OT: Open Concept....that stupid term drives me bananas! :OT

Spring Chicken said:

I got over it in the Army.



And lived.

Poulet de "One Day In The Army Makes A Million Days At Home Easy To Accept" Printemps
Formerly Spring "Nested In Close Quarters" Chicken
Covington Louisiana USA

stlcharcoal said:

As a former flipper and real estate agent, I'll jump in here.....

Those shows are complete BS.  They're for entertainment, not a real documentary.  The contract/negotiation process is BS, the renovation are BS, it's all BS.  I forget which show it is--where they decide to move in or sell at the end--but they film BOTH endings and run whichever one tests better with the focus group.  All these shows drove up the prices on these beater houses to the point where a lot of people who used to do it for a living can't anymore.  Everybody things they're going to get the house, put $10K into over the summer and then make $50K on the sale......then after a year and much, much more, they get out of it.  I described my buddy (contractor) and I (realtor) like the Property Brothers--but we didn't have the skills, smarts, nor good looks to make it work.  haha

As far as "open concept" goes, that's a big selling point and not because it's "thing" on TV.  It's more about how we live now.  It used to be that houses had a bunch of rooms, each with a certain setting and function.......living room, family room, dining room, parlor, library/den, kitchen, etc.  Going back before central air/heat, it was just easier to keep them small and only heat the ones you were using at the time.  TV or family room was for a 12" TV or radio speaker, not the refrigerator sized 52" projections, or a 80" LED now.  Also, things are much less formal now, so guests usually go to the family room vs. living room, you have tablets/kindles instead of a room full of books, people eat in the kitchen table or island not the dining room, etc.  Kitchens are 3x the size they used to be because they're the most functional room is the house......food preparation, eating, entertainment, projects on the island like folding laundry, homework, etc.   Parents want to be able to be cooking, and see the kids on the couch or doing their homework.  Gone are the days of everybody going to their separate nook for whatever--one big functional room.

As an agent, that makes it a hell of a lot easier to sell because with furniture, you can make that big functional room into whatever you want......you're not stuck using the builder's & society's idea of how that house is supposed to lived in.  It can be dynamic.  Look at strip malls, office parks etc.  They put four walls up on a concrete slab, then whoever the occupant is can puts offices, restaurants, gyms, whatever they want inside in about a week.  It's open, it's modular, it's about making it adaptable as possible for the next occupant.  If you have an "open concept" and want to close it up, that's super easy to put up a wall, partition, etc.......going the other way when that wall is load bearing, has HVAC, plumbing, electric lines inside, then the floors won't match--that's a pain!! 

Lit said: