Do you have a favourite home renovation show? Do you have Realtor.ca bookmarked? Do you find yourself browsing home design ideas on Instagram? If so, you are not alone. So do the potential buyers of your home!
Today’s homebuyer is more discerning, more informed, and busier than buyers in the past. And your house, once on the market, is no longer simply competing with other listings in the neighbourhood, but rather the idea of the perfect home fostered and perpetuated by media, social and traditional. Sellers must meet aesthetic and design expectations if they want to meet or exceed their asking price.
Grace & Co. is part of your community, and as such has a unique understanding of the market. Knowing exactly what features and finishes buyers are willing to pay a premium for is a hallmark of Grace & Co.’s success, a knowledge they imbue in each of their sellers. If the homeowner is interested, the Grace & Co. team will identify what strategic improvements can be made to their home that will sell for more money, faster. Clients are presented with a personalized report, custom-fitted to their home and focusing on items that will at least double a client’s return- although the real goal is a 3-4 times tax-free return on investment.
Wait-tax-free return? That’s right: When you sell your primary residence in Canada, the gains you realize are completely tax-free. This is likely the largest tax loophole most Canadians will ever benefit from. So then, when the time comes to sell your home, you should be looking to maximize your returns. Investing in Grace & Co.’s tailored and customized holistic approach is the first step in ensuring the wealth of your investment.
Upon collaborating with their experts on the perfect pre-market plan, Sheila Shabsove, Design Manager at Grace & Co., obtains quotes for all the parts and labour. Then the budget is presented to the clients for their approval. If they sign off, Sheila and the team manages every aspect through to completion. It’s a truly turn-key sales experience.
Often these strategic improvements can be as simple as a fresh coat of paint, replacing brass door knobs from the 90s, or adding a tile backsplash in a kitchen. But some homeowners want to see larger returns, so they tackle larger high-value items such as updates to their kitchens and bathrooms.
In one recent listing on Elmer Ave, the home was only 10 years old but the kitchen and bathrooms were looking dated. Our clients had just undergone a full high-end kitchen remodel which then made the bathrooms appear even older! So, attention was paid to updating the bathrooms – the second most important rooms for resale, besides the kitchen!
In the main floor powder room, the walls were lightened up, the vanity painted and new pulls, faucet, counter, mirror and light fixture were all installed. In the primary ensuite, it was just new pulls, faucet, mirror and light.
Throughout the house, we focussed on brightening the home up to feel more spacious and airy, with a new coat of paint. With light fixtures, inspiration was taken from the gorgeous kitchen pendants, and many lights throughout the home were updated – making the 10-year-old home feel like a new build. This was most evident in the primary suite, but the same went for many rooms in the home.
The result? We sold their home for $200,000 more than it was valued at the time we first met the homeowners and in only 2 days!
While Grace & Co.’s design services are not for every home seller, it is a complimentary service that is a unique offering for anyone interested in squeezing every dollar from the sale of their home. And, as a bonus, when you buy a home with a Grace & Co. Realtor, you have access to our Design Team to help you carry out similar improvements to your new home – so you can enjoy them for years, instead of doing all the work right before you sell!