What’s Hot and What’s Not

December 19th, 2005

As an agent, I am always interested in the general trends that I can share with clients when it comes to remodeling or making updates in anticipation of selling their home.

Author Mark Nash has compiled his “What’s In and Out for Homebuyers 2006” report covering real estate factors that are either booming or dwindling. Here are a few of his findings:

What’s In

• Seller’s concessions (or givebacks) — With a softer market, buyers may have more leverage to ask sellers to pay some of their closing costs;
• Bamboo floors (the new maple?) and higher quality kitchen cabinets;
• More technological features — multiple hookups for DSL/broadband connections, room on walls for flat-screen TVs, built-in stereo;
• Separate tub and shower stalls in the master;
• Smaller homes and single-level homes — lower maintenance, better accessibility for America’s aging population;
• Second homes.

What’s Out

• References to ‘The Real Estate Bubble’. Nash says, “It’s a correction with a soft decline in prices.”;
• Heavy-handed designer colors — Not every buyer appreciates bold, trendy paint colors;
• Single-rod closets — buyers want organizers to optimize storage;
• Dark rooms with small windows. You can’t go wrong with natural light;
• Others: cheap fixtures, awnings, mirrored backsplashes, wallpaper, dropped ceilings.

Probably most surprising to me is his assertion that stainless steel appliances may be on the outs in the next few years—their shiny surfaces are just too much work to maintain.

Not a shock: moving away from laminate flooring (i.e. Pergo, etc). It just doesn’t look real and it makes a tell-tale sound when you walk across them in heels.

Read the full transcript here.

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Entry Filed under: Remodeling, Selling Advice