Here’s the second installment in our series called Time to Refresh: Suburban Tri Level!
Each post will highlight a property that our brokerage has refreshed, and will give you achievable, actionable, and affordable tips that you can use on your own property, whether it is for sale or not!
This week’s refresh is this suburban tri level:
This home is in a super desirable area within walking or biking distance to a historic old town, as well as very highly rated schools. It may be obvious where we are going with this – we envisioned this home as a perfect landing spot for a family, and framed our refresh accordingly.
Let’s Get Started!
Let’s begin with the elephant in the room – the landscaping. Most of our tips are budget-friendly, but in this case, the landscaping clearly needed some attention, especially as families are spending much more time at home! This home got a major boost in curb appeal and backyard utility from the addition of new sod, some major pruning and weeding, and addition of river rock borders. We also power washed the concrete patio and walkways and added some color and seating. Note: in this case the sod was necessary because the home was slated to hit the market. If you are planning on selling your home and your yard needs some work, start early by adding some grass seed and extra TLC to avoid the sticker shock of major landscaping.
Check out the inviting new spaces:
The eagle-eyed viewer will notice some additional changes. As mentioned in our first refresh post (Beach Cottage Refresh), we love adding a pop of color by painting the front door – here we painted it a cheery blue to contrast with the brown exterior of the home. We also made some repairs to window screens and the front porch – don’t forget the little details that give the buyer the impression that the home was well taken care of!
Safari Tip: Help Buyers Envision How To Use Unconventional Spaces
If the home you are refreshing is going to be for sale, one thing to consider is how you might help a potential buyer envision how to use flex spaces. In this instance, the home had a large utility shed adjacent to the home. Of course it can be used as a tool shed or for storage, but with current events we wanted to think outside the box a bit. In the last few weeks, the announcement was made that schools in the area will be doing all remote learning due to COVID, so we wanted to envision the shed as a small classroom/outdoor learning space or office.
Here’s the result:
After a thorough cleaning, we sprayed the inside of the shed white, added an outdoor rug, some classroom furniture, and voila! A usable space!
Clean Baby Clean
To wrap up the refresh we wanted to home to look like a clean slate for the potential buyer. We painted the walls white to complement the white kitchen, cleaned the carpets, and deep cleaned all the indoor fixtures. Easy tip: clean the air conditioning unit and furnace… the impression of cleanliness and care really does matter!
Though the bathrooms in this home could use an update, we did not recommend that the seller do anything beyond a deep clean. There are two reasons for this. Large updates that hinge on personal taste may not get you return on your investment, and buyers may actually WANT to make those design decisions themselves. Sometimes the aim of a revamp is to show the home in its best light while keeping in mind the needs of the likely buyer.
How do you know you have a successful refresh? The home is already under contract! Does your home need a bit of a refresh? We would be happy to help you find your budget-friendly inspiration – give us a call!