A few years back, we sold this starter home to clients of ours who we helped make the big jump from living in a condo to the world of living in a freehold home.
The house had a lot to like, and a lot of charm. Located in a desirable neighbourhood, this one-hundred-year-old home with a sensible floor plan had quick access to the best of the city. Perfect for a young couple or family, it also offered the potential for a secondary income, featuring a basement with a floor plan and a separate entrance ideal for a basement rental unit. However, life happens. Our clients unexpectedly got a fantastic opportunity to relocate, and after only a year were faced with the decision of what to do with the house, and how. With the goal of maximizing money in our client’s pockets, and doing so in a timely and efficient manner, we were excited about the challenge and eager to get to work.
First Impressions
From our first walk through here, it’s clear that this home has value – between its location in a desirable neighbourhood, the potential for supplementary income, and its accessible price-point relative to many of the multi-million dollar homes just around the corner – this home has buyers. With that said, we mentioned it was a one-hundred-year-old home, and while it certainly had been updated throughout the years, it initially lacked a fresh and polished look. We knew we had to present the space better to stand out amongst some of the newer homes that potential buyers could find for a higher price point in the neighbourhood, or in some nearby neighbourhoods that might have offered more size for the same price.
Expectations and Approach
It’s important to remember, our clients purchased this home only a year prior. They had done so knowing all the strengths of the home, but also being aware of the areas for improvement. They purchased this property bought to be a long-term home for themselves and their growing family and were going to work against some of these changes over time, but as mentioned unexpected career opportunities moved them out of the city after being in this home for only a year.
I mention this for two reasons:
One, the entire process we’re about to outline was facilitated by our team and partners on behalf of the sellers while they were living in their new home outside of the country.
Two, in this specific case our renovations and work were critical not only for the typical benefits of listing a clean, well-staged, and in good-shape home, but it was particularly impactful as it allowed us to bring this to the market looking to be a new and changed product, rather than a re-hash of a listing from only one year prior. Despite our clients having very legitimate reasons to sell, this can inevitably bring some buyer skepticism and questions. By demonstrating the value our sellers had added to the home in the short time they owned it, we mitigated those buyer concerns while also having something to speak to regarding the quality of the listing. The context of the market had also changed. While the clients bought this in a red-hot seller’s market, the year had seen that market balance out significantly, and putting our best foot forward here was crucial to facilitating a quick resolution, and optimizing the financial results.
Budget
As the saying goes, you have to spend money to make money. The sellers were aware of this and knew that a modest investment from the outset would maximize the returns in the end. With that said, it was a quick turnaround after purchasing their forever home, so doing this work as efficiently as possible, both with regard to time and money spent, was a priority. In a time when contractors and other labour work was hard to come by, and when it was found it was only available at a significant premium, we were able to help our clients connect with our partners, which allowed them to get started on the project only a week after we began, and do so at a price that was about 25% under what they were expecting, and even more cost-friendly when compared to the going rate for the work at the time.
Execution
So we got to work! The bones of this house were excellent, so we were able to focus on working against components of the house that would increase the functionality of the home, and things that would make the home stand out more aesthetically. All of this was done with an intention of maximizing the return on investment of the work. Working within a budget, we asked ourselves: what choices could we make that added the most value to the house in comparison to the cost of the work?
As with almost any home, and here is no different; the best place to invest some time and money before you sell is in your kitchen, the heart of any home. The kitchen offered a very functional layout which was part of an open-concept main floor, and we knew this was going to be a huge selling feature of the space. Given that, we really wanted to highlight that, but the finishes currently left something to be desired. The countertop and backsplash were dark and dated, and the hood fan/microwave in the kitchen had been torn out by a previous owner. All of this was replaced and renovated by our partners for the sellers in a period of fewer than two weeks.
I think it’s important to highlight our intention wasn’t about creating a luxury kitchen by spending a huge amount of money on the renovation, but rather showcasing to the buyer pool the potential here and providing a turnkey space someone could move right into. Looking at our before and after photos, it’s clear to see the difference made.
The same strategy applied to the bathrooms, we were looking to maximize the return on investment here, and rather than fully gut and renovate the older finishes, we removed a wall-mounted storage unit to open up the space, and added a new glass exterior to the shower/tub. This further made the space larger, while also giving it a cleaner and more modern look.
Another easy fix that we often recommend is light fixtures, and here we replaced some older ceiling fans and lights with flush mounts, and many times we bring in some more modern and “en vogue” fixtures also. While this can be relatively inexpensive, it often appears to the buyer as a significant financial upgrade and makes the space look more sophisticated, up-to-date and fresh.
While kitchens and bathrooms tend to offer the highest ROI, and often are where we do the majority of our pre-listing work, not every listing requires this much work (or any “renovation” work at all)… but at a bare minimum we’ll want to de-clutter, deep clean, and paint your property before selling – as this is the easiest and highest return on investment – if you’re working with another agent and do nothing else at all, make sure your property is clean and freshly painted before it goes to market. This presents the property to the buyer in a way they can visualize themselves living in the space and makes the decision to purchase as turnkey as possible. It’s difficult for most buyers to imagine themselves living in a home with purple walls while stepping over kids’ toys, in a kitchen with dishes on the counter from the night prior.
For this specific property, we did go a step further. Perhaps the best feature of this home was the vintage pine flooring, but time had not been kind to these beauties. We had our team fix up the floor where necessary, and then refinish and stain the floors to make them look brand new. It’s a more ambitious endeavour than some buyers want or need to take, but you can really see the difference this made in making the space look special. Finally, you remember that potential basement apartment I had mentioned. When the buyers purchased the home, the plumbing in the basement for the roughed-in kitchen was exposed and uncapped, and the gas meter was also exposed. While we didn’t want to remove these and take out the opportunity for the buyer to imagine the possibility, we did want to clean up the look in an effort to make the basement appear truly complete and show both a single-use potential as well as an easy conversion to a rental unit. Ultimately, we had the plumbing capped and boxed in, and the same was done for the gas meter, improving the flow of the basement while still not removing any possibility a buyer could see in the basement.
Result
And here we are, a finished product is generally the only thing the market ever sees – and in this case, we have a charming 3 Bed, 2 Bath family home in the heart of the city, specifically the prestigious Annex neighbourhood. I’m sure you’re curious about the results – that’s why we do what we do – and in the end, we had a quick resolution at a price that made our sellers more than happy, particularly considering the changing market they were operating in! A moderate investment helped the property stand out from both its previous listing only a year prior, and, more importantly from the competing options in the neighbourhood and around the city that it was competing with. All this was done while our clients were getting settled into a new city in a new country, and was done speedily and under budget. As humbly as possible, this is the work we do that really makes me proud, and is what I believe to be the best example of the value our team can add, and how we actually do things differently.
Project Takeaway
No matter what the product, whether it’s a $500,000 entry-level condo or a 5 Bedroom mansion in Midtown, it’s critical to do what needs to be done, in order to thoroughly prepare your home for the market. It’s an age-old adage, but in the case of listing properties it really is true. If you put in the work, you’ll realize the results.
When it comes to Real Estate, too many corners are cut, and tasks are left half-done or not taken on at all. Far too often I see listings of great properties, or properties with massive potential, wasted by sellers and/or the agents presenting them by not doing what is required to maximize the marketability of the home, and in turn, maximize the sale price.
The truth is, it really does pay off to put in the effort, and for your largest investment – and one that’s tax-free to boot, we can’t understand why anyone would do anything but the best and hardest work. We believe that, and we put that philosophy into every listing, for every client, and every single day we come to work.
If you’re interested in discussing a listing preparation, your property, or frankly chatting about anything regarding real estate or otherwise, please feel free to reach out at any time. We’re always happy to chat and hope to add value and entertainment to every conversation we have. That’s how we try to be different. Let us prove it to you.
We are Bosley – Toronto Realty Group, and we actually do things differently.
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