Kickstarter Project: MidCentury Mailbox

If you live in Davis or Sacramento area you've seen mid-century modern homes. Streng homes are great examples of mid-century modern homes; they were designed by Carter Sparks and built by The Streng Brothers in the 1960s and 70s. They have large windows, low pitched roofs and many have skylights. The Streng brothers were influenced by California real estate developer Joe Eichler who advocated bringing modern design to the masses (instead of just in corporate offices and custom homes). The photo below depicts a Streng home.

Recently I discovered Greg Kelley, an owner of a mid-century modern home in North Carolina. After purchasing his house he searched and searched for a mailbox that would compliment the style of his house but never found a mailbox that did that (Etsy only had two boxes come up the entire time Greg searched). The last company to produce a mailbox similar to those used during the time retired their mid-century design in the early 1990s. Greg had a vision and he took it to the website KickStarter, which can be seen as the web's answer to ABCs Shark Tank. You can check out his site HERE.

As you can see in the screen shot from his KickStarter page Greg did his research on mailbox design from the 50s and 60s. He then took his ideas to a product developer who designed this mailbox. For these mailboxes to become a reality is for Greg to raise $40,000 to fund this project.

I love that Greg designed this mailbox to perfectly complement his home and mid-century moderns like the Streng and Eichler homes I regularly see. These mailboxes would be a fantastic gift for any buyer who purchases a Streng or Eichler home... my only problem would be deciding which color to order!

Selling Quickly

Why do you think half of those houses sold in under six weeks?

The majority of them probably have these five things in common:

1. They were priced right. A home that will go quickly is priced right at or below where comparable homes have just sold. Pricing a home below market value can encourage a bidding war in the sellers favor.

2. The homes were de-personalized. Homes that sell quickly let potential buyers easily picture themselves in that space. When selling remove anything that defines a home as YOURS. As a seller you want the potential buyer to picture the home as THEIRS.

3. They made a good first impression. You probably think I mean that you should have a house with incredible curb appeal; this certainly won't hurt. But what is the very first impression you get of a home? It's the listing you saw online. Make sure the photos represent your house at it's absolute best. Your agent should highlight all the unique features of your house in a way that the potential buyer has the best first impression possible.

4. They were move-in ready. Fix those items on your "Honey To-Do" list; people don't want a long list of items they have to tackle. On top of that, if they see a bunch of little items that weren't cared for subconsciously they may be thinking there are deeper issues.

5. The kitchen sold the house. If you have limited funds to get your house ready to sell focus them on the kitchen; you will get back on average 85% of what you put into it. Make neutral choices in cabinets, counters and backslashes to appeal to the majority of people.

If you have questions about selling your home, or getting it ready to sell, don't hesitate to email me. I would love to work with you on selling your home and getting you the best price possible.

Kim Merrell Lamb: kim@kimmerrell.com