It used to be a real estate listing with \u201cJacuzzi tub\u201d or \u201ccrystal chandelier\u201d would draw a lot of eyeballs, leading to higher prices and a speedy sale. These days, a barn door might be the golden (or wooden) ticket.<\/p>\n
According to a report released Tuesday by Zillow Digs \u2014 the real estate site\u2019s design and home improvement cousin \u2014 a sliding door might help a home fly off the market 57 days faster and fetch a 13.4% higher price than homes without it.<\/p>\n
Scouring listing descriptions from 2.8 million condos and single-family homes sold all across the country between January 2014 and March 2016, the study\u2019s authors marked keywords from \u201ccraftsman\u201d to \u201csolar panel.\u201d They controlled for the size, age and location of homes, comparing, for example listings of similarly aged and sized houses within the same county that included the keywords (\u201cgranite,\u201d \u201ccrown moulding\u201d) with those that didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Then they created a statistical model to try to predict what a home with a pendant light or an outdoor kitchen might sell for, and how quickly, compared to homes without those attributes. The homes ranged in price from US$20,000 (in many locations) to US$88.3 million (in LA), and the median value was US$232,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can get an idea of how Americans are valuing these different home features,\u201d says Skylar Olsen, Zillow\u2019s senior economist.<\/p>\n
Olsen knows that having \u201cbarn door\u201d in the listing alone doesn\u2019t directly correlate to a higher price or a quicker sale. You can\u2019t just slap on a barn door on, or in, any old home and automatically, and dramatically, increase its value. \u201c\u2018Causal relationship\u2019 are strong words,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Instead, \u201cBarn doors are a signal of a strong design sense. People that design homes or fix them up with barn doors might have their eyes toward other key design elements that people value, like a farmhouse sink or an open kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also, \u201cbarn door\u201d might not be what you think. \u201cThese days they have a very refined look, more polished and modern and sleek,\u201d says Kerrie Kelly, Zillow Digs\u2019 home design expert. You can forget the reclaimed barn wood, she says. \u201cIt\u2019s more a high paint gloss or glass with stainless steel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olsen adds, \u201cThey\u2019re actually very expensive.\u201d A farmhouse- meets-industrial \u201cmodern slab\u201d barn door will run you nearly US$1,600. A black leather option with \u201cbarbed wire scar\u201d trim is US$3,500.<\/p>\n
Craftsman Meets Farmhouse<\/p>\n
The first four items on the list \u2014 barn doors, shaker cabinets, farmhouse sinks, and subway tile \u2014 are all descendants of a simple, even rustic, aesthetic that\u2019s been reinvented as au courant design. It\u2019s a look Zillow Digs refers to as \u201ccraftsman meets farmhouse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Listings with the words \u201csubway tile\u201d sold on average 63 days faster, and for 6.9% more, than those without it. The versatile tile can fit any house style, size, or budget. You can get glossy white tile for US$2 a square foot, or, says Kelly, \u201cYou can get subway tile in Calacatta marble with a beveled edge.\u201d The latter can run you US$40 a square foot, easily.<\/p>\n
Farmhouse sinks \u2014 deep sinks that jut out from the surrounding cabinets \u2014 may be undermounted and made of stainless steel these days. As Olsen says, \u201cYou can still pay a pretty penny for a farmhouse sink.\u201d<\/p>\n
Others features may be more of a surprise.<\/p>\n
Is a tankless water heater \u2014 which heats hot water on demand \u2014 really such a draw? Could be. Homes that included those words in the listing sold for 4% higher and 43 days faster than those without.<\/p>\n
Premium buyers today are wanting a feeling of authenticity<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Still a draw, but way further down the list, are features previously thought to fetch a premium or make a home sell more quickly. Homes with the keyword \u201cMidcentury\u201d in the listing sold for 2.7% more and 40 days faster than those without; exposed beams took in 2.3% higher prices and sold 19 days faster; the words \u201ccontemporary,\u201d \u201cchandelier\u201d and \u201csolar panels\u201d all saw prices 1.8 per cent higher.<\/p>\n \u201cJacuzzi\u201d fetched a wee 0.9% higher price and sold for six days faster. Listings with the words \u201cbreakfast nook,\u201d just slipping in there with a 0.2% higher price, sold 21 days faster.<\/p>\n The preference for the pendant light (4.6% higher, 48 days faster) versus the chandelier, or the frameless shower (4.6% higher, 38 days faster) versus the Jacuzzi tub is pretty simple, according to Gary Gold, executive vice-president of Hilton & Hyland in Beverly Hills. \u201c\u2018Jacuzzi tub\u2019 sounds like it was installed 25 years ago,\u201d he says. \u201d \u2018Frameless shower\u2019 sounds like it was installed yesterday. \u2018Chandelier\u2019 sounds 30 years old. \u2018Pendant light\u2019 sounds modern.\u201d<\/p>\n Or, as Olsen says, \u201cWe have an evolving taste of what signals luxury.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, the low rankings of what we\u2019d thought where givens come as a surprise. An open kitchen is ranked 32 out of 50 features; fireplace is 29 and walk-in closet is 23. \u201cOutdoor kitchen\u201d proved more likely to entice buyers; it\u2019s number 15. Number 50 : the lonely breakfast nook.<\/p>\n \u201cPremium buyers today are wanting a feeling of authenticity, whether it\u2019s in their renovation of a historic home or in their brand-new high end condo in the city. They want \u2018brand-new old,’\u201d says Noble Black of Douglas Elliman Real Estate, who considers the findings reflect his experience in the market. \u201cAnd anything that allows for easy entertaining such as outdoor kitchens is huge.\u201d<\/p>\n Gold cautions that neighborhood context is key. \u201cA home in the Hollywood Hills or Brentwood or the Palisades would have different hot buttons,\u201d says Gold. \u201cWhen you start talking about frameless showers and backsplashes and tankless water heaters on US$15 million houses, it sounds like you don\u2019t have much to talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n Also, he adds, most buyers aren\u2019t really reading the copy. \u201cIt\u2019s like a police scanner: they\u2019re looking at images and they\u2019re looking for certain words.\u201d For his clientele those words are more like \u201cpanoramic view,\u201d \u201cgated,\u201d and \u201cscreening room.\u201d<\/p>\n Regional Tastes<\/strong><\/p>\n The Zillow Digs study did account for regional taste. In addition to revealing which features might make a home sell faster, and for more money, they note the cities that are rocking these features.<\/p>\n Where are you most likely to find a quick-selling, high-priced home with \u201cbarn door\u201d in the listing? Not a place known for its rustic, farm-house sensibility: Phoenix, AZ. Pendant lights are big there, too.<\/p>\n Los Angeles had the largest share of recently sold homes with \u201cshaker cabinets\u201d (9.6% higher, 45 days faster), \u201cfarmhouse sink\u201d (7.9% higher, 58 days faster) and \u201cquartz\u201d (6% higher, 50 days faster) in the listings. The largest share of listings with \u201csubway tile\u201d and \u201cbacksplash: were in Philadelphia. Seattle had the highest share of listings with the word \u201ccraftsman\u201d and \u201cheated floors.\u201d<\/p>\n Arizonian barn doors aside, some of these features do have regional roots. While there are plenty of colder climates than Seattle, it is an eco-friendly city with soupy winter rains, so radiant heat flooring makes sense. And Craftsman homes are far more common in the West than in the East. (Why Philly is so keen on subway tile, though, is still a mystery.)<\/p>\n Not a big surprise: New York had the most recently sold homes with the words \u201cexposed brick\u201d in the listing (4.9% higher, 36 days faster).<\/p>\n No, going crazy with granite and quartz aren\u2019t surefire ways to get a premium. But Olsen says it\u2019s worth considering how popular some of these more modern farmhouse features are. If you\u2019re comparing subway tile to stone, Olsen says, and the listings with stone tend to sell for 7% less, \u201cI\u2019d say go with the subway.\u201d<\/p>\n