Thomas Volz didn’t worry about the bathtub. His real estate agent? She did.
Volz considered the tub, made of molded wood imported from Italy, a work of art. His agent, Molly Boyd with the West Loop office of Keller Williams Realty, agreed. She just didn’t like that it sat in Volz’s living room.
“I admit, I was a little worried about it,” Boyd said. “I thought he should take it out and fix the floor underneath it. But he wanted to keep it there. It was part of his vision for the property.”
Real estate agents tell their clients to make their homes as neutral as possible when trying to sell. This means no odd colors, not too many knickknacks and no rooms stuffed with doll collections or model trains. The strategy is sound: It’s easier for potential buyers to visualize living in a home that doesn’t reflect too strongly the style or tastes of its current owners.
A bathtub in the living room, no matter how nice a tub it is, clearly violates that principle.
How did things work out for Volz? Not too bad. Just two weeks after Boyd took the listing, a spacious unit in the China Club lofts in the city’s Fulton Market neighborhood, she sold it to a young couple that found the bathtub, and its location, exceedingly cool. Volz ended up leaving the tub behind, saying it would have been too inconvenient to move, and that his new home had no place for it.
For Volz this was ideal. He wanted to sell his unit to someone who also viewed the tub as not only a functional appliance, but also as a piece of art.
“I didn’t really think about the tub turning buyers away,” Volz said. “When I was building it, I wasn’t thinking about resale down the road. I lived in that place for seven years. I fell in love with that bathtub, and it was what I wanted. The practical side of my brain didn’t kick in and say, `This might not be a good idea.'”
Boyd and Volz aren’t the only agent and seller who’ve faced the challenge of selling a unique home. Local real estate agents have sold log cabins in St. Charles, homes with 26-car garages, even a residence where a cooking range sat in a bathroom.
Moving these homes is more difficult than selling a three-bedroom Cape Cod. But there is a buyer for even the most unusual of homes, agents say. The key is finding those buyers, and the best real estate agents are willing to take the extra steps to do this.
Selling the unique
Keith and Wendi Dickerson, a husband-and-wife team of real estate agents who work with Re/Max of Naperville, two years ago represented a Naperville home that had been designed for a husband and wife who were handicapped. The home had extremely low countertops and cabinets, perfect for someone in a wheelchair.
Problem was, these counters and cabinets were too low for anyone not in a wheelchair.
The Dickersons faced two choices: They could ask the sellers to redesign their home, or they could target market the home.
The Dickersons chose the second route. The couple called area hospitals and spoke to doctors and physical therapists who might have patients who would need such a home. Four prospective buyers responded, and two were interested. The house sold in about 24 days to a buyer who had a rare spinal disability. The home fit perfectly.
“With every unique property, there is a unique borrower,” Keith Dickerson said. “We figured we’d try to find that unique buyer.”
This, Dickerson says, is a valuable lesson for sellers.
“First, you have to price your house correctly. That’s a given. From there, there is a buyer for every home,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you back up to a main freeway, a dump site or a huge cemetery. There is a buyer for every house. It’s up to the house to sell itself, but we need to bring the buyers to it.”
Target marketing is the key, real estate agents say. In the Dickersons’ case, it meant canvassing hospitals and doctors’ offices. Other times agents might need to promote their most unusual residences with other agents and real estate pros, who might know the perfect buyer.
That is what Stino Milito, an agent with the Fulton office of @properties, is trying to do with a place in Park Ridge.
Milito is attempting to sell two lots, with a home, alongside a 14-acre lake. But few buyers passing the home can see the lake. Milito has to make sure they realize that the lake exists–and is a major amenity.
“If you happen to be looking for it, if you peek in between the right houses, you can see the lake,” Milito said. “But in general the lake is unknown to people outside of Park Ridge. It’s even largely unknown to people who live in Park Ridge. When you see it, though, it’s like you’re living in Lake Geneva. How do you get some of these people in the city that are living in a $2 million condo and expose them to this unique property? It has a lot of what people who want to live on the North Shore want, but it costs so much less.”
To spread the word about the house, Milito is advertising it on the @properties Home Show, which televises select listings. Milito set up a Web site for the property, and he has paid for Google search words such as “park ridge” and “lake properties” so buyers searching for just such a home can find it.
“With a property like this, the second the right person sees it, it’s over and out,” Milito said. “There is no hemming and hawing.”
Looking for the right buyer
Todd Williams, an agent with the Hinsdale-Ogden office of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, has sold more than a few unusual homes. Recently he sold a log cabin home in St. Charles and is listing an Elgin home that boasts a 26-car garage.
There aren’t a lot of buyers who need a 26-car garage.
“A lot of these unique homes were created by the owners themselves,” Williams said. “They tend to be people with strong views, unique personalities. They know what they want. They design and build homes in which they want to live. It works out fantastic as long as they are living there. But when they are moving, they are trying to sell a house with some characteristics that won’t appeal to many. The key, though, is that these characteristics will still have great appeal to some buyers. Those are the buyers you have to find.”
Bill and Linda Fanslow built their Elgin home on seven acres in 1992. The grounds have extensive landscaping, including several waterfalls. Bill built the garage, which covers about 3,800 square feet, to stow the cars he collects and restores.
“It’s a lifelong hobby,” Fanslow said. “It’s one of the reasons I wanted to move out to the country. I wanted a place big enough to keep all my cars. It’s like having my kids at home. They’re all in one spot, and I can keep an eye on them.”
The Fanslows say they’re not too worried the garage will scare off potential customers. Sure, there aren’t many buyers who need a 26-car garage. But the garage, which has a security system, can be used in other ways. Buyers who have horses can convert it to a stable, Bill Fanslow says. Those who run a landscaping business can use it to store their equipment.
“There may be a limited market appeal for it, but there is definitely a market out there for it,” Fanslow said.
Williams says the house has a number of features, including soaring ceilings, a rustic setting and some amazing landscaping, to help sell it. Williams is highlighting these as he target markets the property to those who would have a use for a 26-car garage. This may include racing enthusiasts or those running a limousine service.
“When you target someone, you are far more likely to spend your clients’ time effectively,” Williams said. “The potential buyers are then looking at something they understand.”
Going, going, gone?
Some homes may require atypical sales methods. Owners may turn to the auction method to sell homes that truly stand out.
Steven Good, chairman and chief executive of Sheldon Good & Co., has auctioned off many a distinct home, including a Japanese-themed house in Johnsburg with a waterfall that owners could dive off of into a giant pool.
“That’s our calling card, auctioning properties that are not easily valued,” Good said. “That can be for a variety of reasons. A unique home can fall into a lot of categories.”
Some homes, of course, are just plain weird. But even those have a “right” buyer.
Several years ago, Frank Tierney, an agent with Re/Max Homes Northwest, sold a Lake Zurich home with the strangest bathroom he had ever seen. Because of a lack of room, the bathroom’s sink stood inside its shower. The toilet, too. And within arm’s reach was a boiler, which heated the house. Atop the boiler? A cooking range. “I guess you could cook your eggs there while taking a shower,” Tierney said.
Tierney not only sold the home once, he sold it a second time, when the new owner moved out. The key? He priced the home right and attracted buyers who may not have been able to afford a home in Lake Zurich that wasn’t a little odd.
Tierney’s wish now? “I hope that the present owner never calls me,” he laughs.
