Just got done. I can feel the adrenaline dropping out of my body and sheer exhaustion setting in. Haven’t had a chance to even eat since noon yesterday but its all good.
We did have some great shots. Clouds lifted off the horizon a bit to highlight the ocean. Gorgeous sunset with high clouds. We will see how it turns out. He took a lot of twilight shots from outside through the house.
We have determined our price. Photos should come by about 1pm tomorrow and we should be listed tomorrow night.
PS we did move living room furniture closer to coffee table. And my thick heavy soapstone showed up. Now I just need to decide on perfect countertop for master
Just loaded some amateur shots that I finally remembered to take at the end of the evening. We are finally cleaned up and spiffy at the last minute. This will last about 10 minutes after we start the day tomorrow with another long list of things that need to get done.
My agent is targeting a Broker Caravan on Thursday. Somehow we have a brand new mountain of trash in the back yard and she would like to have it hauled away before 10am Thursday which means we need to stop any progress and start loading up the truck to go to the dump.
During the next few days we are going to keep working on finishing the master bathroom and we are going to start building fences and gates in the back yard. Haul the trash, return a bunch of big lumber still sitting in back yard and try to clear out the basement a bit.
Oh cb, it looks wonderful! The kitchen, with the metal grills in the cabinets, is perfect. If I were you, I’d have a big glass of merlot before I started in again tomorrow.
As you know, I am eager to see the professional photographs – and find out your list price!!
Yes, long discussion again today about price. She wants to shoot for the moon because she feels all the hard work deserves a good return. Unfortunately the real world doesn’t exactly work that way. Buyers could care less how hard we worked and how much money and value are under the covers. Some may not even like the design style. Then there is a big looming issue of carrying costs and property taxes due this week. I have a duty to watch out for my investors, cannot let it drag out
Not to mention that noone is beating down the doors wanting to buy this houee
Sunset photos - !!! As a potential home buyer elsewhere, I can say that view photos do help to sell. Or at least draw interest. We recently looked at a home that had gorgeous views in the photos. The inside was not updated at all, nothing in comparison to cb’s beauty. Without the photos, I would not even looked at the listing, but we even stopped by. Sadly, unlike in cb’s house, the views advertised will be gone in a matter of a couple of years - the shack across the street screams to be replaced by a monster mansion. I would greatly emphasize the fact that those views are there to stay.
Congratulations, CB. The house looks beautiful! Here’s hoping for a quick bidding war that results in a very positive out come for you! You certainly deserve it.
I am very picky about the text used in the main description section of the listing so I made my agent send her first draft to me before it gets into the MLS. This is what she came up with (working with a professional writer)
Sweeping Panoramic Ocean, Bay, Sunset, Fireworks & Mountain Views from this stunning Santa Barbara Spanish! A year-long meticulous remodel–the only 2016 project for this expert designer–offers original 1937 charm with luxurious amenities. Entertain in an open 2,870 sft floorplan spilling onto a 500sft view deck. Enjoy coffee in your robe from both private balconies in the master suite. Freedom to live and breathe in 4 en-suite bedrooms, 3 car garage & 10,500 sft triple lot. Enjoy amazing views every day!
I pretty much threw up on the section about ‘only 2016 project’ . That just sounds too egotistical and stupid, and it’s wasting valuable space - we only have 510 words available. So this is what I suggested as changes
Sweeping Panoramic Ocean, Bay, Sunset, Fireworks & Mountain Views from this stunning Santa Barbara Style Spanish! A year-long meticulous renovation offers original 1937 charm with luxurious amenities. Entertain in an open 2,870 sqft floorplan spilling onto a 500sqft view deck. Enjoy coffee in your robe from both covered balconies in the master suite. Freedom to live and breathe in 4 en-suite bedrooms, 3 car garage & 10,500 sqft triple lot. Enjoy amazing views every day!
Two weeks ago I went down to my granite fabricator’s shop and crawled around the remnants. I tagged the Soapstone remnant but I also tagged two pieces I thought would work in the master bathroom. I am worried that they might not work (color going more towards a brownish tan than the greys) so this morning I am going to have to grab a piece of the cabinetry and some of the tile and rush down there and walk through the yard again to make sure that the countertop is just right for the bathroom because i want it cut and installed before 10am tomorrow
Remember that my carpenter had to tear open the wall in the toilet area and install a new valve for the shower diverter? It wasn’t the main valve, it’s the small little handle above the main valve that switches between one shower, other shower or both showers. We went to test it and no water came out of the main shower, only the big rain shower head. So, I get out the instruction sheet to discover that he had piped it slightly wrong. I was pretty mad because all he needed to do was just open up the freaking instruction sheet to know how the copper pipes were supposed to be. But NOOOO… does he bother to read the instructions??? Now he has to cut the pipes AGAIN and cap one off and re route another one. Opening up the wall and putting in the valve was my mistake. Having to redo the pipes again is his mistake. Oh well, we are even
But this is turning into an issue because now we are going to have a Broker Caravan and the whole wall in the toilet room (not to mention that we haven’t even installed the toilet yet) is wide open with a big mess in that little area. I cannot decide whether to have him waste time working on that today because there’s really no hope that the wall will be closed up, drywall patched, sanded and painted by 10am tomorrow. Or whether to have him work on some more important things such as getting handrails up for safety !!!
get the hand rails up for safety, also if the toilet isn’t installed yet can you just set it where is is supposed to be for staging even if it’s not functional?
Of course you want everything to be perfect for the broker caravan, but brokers are presumably used to this sort of thing. I agree that the handrails should be top priority. You don’t want anyone falling down the stairs.
Definitely handrails on the stairs to the garage; they’re steep and narrow. Less of a priority on main stairs imo; did not find going up and down without a handrail an issue. But of course there might be brokers who will need to use one.
Good idea to at least set the toilet into place for the caravan so first thought isn’t “toilet’s missing”. Like I thought!
Agree to skip language re “only project” unless agent thinks that’s some kind of special code that will draw in other agents. I wouldn’t care as a buyer! Also “in your robe” kind of bothered me - maybe “enjoy morning coffee” or even “and evening cocktails” if you’re allowed to mention drinking. And I would enjoy them “on” my balconies rather than “from” them. Or “while relaxing on”. Perhaps “two” covered balconies instead of “both”. (Just nit picking here.) Guess the family room is now part of the master suite?
Are you able to say anything about the large unfinished basement space? That would appeal to me more than repeating the mention of the views. Also large flat yard since there are plenty of sizeable lots that are mainly hillside - it would be a selling point for me! Perhaps even “suitable for a pool” since many out-of-staters think Southern California lifestyle should include a pool LOL.
They recently built apartments near by and in one two bedroom one bath unit they forgot to install a toilet! Some how the bathroom ended up with a double vanity and no toilet. The worst part was that it wasn’t discovered until the the new tenants were moving in and need to use the bathroom!
I agree with Marilyn’s comments say more about the large level lot and extra space and less about the potential buyer wearing robes on the balcony!
