Two Oakland Homeowners Resist Modernizing, And Set Price Records!

OAKLAND, Calif. - Oct. 19, 2016 - PRLog -- Two owners of Craftsman style homes in Oakland set area records for sale price last month by refusing to conform to a recent selling trend. That trend, encouraged by some uninformed area real estate agents and designers, calls for painting over the wood details left natural as an essential characteristic of Craftsman style. Homeowners are told that San Francisco buyers, in particular, want these houses "modernized" and "lightened up". "Obviously, this actually hurts their home's value," Craftsman style home specialist Jim Schubert noted.

In the process, the Craftsman house, the signature style in East Bay architecture of the first two decades of the 20th Century, has become a threatened species, under attack from the white paint brush. Amazingly, such an altered house is then still marketed as a "pristine Craftsman," even though its essential characteristic, interior wood & stone details that harmonize with nature, has been lost, perhaps irrevocably.

But, two houses, at 499 Jean Street in the Rose Garden area and 3026 Logan Street in the Fruitvale area, bucked the trend when they were put on the market in July.  Both had extensive natural wood and stone details in the dining rooms, living rooms, and entry areas (including wainscoting, built-in bookcases and hutches, doors, trim, window seats, beamed ceiling, fireplace surrounds and stone fireplaces). These details had all been preserved by the homeowners.

So, what happened when the two houses were put on the market for about a two week period in July? "They were overwhelmed by buyers from our proactive marketing plan," Jim stated. "I have to have this house" and "It's so refreshing not to find another house painted in a grey-and-white scheme" were typical responses he received. Both properties received multiple, contingency-free offers, and both set area records.

499 Jean sold for the highest price yet recorded for a 2 bedroom, 1 bath house in the Rose Garden area. 3026 Logan Street sold for the highest price yet recorded for any house with less than 2000 square feet over the entire 94601 zip code! Both buyers were from San Francisco!

There is a lesson here for East Bay homeowners. If they have a Craftsman style house preserved in its natural state, it's not necessary, or even profitable, to alter the public rooms of these houses. Buyers want these rooms preserved and will pay record prices to get them.

Most importantly, you should have the home marketed by a Craftsman style home specialist to create the type of sales results Jim Schubert has created here.

The listing agent for both houses was Jim Schubert at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Montclair office. Call 510-517-4022 for more information on the sales or visit http://www.eastbayvintagehomes.com/.