Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

…then explain the value difference between these two Philly condo buildings:

These are two actual side by side buildings on Spruce St. in Washington Square West.

So you have a big brain, and you think you are going to take a look at Trulia, Zillow, or one of the many fine real estate websites out there in CyberSpace, and you are going to come up with the true value of any given condo. Really?

You can’t tell me that condition does not play into value. How about showing ability? You go into the public records and find a two bed, two bath in such n such zip code should sell for say $500,000. Really??? What was the condition of the Washington Square West Condo?  Was the building well maintained?

My point is, sometimes you need a realtor who knows his or her market to help you make valid decisions. There are many issues that affect value, that reading a webpage about any given Philadelphia condo may NOT tell you…

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

 …when the truth is more than enough:

 

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

Per many Philly condo associations, the backside of your curtains and blinds may need to be white in color. You may ask why…but drive by any poorly managed condo association who does not enforce such a rule, and you will see why. The building ends up looking like an unattractive collection of cheap, and often unattractive variations of ugly looking blinds/shades/curtains. From Mauve, to Sea Foam Green, the rainbow of cheap shades is not an attractive sight.

And If I were king of the world, or even a developer of a Philadelphia high rise condo, I would go as far as to include a high end line of blinds/shades into my sale price. Because the visual uniformity is going to be important in the overall impression a building gives off when viewed from street level. We have all seen, or perhaps even been guilty (usually in our college years) of using a bedsheet as a curtain. And god knows bedsheets come in some funky colors and patterns. Not the best look, when trying to visually highlight a condo building from a distance.

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

I found a very interesting little tid-bit in Readers Digest. For all you knuckleheads who have never picked out paint before, you should use view the following as gospel. I disagreed with one of their choices, so I deleted it.  (All colors are Benjamin Moore.)

Million Dollar Red (#2003-10): Good for dining rooms and family rooms. Just please use sparingly.

Potpourri Green (#2029-50): “Earthy and pale,” a neutral for kitchens and bathrooms.

Wood Grain Brown (#2109-30): Less red and more gray than Hershey’s Kiss brown, this is the color Mayhew used in her own dining room.

Gray Owl (#2137-60): Works in bedrooms or throughout the house.

Birds Egg (#2051-60): A blue with a “clean gray tint,” another all-purpose color for Mayhew.

Early Morning Mist (#1528): “Somewhere between gray and beige” is this versatile neutral “greige.”
 
–Source: Flip! For Decorating: A Page-by-Page, Piece-by-Piece, Room-by-Room Guide to Transforming Your Home by Elizabeth Mayhew (Ballantine, $24)
 
Want a few more decorating tips to make your Philadelphia condominium stand out? Drop me a note, and let’s chat!

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