This tough real estate market may be grating on some of you. Especially those people who want to sell their house but aren’t meeting much with success. So what’s an impatient homeowner to do?
How about taking a step back and assess the situation. Could it be the case that your house just looks too weird?
This house is one-of-a-kind and truly unique in every way. It lives somewhere in the SF Bay Area, along the major freeway I take to head off to my job in San Francisco, and every time I drive by, I always wonder who would buy such a novel looking home. In fact, I wonder how easily something like this could sell. Since I enjoy learning about how markets work, I often try to analyze what makes for a successful sale or purchase. One thing I’ve learned is that for certain items, it could be hit or miss because of special characteristics it could have. Uniqueness may sell pretty well….or not at all. In the case of this house, which has built some kind of reputation, selling it may not be a problem as someone out there would enjoy being recognized as the owner of “The Flinstone House”.
Get a load of this “unique” matching mail box.
As a rule though, ordinary items for sale that are made too unusual will encounter a shrinking market. I remember the time while we were home shopping seven years ago and stumbled onto a pretty nice house that was professionally designed by an architect and interior designer. The thing was made out to be a period home that looked like it stepped out of the Victorian era. Just one look and you knew it wasn’t going to move too quickly — it was way too frilly, felt too cluttered with its heavy use of fabric (drapes covering the doors??) and felt too dark. It finally sold after the owners took down the frills and generalized its look.
So when you’re trying to unload something make sure things are as generic as they can be. Especially if it’s a commodity or if you’re trying to attract a mass market. Else, you can reach for the moon and drum up some *serious* marketing or story angle to capture the market’s attention — yeah like this house has.
P.S. This house is not really for sale; just spoke of it in hypothetical terms.
More on the funky house: Flinstone House
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Ya know someone should tell HGTV’s “What’s with that house?” about this place. There is a house in Panama City Beach that looks like a UFO. It’s got the be the oddest house I’ve ever seen. It even has a ramp towards the center like in E.T.
What a unique house. I would love to buy it, but I worry about maitnance. If you had a leak in the roof, it would not be as easy to patch as a traditional roof. Then again maybe it would be easier. It is just one of the things I would want to ask, if a realator took me to look at it.
oh, s for the mailbox, last time I was in California (a few years ago) I was vacationing in San Deigo and on my way Dr. David Jerimiah’s church, I seen the most unique mailbox…it was made out of an old beer Keg.
Can you visualize your furniture in such places like these? I’d think you’d need to special order a lot of stuff to make the interior work, and all that custom work can be costly!
I have very traditional tastes — even the color purple on a house or anything in neon can scare me off. It’s a good thing that you can always paint stuff over. But unusual structural elements will have to be left alone, I’m afraid!
But I can definitely see the “coolness” factor… how long would it last?
Wow, is that house for sale? I drive by it all the time too and have seen it painted white and then orange and now it’s pink?? I always thought that it was one of those earthships that are made out of adobe and save energy in the desert. I guess this home is pretty darn unique, and probably has a good view of the mountains. It will probably be a couple million dollars too.
If you loved it, the coolness thing would last forever. In theory I would buy it, but stuff like that is either hideous, goes for a song or cool and commands a premium. Neither of those options sound like a good buy to me.
What A great house. I would have to paint it blue rather than pink, though
I like owning things with character – i.e., my Honda Element – but too those houses got too much character.
@baglady and T. Pettinger – the house is actually orange — the exposure on the photo just made it look pink! 🙂
I also wouldn’t be surprised if it cost a few million dollars….
How unique! I’d love to know the story behind that house.
What’s the inside of the place look like?
I sure hope they have some large windows to let some light in.
I found you via the ‘Carnival of the Odd’ by the way. I submitted a post, too. 🙂
Can I take only the mailbox but not the house? Pink really isn’t my color lol
It would be really cool to see pictures of the interior of this home. The mail box looks like a big thumb. I can’t seem to figure out what the home reminds me of. It is interesting none the less.