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greenthumbfish

Please Critique Listing (X-posted)

greenthumbfish
10 years ago

(X-posted in Home Dec Forum)

Hi y'all!

I know it's been a long time since I posted here (I've had lots of life issues to deal with), but I'd really appreciate your help, and I know most of you will have a blast doing this ;-)

The listing is not my house, but I'd really appreciate your critique of the listing. Of course, I have my own, but I'll hold on to them for now, because I'm more interested in your thoughts ;-)

Particulars:
5 Bed, 4.5 Bath
6,899 SF Main house
On almost 10 acres with pond and barn
Dallas County
$880,000

Thanks in advance!

GTF

Here is a link that might be useful: Listing Tour

Comments (24)

  • dabunch
    10 years ago

    A lot of house for the money. In my area it would be millionZzz. It's beautiful!!!!...........but for selling there is too much "stuff".

    Other than the kitchen and one of the bathrooms, the rest of the house has too much furniture and pictures. many of the furniture is small in scale making it look like clutter. Right at the entrance it's like a museum. It's decorated beautifully, but for staging you want to DE-Decorate; a few larger pieces. Less is more.

    Some of the wall colors are too strong(kitchen), which would make me think that I would need 10 coats to cover it.

  • User
    10 years ago

    Freaking annoying music and slideshow. If I want to see the pics, I want thumbnails in a controllable slideshow that I can open larger if I want to. And I hate hate hate the dizzy making "moving" pictures instead of an actual video.

    As far as the rest of it, it's too too too. 1987 maybe? Looks like it was done by a semi-professional Texas big-hair "decorator", not an actual ID. Kitchen is awkwardly laid out, with no ventilation, and the red makes my eyeballs ache. It would need a reno to work in properly. The dining room, I can't even look at it for the red and the tchochkes. It takes the kitchen's headache and puts the eyeballs at risk of exploding. The "bult-ins" in the library are nice, but the pink stone they chose for the bar isn't. I'll bet it costs a pretty penny to heat, and I'l bet it really isn't ever cooled properly either.

    All in all the bones of the house (and those grounds!) are much nicer than the awful geegaws and slap you in the face colors that fill it. But, most buyers will never see that, because they won't be able to see past the decor and paint. A good deal of decluttering and paint could really help the home present as a very current styled luxury home. And for goodness sake scrape down those applied molding gilt swag things! That's worse than wallpaper.

  • RooseveltL
    10 years ago

    Agreed.. Big home but the kitchen and bathroom look like an entirely different home.
    The staircase, living and floor to ceiling built-in are just overload on items/clutter. I don't think it would discourage a perspective buyer (seeking the space) but would turn me off.
    Additionally, I would like a more detail picture of the barn/living quarters (Condition) and where is image of bedroom?

    Don't care as much about swimming pool as I would the bedroom and what work is require to make it functional? Some of the rooms would require an overhaul for me as too much wood.

    I would think they would prep a king or California King bed to show spacing of bedroom(s)?

  • jack707
    10 years ago

    How much house does a person really need come on spend your money on other things

  • tishtoshnm Zone 6/NM
    10 years ago

    I agree, too cluttered. I immediately muted the music. I think the pacing of the video is too slow, my attention span starts to lag with the slow pictures, especially the same room from too many angles. I also did not care for the pop ups. I think a simple title identifying the room would be better. The people who have the means and need for such a house do not need all of the information in the pop-ups such as "could be a man cave," etc.

    I would take the chair out of the middle of the master bath. I think there also need to be pictures of the bedrooms. The kitchen lay did strike me as quite odd. While I do love red, the red in that kitchen was just too much. Yes, it can be painted over, but painting over a red like that would likely be a lot of work DIY or a lot of money if you pay for it.

    It is a lovely house but is also a taste specific house.

  • rrah
    10 years ago

    Must agree with the moving pictures--HATE that. I want a still photo I can look at and examine. Just because the technology exists to do something, does not mean one should do it. Too many agents through bells and whistles into a website because they are easy to do with no clue about user interaction design.

    Speaking of design--over the top for my taste.

    Agree that the kitchen doesn't look like it's the same house. The cook top appears to lack venting. The kitchen would require some re-designing as it seems to be poorly laid out.

    There are way too many pics of the foyer with not a single bedroom photo (or was my head spinning from the moving photos and I missed it?) Too many photos of the front instead of perhaps a couple photos of the other bedrooms.

    I have no idea if the home is priced properly.

  • morz8 - Washington Coast
    10 years ago

    I liked the house, hated the furnishings, both functional pieces and decorative :) The scale looked off, nothing comfortable enough to welcome me in. The home and property would be underpriced here.

    I didn't see everything I would like to have seen in the video. Better may have been more of bedrooms (& closets), remaining baths, less of the country club and ducks.

    I wonder why with a lovely library and private study the garage was sacrificed for such a large home office. I didn't mind the kitchen but could have had a problem with the paint which appeared coral on my monitor....but as with the furnishings, a matter of taste and an easy fix. (not that the furniture would be an inexpensive fix :))

    But I think it was enough to raise my interest and get me in the door to find out some of these things for myself, and that may have been the listing goal....

  • xamsx
    10 years ago

    Did I see that this was on nine acres? And that nine acres on top of a development?

    Where are the bedrooms? You home is very, very, very personally decorated. People will either love it or hate it, and I can see the decor becoming the discussion instead of the house. Depersonalize pronto.

    Music on a video is a huge no-no. People searching at work will click off immediately. Do a google search on website stats for/without music and you will see how often people immediately click away from music.

    The video was waaaaaaay too long. While I liked the explanation in the pop-ups, I'm not sure it was a big enough contrast. If you have rooms, explanations are required. You do have far too many shots (in painful slow-mo) of the same rooms.

  • sweet_tea
    10 years ago

    10 little side chairs in the family room!! Get rid of every one of them

    Get rid of the 2 round pink ottomans

    the pink kitchen must be repainted.Same with other room of same color.

    Too many kitchen photos

    Put lake photo 2nd or 3rd and pick other 2 nicest outdoor photos (that show the acreage) in within first 6-7 photos. Because they are paying for the acreage too, and they need to see the acreage as much they are seeing someone else decorations.

    Get rid of every single photo on the stairway entrance. Get rid of the pink loveseat and pink flower arrangement next to staircase.

    Too many photos of the living room. It's a very distinct decorating taste and the photos seem to display the decorations more than the home itself.

    One photo says great view. All you see is the interior of a room with something green outside the window but cannot really see any view at all.

    Overall the interior décor is so pink that that's all I remember

    Was there a barn or something? Was it in any photos?

    Delete the photo of that worn out tara sign. It's too personal and looks like it belongs with shabby chic cottage.

    The décor screams "old people".

  • ncrealestateguy
    10 years ago

    Why are we critiquing a listing for the OP that is not the OP's home?

  • stolenidentity
    10 years ago

    "Why are we critiquing a listing for the OP that is not the OP's home?" - THAT is an excellent question.

    I wondered it myself and then I wondered why does this place allow listings in the first place?? Hopefully the troll - er um OP is trying to learn how to list the "real" home.

    Scams and Spams come along in all kinds of shapes, forms and questions. Feeding trolls is how some folks enjoy their days it seems. LOL!!

  • littlebug5
    10 years ago

    I'd toss at least 90% of everything hanging on the walls. The furniture in the great room is just wrong. Too much, too small, too best-little-whorehouse-in-Texas-looking.

    The chair in the master bath is just ridiculous.

    An ORANGE kitchen??

    Apparently spell-check wasn't used in the pop-up explanations on the video.

  • RooseveltL
    10 years ago

    "I wondered it myself and then I wondered why does this place allow listings in the first place?? Hopefully the troll - er um OP is trying to learn how to list the "real" home."

    If the OP is a new to the market or student of marketing using us as a vocal user group - he/she was honest of intent to critique a listing not of his own.

  • Happyladi
    10 years ago

    I looked at this house on Zillow, you can see a birds eye view. I honestly think it's overpriced for where it is.There are several large lots near it but it's also right next to smaller tract homes. And it's in Garland, Garland is not high end.

    Zillow has it's value at under $700,000.

  • cocontom
    10 years ago

    I don't know whether the site is painfully slow, or my ad blocking software wouldn't show it, but it didn't load fast enough for me to bother with.

  • graywings123
    10 years ago

    The OP is not a spammer. She or he has been on Gardenweb for years.

  • lazy_gardens
    10 years ago

    Cheapskate "video" of effects, not real video, just panning back and forth across the larger picture. Constantly panning is a very poor p[resentation technique because the eye can't focus.

    THE PAUSE BUTTON DOES NOT WORK! On Firefox. So I can't stop to look at a room I really like.

    And I got barfy feeling from the continual movement so I stopped looking.

    My overall impression was cluttered and overdone.

  • nancylouise5me
    10 years ago

    The foyer has too much stuff in it. Get rid of most of it(items on the walls and the fake flowers and plants) . I would just have the tall plant stand in the corner next to the front door with real flowers in it and put up a large mirror over the sofa. Way too much furniture in the living room. Get rid of the side chairs and some of the end tables. The kitchen is very nice, like it and the color, not much to do in there. The library again has too much stuff. Remove the lounger chair and a lot of the books and magazines. The master bath is dated. The gold tone shower and fixtures need updating. Use a smaller chair or padded stool placed in the space it is supposed to be (under the vanity). There is absolutely no privacy in the back yard. It abuts a development on one side and some sort of school/business looking building on the other. For this type of house I did not expect that. Needs to be buffered either naturally or by fencing. Could care less about the country club pictures. Would have liked to see what the bedrooms and inside of barn look like. Doesn't seem like there are 9 acres with the house the way the photos are shot. The pond shot needs to be redone. All I see when I look at it is the housing development. Not worth the price they are asking until they start with some of the fixes mentioned in all these posts. But that location would be a deal breaker for me. NancyLouise

  • littlebug5
    10 years ago

    It's my guess that the owner of the house is known to the OP. Like maybe a relative - MIL? And the OP is trying to convince the owner how poorly this house shows as currently decorated.

  • Acadiafun
    10 years ago

    For me (and I am not a buyer in that price range) there were some things that stook out to me. The biggest thing was the lack of pictures. I would want to see pics of the bedrooms, gym, bathrooms and basement. I also do not think the outside pictures due the property justice. For instance, on one all I see is the neighbors buildings and that is a turn off because with nine acres I would not want see my neighbors so easily. A different angle for the pics would be helpful.

    The layout of the kitchen is what it is. People will like it or not. The decorating is not my taste, but as a buyer I always look past that when viewing a house because I will decorate to my tastes anyways.

  • Debbie Downer
    10 years ago

    Caveat: I don't know much about largish contemporary houses so maybe I'll phrase my opinion more in the form of a question. The large room open two stories with staircase - how can that be decorated so it doesn't look so much like a hotel lobby? I imagine with large spaces there's a balance to be achieved between spacious and still feeling comfortably homey. Agree that the rooms feel much too cluttery - maybe fewer furnishings but more substantial, more in scale with the space?:

  • mrshanson1
    10 years ago

    I love your house. I wish I could buy it. It looks loved. Yes, too many chairs. Yes, kitchen paint color should be a boring beige for resale. However, it is a beautiful home. I would be more afraid of the pond than anything...does it flood during the rainy season? Is it a mosquito magnet? That would be my fear. Otherwise, people are harsh here. I love your home. Can I buy it? Except I live in MA.

  • kats_meow
    10 years ago

    It isn't the OP's home.

    I didn't much care for it. Underneath all the gilt, I think this is an older home so I wouldn't really like that. Also, I hated the geegaws and the gilt and the ridiculous chair in the bathroom. There is a place for seating in a master bath but not that kind of seating.

    I'm not young myself and this looks like something my mother (in her 80s) would like. The kitchen was jarringly out of place with the rest of the house. I didn't like the layout but it seemed like it was from a different house.

    I also thought it strange that there were no pictures of bedrooms in particular. Just seemed odd.

    And, the outside of the house was unappealing (too close to neighbors with too little privacy).

    Edit: Trulia listing says built in 1971, but current owner bought in 1986 and renovated and added the 2nd floor.

    http://www.trulia.com/property/3137022977-2022-Wynn-Joyce-Rd-Garland-TX-75043

    Some of the photos there seem to be of different angles (see the bathroom chair from the back) but the photo choices still seem to be bizarre.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Trulia Listing

    This post was edited by kats_meow on Sat, Nov 23, 13 at 3:10

  • TxMarti
    10 years ago

    Interesting. That explains a lot.