Residz Team 3 min read
House hunting or not, Aussies love to browse real estate listings. I admit it is one of my favourite pastimes, and I find it especially entertaining to put ‘original condition’ into the listings filter. Up pops a delicious selection of properties with one thing in common. They need someone to love them.
But today I had a terrible thought. What if one day soon all the ‘original condition’ properties have been sold and done up? Could we run out of renovator’s delights?
Fierce competition for doer-uppers
As house prices drop, first home buyers will be hoping to use what’s left of their borrowing power to enter the property market. They’ll be hunting for renovator’s delights.
With fierce competition for affordable housing, however, you can no longer assume a renovator’s delight is at entry-level pricing. Doer-uppers in capital cities can go for $2 million or more, but occasionally there’s a sweet property in a remote or regional area for under $400,000.
Some of the more inexpensive homes may be in flood-damaged areas. Buyers will be calculating the rising cost of construction as they view the ‘original condition’ property listings.
No matter what the price range, a home listed as ‘with potential’ gets my attention. So what timeframe into the future would we expect to see listings with real character, your classic doer-upper, disappear forever? Can such a thing happen?
Fashions change
As fashions change and properties change hands, there is always scope for renovation. But I’m not talking about cosmetic changes here. I’m concerned that the true original condition homes of the 20s, 30s, 40, 50s, and 60s are going to be stripped of their character and turned into bland and cheaply-renovated properties.
Slate floors and crazy paving
What right have I to determine the fate of Australia’s ‘renovate or detonate’ homes for sale? We’ve renovated a few post-war homes ourselves and stripped out slate floors and crazy paving fireplaces. We’ve dug out wisteria and jackhammered front steps. It’s all in the name of ‘upgrading’ and ‘adding value’ but, all the same, each renovation reduces the number of ‘original condition’ homes available for future couples to enjoy.
I guess our renovations will themselves appear ugly or unnecessary to future buyers, and indeed it broke our hearts when our former home was re-renovated by its new owners. My husband ‘tut-tuts’ when we now drive past, saying they’ve ruined the integrity of our renovation. No doubt the former owners of our homes have said much the same thing about us.
What’s the appeal of original condition homes?
What is it about an ‘original condition’ home that tugs at the heartstrings? In the case of our family, it’s for two reasons. My husband sees renovation potential and dollar signs. He views homes as ‘projects’ and so we are currently at the tail end of our third renovation. But for me, an ‘original condition’ or ‘renovator’s delight’ home is lovely exactly as it is.
As a keen vintage shopper and reader of novels, I love nothing more than imagining the lives of those living in the home in the era it was built. I picture the lady of the house chopping vegetables on the teeny kitchen bench space, mincing cold lamb cuts in the hand-mincer, or plucking chickens in the laundry tub. To my modern eye, even the size of original kitchen drawers from other eras is fascinating.
I love seeing violently-coloured wallpaper and swirly carpets, exposed brick walls and pastel-coloured baths. I can skip over the many known faults of original condition homes, such as poor insulation, mould, sinking foundations, leaking roofs, poor room layouts, and pest infestations.
Exterior photos only
These days real estate agents rightly assume buyers won’t just ask the seller to make a few repairs and keep the house intact. They know most will demolish and rebuild, so they don’t even bother putting images of the interior on the listing. This reduces the emotional tug of these properties, and denies cash-strapped window shoppers like myself an afternoon’s entertainment.
So when will the last original condition property go under the hammer, and our searches will offer up nothing more interesting than a sea of white walls, kitchens and bathrooms? I’m dreading the day. In the meantime, there’s a rather nice little property in Mallanganee with green and yellow walls and doors…..asking price $145,000!
Residz can help buyers and sellers reduce the stress:
Image: Love Realty Newcastle - Original condition house for sale in Williamtown, NSW.