The Sell: a humble little Mimico house gets a sweet mini-makeover
The seller: David Young, a 45-year-old manager at Bombardier.
The property: A 1,000-square-foot two-bedroom off Royal York Road, where the recently divorced David and his five-year-old son, Andrew, had lived for just nine months.
The story: Young bought the house to give his son a backyard and himself a chance to use some of his handyman skills. It was perfect for the two of them. Then things between Young and a new girlfriend started getting serious, and they were talking about living together. Since he had Andrew and she had a seven-year-old son, they needed a bigger house.
The prep: They found a place in Mississauga—three bedrooms, twice the square footage—but with finances stretched to the limit, Young needed to sell the old house fast. His agent priced it at market value, and they got only one serious offer in three weeks. Frustrated, Young went back to the agent he bought his first house with, Andrea Bock. She dropped the list price by $30,000, painted the kitchen wainscoting white, switched the dining room furniture with the living room furniture for better flow, upgraded some light fixtures, threw down some area rugs, and washed the windows. “It was staged so nicely,” says Young, “we almost didn’t want to move.”
The offers: Bock held two open houses on a weekend in September, baking apples to infuse the place with a homey scent. By the following Tuesday, they had three offers, the highest $40,000 over asking (and $10,000 more than the previous agent’s list price). After some haggling on the closing date—Young wanted it snappy—the deal was done the same day.
. After some haggling on the closing date—Young wanted it snappy—the deal was done the same day.){kind=link}
Where are the photos!?
As much as I agree that photos would be helpful, the message behind this article is simple; make your house look pretty, it sells for more money. This is exactly why I got out of real estate. People will actually make six-figure decisions on a whim – and, as this case proved, five-figure decisions based literally on nothing more than washed windows, a bucket of paint, some lights, some area rugs, rearranged furniture, and an oven tray of apples. Nothing that a few hundred dollars and a trip to Canadian Tire can’t do.
This is what makes money change hands, ladies and gentlemen.
Photos would be nice to see the “transformation”
it appears the after pictures are on the Realtor’s Facebook page, Andrea Bock if you want to see, it is nicely done.
LOL! I went on a few dates with this guy a couple of years ago and he seemed totally flaky so it’s no surprise he moved in with his “new girlfriend” after only a few months. Kudos to his agent with her staging though; it looks great and surely got him out of a bit of a tight spot after committing to a new place before selling this. Thank goodness he could take advantage of the crazy Toronto real estate market!
Southern123 – think you should keep your comments about people off this. Very immature and inappropriate