Unsellables | FULL Episode | Curbed Appeal

In order to spend more time in Mexico with their parents, sisters Esther and Libertad want to sell their four-bedroom bungalow...But after a year on the market with roller coaster pricing and multiple agents, the property is turning buyers off. On the plus side, the home features a partial renovation and basement apartment, all on the edge of an affluent neighborhood...But with its dowdy kitchen, reams of knickknacks, dull garden, and busy thoroughfare location, the home is completely unsellable.
In order to appeal to upscale buyers and show off the home’s best assets, Sofie comes up with a knockout design plan. And while Anthony and the team declutter the home, modernize the kitchen, and add personality to the back garden, Sofie gives the sisters a much-needed lesson in real estate 101.
Subscribe to Unsellables here: bit.ly/2KaAn0q
Watch more full episodes:
Season 1: bit.ly/3no6icb
Season 2: bit.ly/3mqfSdk
Season 3: bit.ly/34goGMH
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Can a slick makeover and big sales campaign help desperate homeowners sell their 'unsellable' homes? Packed with practical advice and tips to add real value to your house, this bold series shows viewers how to transform unwanted properties into unstoppable homes.
Unsellables - Curbed Appeal - Season 2 - Episode 11
#Unsellables

[@carlotta4th]

If they already had 4 offers it sounds less like the house in "unsellable" and more that they want to make up their investment expense. Aka: They shouldn't have spent 90k rennovating a house on such a busy street (which is inherantly going to be a lower price from that alone)--they should have just had it freshened up a bit and sold lower.

[@VioletJoy]

100%. Then they turned down an offer that was close to the asking price. Not smart.

[@motheroftwo5551]

No matter how nice a house may be, I would never live that close to a busy highway.

[@Stoffmonster467]

Would be easy to improve with triple glass windows as they are standard here.

[@Pauline-ir2tr]

I actually liked the vertical blinds on the windows at the front of the house in this case because the blinds hid the view of the busy highway and still let light in. (They said it also lowered the noise but I don't know about that.)

[@vaderladyl]

Yep. Not safe or quiet at all.

[@wandaherring7526]

Nice back yard.

[@Kholoured]

Exactly, youd never be able to get out of your driveway plus youd have to fence in the front yard if you ever have kids to prevent wandering. I agree no matter how nice I prefer quiet streets

[@jillp1840]

Watching this in 2021. I wonder if they're still holding out for the full asking price!!

[@anniehovsepian6173]

Wondering the same thing in 2022

[@molliemae6855]

And in 2023!!

[@milliah3788]

And in 2024 😂

[@abigail1023]

90K to renovate but didn't bother doing the kitchen - the most important room in a house? That's bizarre.

[@tracegates8841]

looks like a new roof

[@lavernepuller3080]

@@tracegates8841 They also updated the bathroom, and put in new, sound deadening windows.

[@barnabyaprobert5159]

Half a million dollars to live on a freakin' HIGHWAY???

[@synthiamcbride7194]

These women did not really want to sell their house to be able to go see their mother. There is no way I would pay what they wanted just because it was on the edge of an affluent neighborhood. The busy street automatically lowered the value.

[@frazierjamison9055]

6 months in Mexico doesn't cost half a million U.S. Dollars not even for El Chapo. Lol

[@shqa574]

They just wanted a cheap makeover. 99 owls is a fiasco. I wonder if they are still living in the house.

[@karenvknight6516]

Adorable ladies!! Best wishes.

[@margaretalbert69]

Like the back yard!

[@raew5263]

Busy street ruins it. How do you drive in w/o getting hit? 😜

[@creamofthecrop8286]

Question: "What do you notice first in this room?" asked at the inspiration home. My answer is that there was no real seating arrangement/conversation area. The furniture looked spread out around the room. Second the over-sized paintings & the odd placement of things on the walls.

[@smurfitude1]

That 'inspiration home' is a trick in this situation. Used properly, it's a great tool. This woman spent a lot of money renovating her home. She needed changes but not the type to cause future issues. That 'painted back-splash' won't be there long and after some poor buyer lives there for some time, they'll see the crude coverups that was made. Shame on them all for these dubious actions.

[@renees766]

I noticed the painting over the fire place. I think it's beautiful, but too large for that spot.

[@virginiamoss7045]

@@smurfitude1 You do what you have to do, especially with only $5,000. It's up to the buyer to be responsible for knowing what they are buying. That's why we have home inspections. And lawyers. And realtors. And bankers. It's also why I want to see an empty house, not anything gussied up and hiding the flaws. I don't believe the owner spent $90,000. Also, a property like this only has a very limited lifetime left before the commercial vultures descend. The decisions here seem reasonably responsible.

[@lavernepuller3080]

@@virginiamoss7045 Remember, this home is in Canada where the cost of living is much higher. Just look at the label on things that you buy in America that also lists the price in Canada, it's always higher.

[@kasziel]

The inspiration living room was actually worse than theirs. They had a bright room, well proportioned furniture, a nice rag and yes a lot of owls, but clean and ordered. Even the color of the wall was fine

[@batgirl3436]

One of the best makeovers I've seen here. Simple but effective changes. Nothing wrong with painting the tiles - it did the trick. Sofie Allsopp is very good at what she does, and the craftsman is versatile and skilled.

[@lesliespiers8407]

Would love to see the wall between the dining room & kitchen come down, expanded the kitchen with a sitting bench for eating & still needs different cupboards in the kitchen with nice handles, would look so much better.

[@mapleleaf0]

They hung pictures in front of the tiles to draw the eye away from the fact that the tiles were painted. Sneaky. That would be a very disappointing discovery when moving in if you hadn't noticed that the tiles were painted.

[@dhoward5757]

That is a house flipper move.

[@shqa574]

Putting pictures on the wall was dumb. Once you remove, you would see the holes in the tiles and the chipped paint.

[@curlyanneb1973]

You could NEVER pull out on that road, especially if you had to back out.

[@jaycole2109]

They had a clever solution to that. Look at the way their parking was constructed with an area in which to back out and turn Around before entering the road.

[@shirleypena4133]

IMHO there is absolutely nothing about that house that would make it worth anywhere near over half a million dollars! Where I live (the Central Valley of California) that house would sell for about $140,000 TOP PRICE. Even in Los Angeles that house would only be worth about $400,000 if it were located on a busy street overflowing with tacky stores like what this house has. I cannot fathom why houses are so damn EXPENSIVE in Ontario, Canada!!! :-o

[@1588chrissy]

And how much would that house cost in New York City? Toronto is pretty much the capital city (okay, not the political capital) for the country housing 80% of corporate HQs plus banking. All capital cities around the world have premiums to live there - that house in London would be over a million if that close to W1C - less than 20min to the downtown CBD is an amazing location and hence the price tag. When it was built in the 50s, it was a million miles away from the CBD and firmly in the burbs, now that the city has expanded, its in prime real estate.

[@dellacalfee]

It has to do with the location. 90% of the cost of a house has to do with the location; the quality of schools in the area, the proximity to nicer shopping areas, upscale neighbors that are educated and affluent, more and better employment opportunities, etc.

[@margaretalbert69]

What the hell cost $90,000 in reno

[@shawnsisler3743]

@@margaretalbert69 A burned-out abandoned hull...lol

[@claudiaramirez1018]

“Let’s get the Tequila” 😂 I loved these ladies great energy.

[@Autism_Forever]

I understand that they have to recover the $90K put in renovations, but seriously their greed was very off-putting. The only way to fix traffic noise would be to put tall fence in the front, plant tall mature trees, and install a sizeable water feature. Not sure there would be enough space in this front yard to do that.

[@janicescott7338]

It’s been year’s now so I hope these lovely sister’s got to spend time helping their parent’s.

[@reach4thestars67]

Good episode. Thank you for uploading.

[@yesiownfrodo]

Half a MILLION dollars for laminate countertops and painted tiles? SMH. I don't know where they are, but that would never fly here. If your house is above $400K, you'd better have stone counters of some type and high quality finishes. Finishes matter. And what's with that weird toilet seat? That's strange. NEXT, I would have changed the entrance of the house to the BACK of the house, and change the "front" of the house into a driveway turn around and put up a fence in front of the house to make it a courtyard. That entrance is horrible. They should have made a side courtyard that led to the BACK and use that as the entrance to the house. The backyard is the house's best asset.

[@annetoronto5474]

TORONTO, has the most expensive ugly houses ever! 😂

[@wandaherring7526]

@@annetoronto5474 very expensive place to live.

[@virginiamoss7045]

Excellent suggestions!

[@irenerincon3611]

Most unnecessary reno ever. The vertical blinds actually were better, since they hid the road. It would really stress me to sit down on that sofa contemplating the rushing traffic. The problems were the traffic and two sellers who wouldn’t accept any reasonable offers. Now they have the same problems plus a sloppy tile “update”.

[@lavernepuller3080]

I'd put in horizontal blinds, that way you could still close them for privacy. That is what I did, the vertical blinds, when open, look like prison bars! 😂

[@patriciakelly69]

I don’t think they want to sell.

[@abbyz6614]

What the hell did they spend $90,000 on in renovations!? My husband & I moved to our current house less than 2 years ago & have spent $62,000 on renovations so far. New roof, totally gutted the kitchen & replaced it with all new high hand cabinets (not from lowes or home depot), quartz counteracts with a huge island, stainless steel appliances & paint added recessed lighting, all new matching flooring throughout home, totally renovated bathroom, recessed lighting in living room plus paint, new basement stairs, new washer & dryer, painted all 3 bedrooms, news interior doors & molding, large custom IKEA PAX wardrobe systems installed inside closet openings in 2 bedrooms, removed garage door in basement & bricked it up to eliminate the cold air coming in which would then make the bedrooms above the basement colder, added new exterior basement door & small window, professionally insulated entire attic, added an acres worth of pasture fencing (we live on 5 acres). For another $28,000 to reach their $90,000, we could pave our 1,000 ft gravel driveway (we were quoted at $25,000.)

[@virginiamoss7045]

Over twenty-one years I put $100,000 into my former 4,000 square foot house in Atlanta doing much the same except for the fencing (just .82 acre). Still, your country home is not big-city Toronto. Location is what drives real estate.

[@smalltowngirl4766]

They said they put all new windows, had the outside of the house re-stucco, had the bathroom renovated, and the back yard patio installed all for 90,000.

[@srilankarelaxation5889]

Why did the real estate agent put his ginormous face on the sign

[@Ali-fq3nz]

Advertising. He said he wants to expand his business in the area. With thousand of cars driving past his sign every day he’s bound to attract more customers.

[@robbinblock2725]

If that offer had been from the couple with the small child, I'm glad they didn't accept it. I wouldn't live on such a busy street, ESPECIALLY with a little kid. If money were no object, I'd set the house way back into the yard, but obviously not possible at that price. Plus, the resale value would be terrible. As someone said, may turn it into retail. That traffic could be valuable (or more valuable as a billboard, as the realtor said).

[@jmcast3195]

They had a big backyard though.

[@wendygillard2133]

I think the owners were just too greedy.

[@janicescott7338]

Beautiful but being on a speedway! I would be afraid of a car flying through the house.

[@marinashear3818]

I don’t think the comp house she showed the sisters is a good example of decluttering and distracting. The fireplace, with the chair right beside it turned at an odd angle and the strange large painting sitting on the mantle are visually distracting, and in the dining room, there’s a lot of stuff on top of the buffet and that painting that takes up the wall is overpowering.

[@pirateloveification]

I came here for this comment. The model house was so bad.

[@carolrude7814]

New kitchen appliances would have made it better

[@mm-nt8el]

LOL, didn't decide to take the offer...I bet they decided instead to keep the cute house , enjoy the backyard party with some tequila and make their parents move to the USA lol. They didn't want to move after the renovation! Great work Team, you showed them the house's full potential.

[@bolandreneau4682]

Good luck with that. Lewis Hamilton couldn't back out of that driveway without being rear-ended. What's the name of the road, Suicide Street?

[@momof2momof2]

Lot's of potential, but the location is awful. The busy road would make me not want to even go inside the house. The back yard is very nice, but the walk way and platform thing is just odd, and not appealing.

[@shawnsisler3743]

The walkway and patio piece at the end of it were for a fire pit, but I have no idea why they did put one on it. It would have seriously dressed up the yard and add a nice nighttime focal point. A pretty bowl-shaped bronze stone-filled alcohol firepit would have been beautiful.

[@virginiamoss7045]

It's all great for parties, a social group here, a social group there, another group over yonder, kids playing on the grass. Not odd at all.

[@margaretalbert69]

Too much STUFF

[@Doriesep6622]

House needs to be commercial with all that traffic

[@CarolinayAna93]

where i lived it was the oppostite because the house was on a busy street in front o a mall it was way more expensive than had it been on a street o two behind. Those are less expensive because you have to walk farther to where buses and shops are

[@novelist99]

Those horrible couches should have been replaced. I wouldn't buy this house on that busy street.

[@metrower42]

Great job on the interior and the backyard. The front of the house is totally unappealing in my humble opinion. Something, anything should have been done to give it more curb appeal. Maybe that would have involved a lot more money but ....

[@margaretalbert69]

Verticals????? NO

[@margaretalbert69]

Holding out for more???? Greedy

[@rocketpsyence]

How the heck do all these people have houses worth half a million bucks?? What do they do for a living?? Also if I'm paying that much for a house it had BETTER NOT have laminate counter tops and a crappy range did my eyes just trick me?

[@lesliecas2695]

They said there was an apartment in the basement, so they could have sold it to a landlord, two rents?

[@bethg.5611]

What happens to the second seating arrangement in the backyard when it rains?

[@therealJamieJoy]

it is all waterproof and sun proof outdoor furnishings

[@leidya7070]

They're in Canada, seems everything including housing is much more expensive compared to the US. 1900 sqft on a super busy street would probably fetch around $275,000 to $300,000 in the US. The kitchen still looks horrible and dated! No WAY would I buy that house especially for that price with that closed in 70's kitchen.

[@margaretalbert69]

$479,000???? OMG, I have 3 acres and a home for less than that

[@abbyz6614]

Same here. 3 bedroom house, 5 acres 2ith 3 acres fenced in for animals, 3000 sq ft barn, dead quiet street where all we here are cows, roosters, donkey & occasional tractor, &total privacy from neighbors. Feels like the middle of nowhere yet there's a Dollar General (handy when you just need milk & bread), pizzeria & school is only 3 minutes away. Paid $260,000

[@virginiamoss7045]

@@abbyz6614 Same here, except a custom 2,000 square foot house on 5 wooded acres with a creek and the farmer neighbor's cow pasture beyond and 6 minutes to town.

[@melaniee8781]

Omg I want a house on some acres like that, its my dream. In texas, where I live

[@Tekoa80]

"Just after the Unsellables team left, they got an offer just under the asking price...they're holding out for a little bit more" 🙄

[@delphidae6610]

sexy is not in my list for a great kitchen - i loved those 80s cabinets -

[@virginiamoss7045]

I've always been partial to them as well. It's all about fashion, what's in and what's out.

[@Claire-yz4hx]

4:34 what is that on the toilet?!

[@dellalyn9918]

It looks like a toilet seat that is clear with deco inside...I had one long ago in my kids bathroom, with fish and coral...lol

[@jb6712]

Looks more like greed was what prevented any sales; these women wanted far too much money for a house that sits on a never-ending traffic nightmare. That's a horrendous price considering this episode is from 2008!! Not worth the price they were asking, nor even half that. I'd rather live farther out in the country and have space around me that would be worthy of so much money.

[@margaretalbert69]

I hear that! Take what u can ladies and get out. Oh, 99 owls, might as well have 100...😱

[@virginiamoss7045]

Not everyone is like you. Humans come in all kinds of styles. Townies are just as legitimate as country folk.

[@virginiamoss7045]

What I want to know is how the hell you think you can back a car out of those front parking spots with that kind of traffic whizzing by? I'd like to have seen the rest of the house, but that's okay. I'm very sensitive to noise; I will not believe that you can buy any glass or wall that will screen out that traffic noise. And though the back yard is quite lovely, the noise would definitely be horrendous. I hope the two lovely ladies were able to move on to their next chapter. I work with commercial real estate and this kind of road is everywhere; I even think I recognize it. It is on the cusp of investment property for putting together larger plots of redevelopment. They hold it, rent it and let it go to ruin until the time is right.

[@leslieking6259]

Nice house but that busy highway is BIG nope.

[@midnitestorm5499]

lots of cultures think owls are bad luck including me

[@freedomofreligion3248]

They LITERALLY rejected another offer??? Omg.

[@sunshine-db2zm]

Kitchen floor tile looks ugly

[@margaretalbert69]

Can it be turned into a retail space?

[@vaderladyl]

That is what is done with houses on busy streets usually so that could be a good idea in this case.

[@jmcast3195]

Good point

[@breezeh1127]

I could NOT handle that for sale sign in my yard, with that guys head so big! It's so unnecessary to have the realtor so big on your sign!

[@Orphen42O]

Did this house actually sell?

[@anniehovsepian6173]

The remodel is nice but it's a waste of money on buying patio furniture when they're wanting to move to a condo.

[@Mandy-nt2cs]

Uhhumm... did you say $539,000 for that tiny little 'bungalow' 12 feet from a dragstrip lol ?

[@robinluther3617]

Easy to get a positive response on a "buyer" walk-through when she's the daughter son in law and granddaughter of the owner.

[@midori4760]

@ Robin Luther Seriously? Why would they use family pretending to be potential buyers? That’s outrageous😕

[@bernadetecarvalho8800]

A casa ficou bonita. Só não gostei da sala de estar. Gostei mais da decoração antiga. A sala de jantar, linda. A cozinha também ficou melhor. Parabéns pelo programa.

[@joannschlicker6995]

I hate the stairs in the front. It would not be easy for someone using crutches, walker, carrying a small child, etc.

[@ber1779]

How would they fix it?

[@virginiamoss7045]

They come and go through the back. There's an asphalt drive on the left side. One commenter here suggested to blow it all out and install a curved driveway in front so you could at least try to enter that traffic without backing out.

[@jgsmile1331]

Sellers seem a bit greedy and may not ever get it sold because of that. Time to be realistic. Hope it works out for them.

[@zahria]

The kitchen : ruined ! The friendly wood is gone. Paint ! on the tiles!!And the cubbords lost all charme. This highend buyer is disgusted. The kitchen was nice. Now you can rip it out. With the whole takky rest!

[@virginiamoss7045]

I've always liked those original cabinets for some reason. The decision to paint was okay; that house has little life in it left. Very soon investors will be buying up along that road in expectation of redevelopment. They will hold, rent and let the structures deteriorate until the right time.

[@smurfitude1]

That tile WAS in great shape; she went on and on about it. So full of it is she! They had not made their house for show, the biggest mistake ever. Had they scaled down & removed a certain percentage of personal items, and re-decorated without doing some of the truly idiotic things suggested by this woman, it would remained intact. Of course the kitchen's small! The house isn't big and it's older. I'm surprised she mentioned the bathroom; she rarely does that! I hope people would stop doing certain things because it appears to show a hubris-like quality, for instance, like she mentioned changing 'asking price' appeared greedy.

[@momof2momof2]

I wans't impressed at all with the sample home. The art work was horrible and very distracting

[@dabberdoodah]

I loved the artwork

[@amyg3525]

Who cares? The art probably wasn’t for sale.

[@marilynharms2707]

Greetings will make u lose a sell

[@andreesimoneau6167]

Wish I could watch this show but that annoying music is still there

[@virginiamoss7045]

Yeah, what is it about film/video that they think just has to have music? Most of what's on KZbin needs to ditch the music even if it is minor and close to appropriate.

[@smurfitude1]

First thing out of this young 'contractor' mouth: "Why don't we paint the tile?!" They have ruined so many properties with paint! He's lazy! He have finished tiles & wood without paint; I saw him do so, but RARELY. I would throw him out if I run into him.

[@shirleypena4133]

+smurfitude1 You have spoken my very thoughts!!!

[@Locomaid]

The tile: old, damaged, unattractive. The options were pull it down and replace it, or paint it. Paint it is the obvious choice

[@cocokai9661]

I know he's a favorite of many of the viewers, but I agree with you. He doesn't seem particularly talented and he is very lazy. He suggest 'fixes' that no true craftsman would ever agree to.

[@vaderladyl]

That is because this shows teaches people how to do super cheap, sometimes tacky, staging tricks to get a house sold quickly.

[@virginiamoss7045]

The budget is $5,000. The juggling of priorities and dollars and personalities and all the other complex factors involved in real estate is no small feat. The goal here is to get the place sold. That's all. The rest does not matter.

[@elizabethcastillo1158]

Painting over tile is wrong.

[@zahria]

What? The "disgusting" stone slab probably was sold for a FORTUNE to a designer house! And they got a ruined fireplace with frecking granny marble. So ugly ! What a rip off.

[@alisonconnor5441]

The workable bladder preauricularly own because floor periodically repeat of a known cauliflower. disastrous, bite-sized okra

[@josephkeller9891]

The naughty church synthetically supply because cockroach accordingly shiver for a groovy freezer. waiting, spotty brow

[@saraw5942]

LOL you got your illegal asses deported back to where you belong!!!!!!!AND STAY THERE.

[@gaylecunningham3614]

I was going to remind you that this is a Canadian production, but that's not going to make sense to a bigot, no matter what its age. However, use (oh, I don't know) the brain cell between your ears to assess the following facts: vetting (which means 'checking the backgrounds of everyone whose homes are featured on the program') is done so that claims like yours have no merit at all. Homes and home owners on this program are highlighted on both nationally and internationally. Do you think for even a heartbeat that someone who is illegally resident in any country (even, gasp, the U.S.) would be stupid enough to show their faces where everyone, and I DO mean everyone, can see them? Greediness (the sisters' greed is an unpleasant characteristic that they have to live with) is universal as well. They were being exceptionally unwise holding out for a better offer, but that's their business. It is not a cultural characteristic. Think before you type. What you say is out on the internet forever.