HGTV's "Selling New York": Recap of Episode 12
HGTV's "Selling New York" Episode 12:
Episode Title: "Eye of the Beholder."Episode Description: Core's reputation is on the line while the Kleiers take on a couple with two distinct visions.
Man, do I feel for Michele Kleier. In the June 3 episode of "Selling New York," the HGTV series, the broker works with a married couple who have a budget of more than three million dollars. But there's one little catch: the husband wants a turnkey apartment, and the wife wants a gut reno. Ow!
This situation gave rise to some human drama on "Selling New York," not the level you'd get on "Million-Dollar Listing" if the agents were fighting with each other, but hey, this is New York and we're nicer here. The show also explores Tribeca, taking uptown specialist Kleier downtown, and showcasing some lofts in the most expensive zip code in New York.
Core Group, meanwhile, gets the unlovely job of being the fourth marketing agent at the new development 650 Sixth Avenue. I'll give you the behind-the-scenes dope that three of them all used to work at the same firm, so you can guess what a spirit of competitiveness that creates. As of now, this building has been for sale for three years, and since none of the marketing agents can get the developer to strongly discount prices, it keeps getting dressed up and renamed. (For free: if it ever comes into my hands, I'm going to call it "the Kinko's building," because that's what's on the ground floor.)
Shaun Osher of Core Group, however, goes for "The Cammeyer."
We don't know how or why he does this. We do, however, get to see him restage an apartment that initially looks like Phillippe Starck threw up in it, staining the light floors dark (good call), bringing in a Ligne Roset stager who takes out the black chairs, white chairs, and the graphic black-and-white wallpaper. Roset brings in less bold furniture and strips a painted column to reveal the building's heritage. HGTV is at its best when it shows the viewer these before-and-afters, and it really makes you see what a trained eye can do.
Even if you don't have a trained eye, however, you can use Shaun's maxim from this episode: let the buyer get to the window. "When people walk into an apartment, the first thing they usually do is go to the window to look outside to see the light and the air and the view," he says (as he recommends removing an obtrusive Austin Powers-style swing). This ranks right up there with Michelle Kleier's "don't take listing photos where you can see the backs of furniture" (from an early "Selling New York" episode) as practical advice home sellers can use.
Speaking of the view, this building looks at a church (there's a wonderful shot of it in the first staged apartment), but no one mentions it. Oh, well!
Disclosures: I know lots of people who have marketed this building.
Featured Properties: A triplex at 53 Murray; a loft in one of the Wood's Mercantile Buildings at 46-50 White; 650 Sixth Avenue, the Kinko's building the Cammeyer.
That's my take, what do YOU think? Feel free to post comments below.
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