@OspreyCV22 ^^ Me too! I live in San Diego. Do you think CB will remodel my kitchen? 
Thank you for all your kind words. It was not a good day… usually when I list a house there is quite a flurry of agents and buyers that come through in the first two days. One night we listed and there were two groups of people standing at the door at 8am in the morning when I arrived. Yesterday we had 3 agents come ‘preview’ for their clients and 2 agents that brought buyers. Today was crickets. Not one agent, not one call to my listing agent. My biggest concern is that there is usually a set of ‘pent up’ serious buyers that have been looking for awhile and they jump on every new listing. If those 5 agents are representing the entire spectrum of ‘pent up’ buyers then I am in a world of hurt at this point. Of course I have to realize that I’m a higher price range than my other projects and I might have to be a little patient.
If there is not a good interest at the Broker Caravan and our Open House this weekend, I will dropping the price on Monday very quickly.
Meanwhile, our last two major projects (well, besides trying to paint the concrete steps and patio between rain and Open Houses) are underway. I loaded some pictures of the deck structure. The deck is being built out of pressure treated wood for the structure and then Trex composite deck boards and top rail piece in ‘Beach House Grey’. As they started laying the floor joists I realized that I don’t want to see the brown pressure treated underneath a grey deck. So, I made one of the guys rush out with my grey wood stain and start painting every piece of brown wood. It would’ve been too late after deck boards go on because there are areas under the deck where there is only about 12" wiggle room.
The custom barn door hardware was installed and we are building the custom door for the rail system. It has to be custom built because it is much taller and wider than a normal door. (besides, it will look much cooler - I’m designing it to match the style of the kitchen ceiling)
Thanks for the reminder about the milk door… I dug down in the garage and found it but I don’t exactly know how I will display it. Lay it on the kitchen counter with a little paper explaining what it is? Put it on a shelf and hope someone notices it? I need to come up with some way to put it out before Broker Caravan tomorrow morning.
Any way you could stage it with a vintage milk bottle inside or next to it with flowers in the milk bottle? And of course a note about it’s attachment to the house?
No Air Conditioning, just a new central heating system. It is not common in this neighborhood at all. There was no heat in this house whatsoever when I bought it. There was an old furnace under the house (not functioning) and a grate in the living room only to receive the heat. We put in all new ducting and furnace. Because there was limited floor space in the main bathroom and the kitchen, my guy installed ‘toe kick’ registers. The heat floats out from under the blue vanity in main bath and from the kitchen sink toe kick in kitchen.
In the ‘non habitable’ space in back I am not supposed to have heating, because it’s not livable space. I installed a fancy fan system in the bathroom that has fan, light and heating (slipped that one by you know who). For the office space I have a European convection wall heater (totally cool, very energy efficient) down in the garage that I need to get mounted and plugged in. Its been down there for about 5 months, I actually forgot about it until today.
For those that aren’t familiar with the term ‘Quieter Home Program’… there has been years of controversy regarding expansion of the San Diego Airport because it is in our downtown urban area. As planes get larger, the noise gets worse and, of course, the citizens of Point Loma started throwing a fit. There was a proposal to move the airport to Miramar Air Station in central SD County, but I think the location of the airport is very convenient for business and tourist travelers bringing revenue into San Diego. So, in negotiations for longer runways and airport expansion a huge fund was established where homes in the designated flight path were put on a list to receive all new double or triple paned windows and Heating/AC systems so they never have to open their windows. Unfortunately, some elderly homeowners don’t know about the program, some absentee landlords didn’t get the sign up sheets and many other people lingered on the waiting list for years. But I think they are almost done with the installations now.
Not sure I’m going to be able to find a vintage milk bottle before 10am tomorrow morning, but maybe before this weekend The bottle would have to be pretty small because the door just isn’t that high. Have no idea how anyone got their buttermilk, milk and butter delivered in that little door
Seller is in El Cajon but I think you might have better things to do tomorrow morning than to take a rode trip;-)
The Michaels on Midway has these cute little 8oz milk bottles in stock
http://www.michaels.com/ashland-glass-milk-bottle/10307334.html
There are still a lot of homes in the Quieter Home Program boundaries that haven’t been through the program. http://www.san.org/Portals/0/Documents/QHP/Map17_QHPCompletedParcels_West_20150129.pdf I think it’s interesting that the place on the waiting list conveys with the home if it’s sold.
Do you have any charming little cow figurines you could put in the milk door? Could you set in on one of the gravel areas on the patio? Maybe you could just put a picture of it from its original location next to it.
I think you should forget trying to do anything with the milk box. It is not a particularly attractive object. Its charm comes from the fact you found it on the site. However, people coming thru an open house won’t have any particular attachment to it and it will just register as clutter. It will make a charming gift for the new owner but I don’t think it will have a positive impact as a staging prop.
cb, I wouldn’t do anything with the milk box at this point, either. You must be exhausted. When you have a chance, just take a break!
I think you’ll get a lot of traffic at today’s broker open house and this weekend.
The right buyer will see it soon. Are you doing an open house? Glad the magazine idea worked! Looks fabulous!
If the milk bottle turns out to be something you want you should just go to whole foods they have milk in bottles.
^^ if so, CB has a lot of milk to finish in a hurry… lol
I think that having the deck actually in place will make a big difference in terms of the size of the house and the feel of how the space will work.
I also agree that the courtyard really needs some color. A bright runner and a couple of pieces of attractive pottery or something of that nature would help. If you are trying to break into a higher price bracket, something like the globe lights can make a difference. Any chance of sticking a flowering plant out there? I’d think about that on the deck with the lounges, also.
What is the purpose of the blocking between the deck joists? Is the deck not attached to the house?
I’m looking forward to hearing about the broker caravan.
Hope the deck is coming along nicely.
Real Time Update
Wow, what a turn out for the Broker Caravan!!! 65 agents came through. My agent says it was the largest turn out she’s ever seen. About 3 are bringing buyers back tomorrow or this weekend. Most said we are priced right, although a couple thought maybe $890k would be more appropriate. So we will stay at our price through the weekend.
Two or three said front stairs are a no go for them. TThat’s understandable.
Milk door was displayed on kitchen counter with a photo where it was originally located (mostly because i got too busy to do anything else with it) and, evidently, was quite a hit with the agents. Not sure whether buyers will care
Deck will be complete by Saturday afternoon and Open House Sunday afternoon.
Great news! Is this like match day for the medical students? You invested all that time and money, and now you get to see who chooses it?
cb, regarding the price – my mother always used to say, “You don’t ask, you don’t get.” So – just sit tight and see what happens.