Marketing works. Right now the hot commodity in Detroit’s hippest suburbs (I know that sounds like an oxymoron, stop laughing!) is the loft. But suburban Detroit is not Soho, and our trendy suburbs do not have warehouse districts with artists squatting in abandoned buildings and gentrifying them.
For the most part, our “lofts” are new construction condominiums with the obligatory exposed brick wall and unfinished ceiling. Other industrial decorating touches help to create the coveted loft mystique. It’s really pure marketing genius. Just don’t tell the super excited new owners that they’ve just paid an extra $50k for something everyone else knows is just an overpriced condo, ok?
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Dmitry & Maureen, specialize in residential real estate in Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Beverly Hills, Royal Oak, Troy and surrounding communities. Relocation specialists. Call us at 248.961.0801
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In Denver we call the new construction lofts, "soft lofts". Conversely the old, antique renovated buildings are the "hard lofts".
Soft loft somehow sounds better than "overpriced condo," don't you agree?
Kristal Kraft ~ Denver, Colorado
Yeah, I was harsh. And I do like our lofts!
No Maureen, you were not harsh. That is maybe the best observation I've heard in a long long time. On Sunday I was holding open a "regular" condo. I had a couple in that was also considering a "soft loft"... thank you Kristal! We spent some time talking about value and I think that they got it. Lofts are cool, lofts are trendy. BUT BOY OH BOY are the prices bloated!
Did you know that the "brick walls" in these lofts are peel & stick brick. What a scam... they're not even real!
Maybe sarcastic, but not harsh! :)
Kristal, any difference on Soft loft values vs hard lofts? How about soft lofts vs other new construction condos? Are buyers paying a premium for soft lofts in your market too?
Our loft market is crazy. I believe there is a stronger value given to the hard lofts, only because they are limited, we aren't making them anymore.
The soft loft market is as all markets, it depends on the location and quality of the complex.
Right now in my area we are in the finishing stages of "light rail". Urban villages along the rail line have popped up, with nice soft lofts and high prices. Whether the values hold remains to be seen.
Maureen, If only artists could afford Soho anymore. The artists have discovered Brooklyn.
A couple of weeks ago I was showing a $4million 1 Bedroom in a new condo. It was classified as a loft in the west village. Concrete ceiling and floor to ceiling windows. We are calling it "raw space" in "Designer buildings". The selling point is you can look into Nicole Kidman's apartment.
When we got downtairs onto the street, my buyer from the suburbs was complaining a homeless person was watching her Range Rover. I said OH "The grit and glamor that NewYorkers love about downtown".
Kristal, we have a light rail thing going on here too. Mixed use buildings. Live/work. One of the complexes seems to be having trouble selling out. Not sure about the other.
Mitchell, I don't think I've been to NYC in about 15 years. My perception is that selling housing in Manhattan would be super challenging. No MLS, right?
Maureen. It is challenging to say the least. There is an MLS but it only has about 25% of the listings. Most firms belong to REBNY, it's a real estate board, we share listings and have rules but there is no central database. Different companies use different systems for data.
Most brokers think the "MLS" is The New York Times online.