Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

Remember 1990, when pickled oak was all the rage? 

 
How about blond (maple) in the mid 1960’s? And of course Java colored wood tones of the past few years? I wonder what will be the latest and the greatest wood tint/hue/shade that will be popular in say 2011. Being a long time realtor, you can almost date the age of any rehabbed historic home by the color of the hardwood floors and/or kitchen cabinetry. Dark brown oak? Sooooo 1976. And to take it to another level- all white formica kitchens? Yeah, back when Duran Duran was on MTV, and cell phones where the size of bricks.

I like to think I am pretty much on the cutting edge of real estate fashion- I saw stainless steel appliances coming down the pike years before the masses. And don’t get me started on that dumbass country kitchen look. Ugh. That maybe fine in Utah, but Center City Condos (thankfully) ain’t in Utah.
    
So here is my guess: Softer wood tones with a lot of natural accents- be it white glass, bronze colored appliances, and/or user friendly, less hi-tech appliances.

I think there is going to be a general dummy’ing down of some of the super sleek kitchens and household finishes. More or less to reflect our less extravagant times. Check back in a few years, and see if I am right.

Mark Wade
www.CenterCityCondos.com
Prudential Fox and Roach REALTORS®
530 Walnut St., Suite 260 Philadelphia, PA 19106

…I love the smell of brake dust in the morning.

City living can be tough on the senses. From the wafting smoke churned out from passing busses, to the brake dust the collects on our front windowsills of our urban loft in downtown Philadelphia.

The flip side of the coin is that we are never woken up by early morning lawn mowing, aren’t bitten by mosquitos in the middle of the night, and we rarely have roosters waking us at the crack of dawn. Yes, city life is blessed with with a mixed bag of smells, sounds, and sights. I will never forget when I was huddled with a bunch of early morning commuters at the corner of 16th and Market one morning- waiting for the light to change so we could cross the street. Also waiting, was a rat. When the light changed to green, and we all proceeded out into the street, so did the rat. I named him “Commuter Rat”. Haven’t seen him since. I hope he is doing well.

And I know suburbanites don’t think that city living is really “real”….but my mind goes back to what Samantha said on Sex in the City one time about living in a big urban area: “A homeless man just showed me his d***”…It doesn’t get any more REAL than that. And it is true. There are many things we put up with in order to live the City Life. And I wouldn’t have it any other way…….

Mark Wade
www.CenterCityCondos.com
Prudential Fox and Roach REALTORS®
530 Walnut St., Suite 260 Philadelphia, PA 19106

It is really simple. I show you a condo. Then I ask…is this too small? What do you think of the view? The closet space? The layout?

Then we visit the 2nd condo, and the questions are: What do you think of this building? How do you like the location? Is the kitchen big enough?

Then we go to the 3rd condo, and I ask: How do you feel about rental parking being around the corner, as opposed to on-site? Do you like the bathrooms? How adverse are you to paying higher condo fees (for things like doormen, and elevators)?

 
Finding you the right (say) Rittenhouse Square flat, or say Old City loft is a function of how well you can verbalize your “dream condo”, and me being able to interpret what you say, and match that to the current Center City Philadelphia inventory of condos.

It is not rocket science. However, I am a fairly quick study, and I know the Philadelphia real estate market better than most (if you don’t mind me being a big-brain)….

So give me a call at 215.521.1523 or drop me an email at Mark@CenterCity.com. Let’s play 20 questions, and let’s see if I can come up with your dream Philadelphia condo!

Mark Wade
www.CenterCityCondos.com
Prudential Fox and Roach REALTORS®
530 Walnut St., Suite 260 Philadelphia, PA 19106