a remodel project if you redo the floor last you will save time and money....do it first and you will be sorry.

So this should give you an idea of what the place looked like when we came to see it.....

Stay tuned for the rest of the before pictures and more design tips and ideas too.....

Looking for a designer?   Contact Connie Kay @ 253 691-0709.....