WHY WORK SO HARD ON AN ATHERTON LISTING THAT WILL PROBABLY BE TORN DOWN?
Happy Mother’s Day! I hope everyone is treating their mothers especially nice today. A childhood friend of mine posted a picture of his 96 year old mother on Facebook. She looks old, but lively. No reason not to put makeup on and dress up this vibrant woman.
The picture reminded me of my soon to be on the market new listing in Atherton. While the house is not 96 years old, rather a rancher from the 60’s, it has been recently neglected. The owner passed away after not living in the house for several years, and the estate is selling the home , which is on a very neglected one acre.
The pool is green with a broken filter, there are abandoned cars on the lot, the landscaping is completely overgrown, dead trees pepper the lot, the house has the ugliest green carpet I have ever seen, the furniture in the house is so ugly that the auction house did not want most of it, and there are all kinds of wood structures that are falling apart.
A trust department at a local bank asked me to take over and get the house on the market because that is what I do best, put lipstick on tired old houses. Everyone who comes to see the house asks me why I am putting the lipstick on a house that will so obviously be torn down.
The answer is simple, maybe it won’t be torn down. The house is not horrible. I have sold many homes on smaller lots in much worse condition that were not torn down. Just because the lot is big enough for a mansion that doesn’t mean someone has to build one. Atherton has plenty of big expensive homes on acre lots that take a long time to sell. It is very possible that there is someone out there who wants to live on a gorgeous property and not build a mansion. Maybe someone does want to tear it down and start over, but needs to live there during the long process of planning and permitting a new home. If not, and a builder buys the home and tears it down at least the people who come to see it will be spared a very yucky experience.
In the mean time the pool has been drained, cleaned, and refilled, the landscaping has been cleaned up and dead trees removed, the horrible ugly neon green trim and green patios are being changed to a beautiful forest green trim and grey decks and patios, the neon green carpet is being replaced with beige, the furniture is going to people who need it, and the house will be scrubbed completely. If a 96 year old woman can put on lipstick and new clothes so can this home.
Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty
650-619-9285
D.R.E. 01191914
Marcy Moyer Keller Williams Realty Palo Alto, Ca. Specialist in Trust and Probate Sales
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