Skully
Doctor of Teleocity
Mid Century Modern-style wood veneer (looking, at least) seem to be the trend in homes that are being flipped these days. At least the above-counter bowl sink fad seems to have ebbed.
Contractors/flippers/builders/interior design aficionados : when will white/black/grey/oatmeal be over ?
- Thread starter Mike Eskimo
- Start date
My thought is that the neutral shades trend is more than just thrifty contractors or what presents well when selling a house. It's what the people want -- given a choice to use colour, they demur.
Well, yeah. Most people in the states own their houses for about 8 years. (then they move on) and I know that now people will say 'oh gosh, we've been here fifty' well, yeah... thanks John!
Anyway, people get excited when they get into a house to put their stamp on it, but most often their stamp is features over color. So, they do the backyard etc. Whenever a home owner brings in professionals (not all but many) and they offer up their 'cool' idea, the professional will say, 'that is cool and we'll do it, but, it could affect resale.' and people ramp down.
Even goofy terms like 'forever home' come up all the time when everyone knows they won't be staying 'forever'.
Around here, a lot of people design not only for resale (and to extend the look so they avoid 'dated') and/or AirBNB.
when people are building for consistency of experience, homogenization is gonna be the norm.
If you build a righteous, quirky place with lots of personality, sometimes you can get top dollar, but you narrow the audience considerably.
Matt Sarad
Tele-Afflicted
I paid off my 110 year shingled bungalow after 30 years and 4 refis. I redid the electrical, plumbing, added dual pac AC and solar panels.
With $100k left, I hope I can add a bathroom and redo the kitchen.
With $100k left, I hope I can add a bathroom and redo the kitchen.
That makes a lot of sense. When you work backwards from the eight year time span, it all falls into place.
here, most people stair step. they buy a starter home, fix it with stuff that improves value, sell and start their way up. By the time they get there, they are in their 50's or so and then it is part of their familial value, and the kids are just about gone, when the kids leave, they downsize and often to a condo among condos....
I wish it was cooler than that... and the whole time episodes of seinfeld are on.
Rustbucket
Poster Extraordinaire
Don’t forget the multiple cash out refi’s that stretch a 30 year mortgage into a lifetime of payments.
I see variations of this color on Toyotas, and maybe Hyundais, maybe some others here in town. Always reminds me of a 52 Studebaker Champion my stepdad had. I guess maybe that color is like Johnny Cash and making a comeback.I think light grey shades as a car colour are "having a moment". Porsche calls this "chalk" or "crayon".
when people tell me about that, it makes me realize that a gossamer thread keeps most people going....
I didn't flip any houses, but I did very well financially by buying, and living in one until it became worth lots more than what I paid for it. HGTV seems to think that if you didn't like watching the same show every night, you will find it much more interesting if they haul a full-sized Greyhound busload of people in to do the same old modifications to the same tired old houses that were formerly being done by Tarik and Christina.
There is NO WAY that I would buy a house that was being flipped. From what I've seen, you have people who know almost nothing about what they are doing, making a house look attractive to a certain group, and letting important stuff like a good roof, and electrical, and plumbing go.
There is NO WAY that I would buy a house that was being flipped. From what I've seen, you have people who know almost nothing about what they are doing, making a house look attractive to a certain group, and letting important stuff like a good roof, and electrical, and plumbing go.
421JAM
Tele-Afflicted
Well, what people really want is “easy.” There is an unlimited number of colors that will clash with your furniture and decor. Grey and white go with pretty much everything, and that makes furnishing and decorating your home easy. People do want color, but they have decided that’s what throw pillows are for.
Tarik and Christina use pretty good people to do their work. Izzy (I checked him out) has a good company and they do beautiful work.
My guess is many people don't know they are buying a flipped house. They go on a tour, see the things they'd like to see, maybe get an inspection and buy.
I know the Holmes show points out houses that people bought from unscrupulous people, but the other shows typically do pretty good work. I don't watch them all nor all the time, but the Waco people fix stuff when they find it (roofs, electrical, plumbing) as do Christina...
The shows are edutainment, you can learn some things, but a lot of the audience just likes to see the simple plot play out and apparently they do want it to be consistent. It is pretty much the andy griffith show if you watch the plot line. The car building shows are pretty similar.
I have not bought a house that someone flipped largely because I like to buy the worst house in the best neighborhood and then make it a nice house in a nice neighborhood...
We had a really big house that we got for CHEAP because it was a disaster in Colorado. I loved it. When I was done it was awesome, and I sold it for more than twice what I had in it. The people that bought it, bragged that they wouldn't have to lift a finger and they were happy. They sold it 2 years later and made money!
I'll never say never. I might buy a turnkey house someday.
oregomike
Tele-Afflicted
Sometimes we call them “gray castles”.
White bright glaze subway tile, Carrara marble, large format porcelain that looks like Carrara marble, “quartz” counters that look like Carrara marble, every shade of gray under the sun, paint every inch of natural wood interior trim white or light grey or black, black exterior window trim and more and more - sub in an oatmeal color for one of the lighter grey or white wall colors.
And, speaking of wall colors , they’ll debate for hours , 5 or 6 shades of white - that they’re going to paint every inch of every room.
If there’s an existing colorful (color ?!) 30’s-60’s bathroom , even if it’s crack free and the plumbing has been upgraded ? Rip it out ! White/grey/black/oatmeal…
Interior design filters d-o-w-n the economic strata , rich to poor . So I’m waiting for my wealthy customers to call up and say - let’s gut it !
I remember when you’d start to see glass tile in HD commercials, I knew was going to have to start ripping out/redoing backsplashes in the wealthier locations - which def happened .
So - I’d like to think this trend is peaking but I see no clear end in sight…
<soapbox>
In 2016, wife and I were fortunate enough (think perfect storm) to buy a house that was still being built. We had to fight the contractors on their "pre-planned decor" throughout the whole process which pissed us off to no end. I get they have pre-determined packages or some s&*t based what they think buyers want or what's in vogue, and I'm sure most of the time it works. That makes it easier and more cost effective for the builder to install, but a house is a big investment for anyone, so at some point they need to lay off and listen to what we want.
One thing that I kept hearing from the builder and his agent, "But that'll be more difficult to sell when you want to sell the house." or people want brick more than river rock." I'd have to remind them, "Well, we're the people buying this house. We're not house flipping. This is our f&*king home." I mean, really?
If we ever do sell our home, the new owners can do whatever the hell they want with the place.
</soapbox>
all true, just remember, you are the outlier and they probably have had the call backs AFTER they did something the buyer wanted only to wish they hadn't.
For you it is a home. For them, it is an investment.
the example I'd give is the guy who has a pristine 67 mustang, all original and he wants to put kindig door latches on. (not easily reversed) most mechanics will say 'nope' and walk away, but if the customer insists... okay...
Different strokes for different folks. I have seen Tarik and Christina fail to even look at the roof of a house until after they had sunk a ton of money on the inside. I don't know what that says about the contractor doing their work. Personally, I always found that if I searched long enough, and negotiated well enough, I could get what I was looking for with minimal work needed to make it into what I was looking for to live in.
I never bought a house with the intention of making money on it, it just always worked out that way. Houses have been VERY good to me. Twice I have been advised by a realtor that my offers would be rejected, and both times they were accepted. You gots to know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em. For me, looking for a home with the RIGHT situation going on with the seller was always key.
ha ha. that is funny, did you really believe the story? that is awesome.
good job on making money in real estate. some people don't. the house I'm in now, I bought in the downturn, I got it for 5k less than the sellers bought it for... but, they put a lot down and were escaping to costa rica, win win!
Sometimes we call them “gray castles”.
White bright glaze subway tile, Carrara marble, large format porcelain that looks like Carrara marble, “quartz” counters that look like Carrara marble, every shade of gray under the sun, paint every inch of natural wood interior trim white or light grey or black, black exterior window trim and more and more - sub in an oatmeal color for one of the lighter grey or white wall colors.
And, speaking of wall colors , they’ll debate for hours , 5 or 6 shades of white - that they’re going to paint every inch of every room.
If there’s an existing colorful (color ?!
Interior design filters d-o-w-n the economic strata , rich to poor . So I’m waiting for my wealthy customers to call up and say - let’s gut it !
I remember when you’d start to see glass tile in HD commercials, I knew was going to have to start ripping out/redoing backsplashes in the wealthier locations - which def happened .
So - I’d like to think this trend is peaking but I see no clear end in sight…
White subway tile, Carrara marble, white walls, etc.--particularly in bathrooms--is classic, no? Isn't that part of the appeal? It may not be overly creative or sufficiently personalized like, say, installing a 4' tile portrait of Al Di Meola above the bathtub, but it's a safe investment. You don't wanna spend $15k to re-do your bathroom only to have it look dated in 10 years.
Last edited:
Short answer is it's already over by the time TV house flippers in Waco, TX are doing it and "they" did it a decade ago.
As a young man, just starting out in life, I preferred frittering away any money I might have put away on some gimcrack whether it was musical, or something else. My wife finally told me, we need to buy a house, you can't have any more foofoo purchases until I am moved into our new home. It's always good to marry up! My wife was right! We bought our first home, lived in it for eight years paying less in payments than we would have paid rent. When we sold it, we got a little over three times what we paid for it. I realized that the bigger the investment, the bigger the return potential.
oregomike
Tele-Afflicted
Yeah, I can see wanting to avoid that if we were asking for something completely outrageous, but what we wanted fit into the styling of other homes in the hood (like the river rock), or a style of tile that was in a popular color, but just wasn't in the books of the flooring shop they used.
It seems an easy solution to customer gripes, after their bad choices, would be a pre sign-off. I mean, we had a punch-list for build issues that were found and it was hard enough to get them to come back and address them. You'd think they could just say "That's the tile you asked for and you signed off on it. We'll gladly replace it but you'll need to pay for material/labor."
Also, if I were a custom shop owner and someone asked me to install 20" chrome rims on a 67 Mustang fastback, I'd show them the door. How could you!? : )
