There are two types of home sellers out there in today’s market: those who want to spend money to upgrade their houses before sale, and those that don’t want to spend a penny.
You have to know where we stand on this, right?
In Canada, the tax-free capital gain on the sale of a primary residence is the biggest tax advantage you’ll ever experience. Not only that, your home is likely the largest investment you’ll ever own. Doesn’t it seem to reason that you should consider at least “sprucing up” the house a little bit before you attempt to sell for top dollar?
And it’s longer about basic staging anymore.
De-cluttering, packing, moving, storing, and staging are no longer all you should be looking to do. “Pre-staging” efforts, such as minor repairs, renovations, upgrades, and modernizations, are an added weapon in your arsenal as you seek to combat buyer objections before they arise, as well as liven up any dated aspects of the home.
Our clients constantly ask us what renovations offer the best ROI, which pre-listing renovations are the easiest, or what today’s buyers want to see in a renovated home.
The following pre-staging improvements are time-tested, cost-effective, simple to implement, and guaranteed to provide a fantastic return on investment.
Painting
Simply put, a fresh coat of paint is the best return on investment you’ll ever experience.
That classic “new paint smell” alone is worth the expense, as every buyer who walks through the door will have their senses buzzing. Nothing screams fresh and clean like a new coat of paint, but more importantly, it represents a blank canvas for new buyers.
When we prepare homes for sale, everything is typically painted some shade of white. It might be boring to you, but it’s neutral to buyers, and it allows us to warm up the home with strategic pops of colour in staging elements like couches or area rugs, and accessories such as wall art and throw pillows.
A neutral background in listing photos allows the buyer to remain focused on size, layout, and how the furniture interacts with the space.
Want to learn more about staging? Check out these resources:
Lighting
Is there a bigger turn-off than a 1990’s track light that was white when it was installed but has now yellowed? Then look at the burn marks from three decades of heat, and is it any wonder why the buyer thinks that the house feels older and more dated than it actually is?
While you or I might not know the black and white wires from the green and red ones, installing light fixtures is actually quite simple. This is one of the most cost-effective upgrades in any home and it has a significant impact.
No buyer out there covets a dark home, nor does any home show well with burnt-out bulbs or badly lit basements.
By adding more lighting, brighter bulbs, and new fixtures, it shows the house in the best possible light, metaphorically and literally.
We also recommend removing ceiling fan lights from most bedrooms as they’re often out of style, they shrink the ceilings (making the rooms feel smaller), and hint to the buyer pool that there are issues with air flow throughout the home. Not to mention I haven’t met a ceiling fan that actually has decent light.
Always defer to the brightest solution when deciding what should stay and what should go!
There is certainly a benefit to preparing your home for sale well in advance. No matter what time of year you want to sell, we have you covered with tips for preparation:
- How to Prepare for a Spring Home Sale in the Winter
- How to Prepare for the Fall Real Estate Market
- Pros and Cons of Selling Your Home in the Winter
Kitchen Cabinets
Contrary to popular belief, painting kitchen cabinets does not require the doors to be removed from the cabinets, separated from the hardware and hinges, and “sprayed” off site. Sure, this is one way to paint existing kitchen cabinetry, but a great painter can do this on-site.
Every year, we paint kitchen cabinets in dozens of listings, not only because the existing paint colours are out of style, but also because it’s the best (and only) way to repair scratched, chipped, or water-damaged doors.
The kitchen is the focal point of any home, house or condo, and some buyers are turned off from the kitchen photos alone. A refresh of the cabinetry is cost-effective and can often be done in a single day.
We’ve covered a lot of ground about what to repair and update when selling your home, but did you know there are some things you shouldn’t fix during a home sale?
Kitchen Counters
Raise your hand if you like black granite counters? How about that bevelled or live edge to the counter, or worse yet, that round style that made bar stools impossible to place?
Styles of kitchen countertops have come and gone faster than just about any aspect of design, and along with the kitchen cabinets, your countertops can deter buyers before they ever enter the home.
Good thing replacing them is so simple!
Installing new kitchen counters is as simple as picking a style, having them measured, manufactured, and installed. All you need to do is write a cheque!
The popularity of quartz and Caesarstone counters has risen in recent years, and the lower cost is highly attractive. Many of our clients have refreshed their kitchens in the pre-staging process along with adding a new stainless steel undermount sink, faucet, or water filtration system.
Investing money in your kitchen with a new counter will always benefit your bottom line on offer night.
Bathroom Vanities
You know how kitchen appliances like stoves and dishwashers are always sold in “standard” twenty-four or thirty-six inch widths? Well, bathroom vanities work a lot like that as well.
Odds are, no matter where you live, you’ve got a standard vanity width, and that makes replacing it all the more easier.
Many people look at a bathroom vanity and see a cabinet and a counter, much like you would with a kitchen. But vanities are sold off the rack at places like Home Depot and Rona.
Any basic contractor can uninstall an existing vanity, take the new one out of the box, and install a sleek, modern faucet in a couple of hours.
If you’re in a condo, you can remove that awful builder-grade mirror that’s glued to the drywall, paint the wall, and add a flashy new mirror from HomeSense or even Wayfair.
And as we noted above, light fixtures are also simple to replace, and any builder-grade bathroom light fixture is just dying to be upgraded.
See our staging in real life with some of our TRG Case Studies here:
- TRG Case Study: The Big House
- TRG Case Study: The Starter Home
- TRG Case Study: The Luxury Condo
- TRG Case Study: The Student Rental to Starter Home
Runners On The Stairs
The staircase between the main and second floors gets as much wear-and-tear as virtually any area of the home, and it’s often with rushed footsteps that deliver big impact. Is it any wonder why the wood is so scratched and the runners are so worn?
Removing existing runners means either cleaning and re-staining the stairs or removing the glue residue underneath, so why not just replace the runners altogether?
Custom runners can be expensive, but don’t be afraid to look online for some cheap and cheerful solutions that will look good in listing photographs and pass the eye-test during buyer viewings, even if they aren’t the same quality as what you might install in your new home.
Remember, these pre-listing repairs are an element of staging. We’re trying to showcase the house, not renovate for the new home owners.
Pressure-Washing & Painting Decks
Have you ever noticed how a deck with sixty-some-odd planks always has two that are rotted right through?
With an aging deck, replacing those three boards alone will make them look seriously out of place. So why not replace the damaged boards, pressure-wash the entire deck, and then add a fresh coat of exterior paint overtop to make all the boards look uniform?
Even a trained eye will never know the difference from board-to-board, and the deck itself will look brand-new.
Toronto winters are long, hard, and cold. When buyers come out from hibernation in the spring, they look at summer features, such as a spacious back deck, as a major selling feature.
Give them a reason to fantasize about new patio furniture and summer barbecues with friends and family!
Know When to Stop
We have a saying when it comes to pre-staging improvements: “There’s always something else that can be added to the list”. With a long enough lead time, you could probably upgrade and renovate each and every aspect of the house, but in reality, time and money are finite resources.
The improvements we’ve just described represent the projects that we take on more than any others when listing homes for sale in this market, and they’re also the most cost-effective, simplest, and easiest to implement.
And who knows, you might just learn a thing or two about renovating and find some inspiration for your new home while you’re at it!
Thinking about selling your home but unsure where to start? Get in touch with Toronto Realty Group, we’re always happy to talk you through it! Reach out today via the form on this page, by calling us at 416.642.2660, or by emailing us at admin@torontorealtygroup.com.
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