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ALLYSON SCOTT

REALTOR®

Oakville Reno: Before & After

The process of decluttering and renovating a home to sell can be overwhelming, which I can attest to myself. Recently, a client faced a situation that most people would find daunting: her mom passed away, leaving behind an enormous home in Oakville filled with belongings and a long list of necessary renovations. She knew it was going to be a gruelling process that would take many months, and the home wouldn’t be ready to list until winter. We decided to do an summer photo shoot in advance, just so we could properly showcase the beautiful yard and gardens in the future listing.

This is an excellent idea for anyone considering a winter sale. If you have lovely gardens or a back yard pool, it’s important to have photographs of these features on hand! Just look at the difference the season makes in these similar views:

The house was not only filled with belongings, it was also filled with dogs. My client’s mother had spent her life breeding beautiful miniature dachshunds, and there was one last litter that arrived just in time for my garden shoot. I couldn’t resist taking a few cute puppy photos!

My client and her family continued the difficult and emotional 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 final step was organizing an estate auction of sorted items through MaxSold, a company that helps with running online auctions and clearing items from the house. Incredibly, the home was finally emptied and ready for staging. The professionals at Noble Designs did a wonderful job keeping the aesthetic of each room clean, bright, and contemporary.

You won’t believe your eyes when you see some of the before and after photos, showing how successful everyone’s efforts were in preparing the home! It’s usually a good idea to neutralize any strong colours in a home that can overpower the space. A feature wall can work, but an entirely green foyer did not!

It’s always hard to determine how far to go with renovations in order to maximize the return. In this case, the client decided it wasn’t necessary to completely gut the kitchen. A new paint job, new furniture, and new appliances certainly gave it an upgrade!

It’s hard to believe this is the same bathroom. From completely cluttered, to serenely spa-like!

In the living room, the strong colours, dated furniture, and overstuffed space were all changed to make it feel bigger, brighter, and more contemporary.

Equally shocking was this change to the family room, which went from country charm to chic!

And finally, the enormous basement that had been almost impassable with piles of stuff was now a clean, blank slate. The endless possibilities made this a big hit with potential buyers!

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 this case, 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. This property was listed at $1,799,900, received multiple offers, and was sold for $1,930,000! 

Congratulations, and thank you for choosing me to help you maximize your financial return on this project!

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