posted by Allyson Scott

This Success Story is different than most of our previous tales: instead of focusing on our clients’ experience getting into or moving up in the market, this one tells a story of a property transformation prior to listing. You won’t believe your eyes!

Sadly, our client lost her mother at the end of 2020, and knew she would need to list the Oakville home that her mom and aunt had shared for over twenty years. It would be a multi-pronged project that involved helping her aunt find a new home, decluttering the existing home, and doing a lot of renovations to get it ready to sell. She thought it might be ready by the spring of this year, but had the excellent foresight to request that I do a photo shoot in the summer of 2021 to showcase the yard and gardens!

It was an excellent decision on her part. Just look at the difference the season makes in similar exterior views!

Our client’s mother had spent her life breeding beautiful miniature dachshunds, and there was one last long-planned litter that arrived just in time for my garden shoot day last summer. I couldn’t resist taking a few cute puppy photos!

 

The process of decluttering and sorting of belongings was well underway by then, so the next step for our team was to find a suitable home for our client’s aunt. It wasn’t a typical downsizing situation, because she still wanted a spacious property with character and a big yard like the home she’d loved. Jody faced that challenge head on, and they eventually found a great property in Peterborough last fall – plus managed to beat out several other buyers on an offer night who felt the same way! At 2.5 storeys, 5 beds, 4 baths, and filled with original woodwork and charm, it was an incredible purchase at $1,311,000!

Our clients continued the difficult, emotional, and gruelling task of deciding what to keep, sell, and donate from the home’s contents. They emptied rooms, using the enormous basement as a repository for future decisions, and began their many projects. They removed wallpaper, patched drywall, replaced damaged wood, replaced some flooring, swapped out light fixtures, and painted, among many other things.

The home was completely emptied and ready for staging by the professionals at Noble Designs, who did a wonderful job keeping the aesthetic of each room clean, bright, and contemporary.

Check out the final results compared to the starting points:

This project reminded us of the big move Jody’s mom made to Australia a few years ago, and the months-long renovation extravaganza we completed prior to listing her home in Caledon. If you haven’t gotten your fill of transformation photos, check out that previous blog here!

It’s always a big decision, weighing the option to list a home in “as-is” condition vs putting in time and money to do updates and show it in its best light. In both of these cases, since the contents of the home had to be dealt with one way or another, it was the right decision to proceed with some renovations and do staging with a blank slate. We listed this property at $1,799,900, and sold it for $1,930,000!

Congratulations to our clients, and thank you for choosing our team to help you maximize your financial return!