How a Few Smart Updates Can Completely Change the Way Buyers See a Toronto Home
One of the conversations we regularly have with sellers at Silver Burtnick Milan & Associates is surprisingly simple:
“Do we really need to do anything before we put the house on the market?”
Sometimes the answer is no. But very often, a relatively small investment of time and money can make an enormous difference in how a property presents — especially in a Toronto real estate market where buyers have choices and first impressions matter.
A recent project reminded me just how dramatic that difference can be.
The home already had something you simply cannot manufacture: wonderful Toronto character. Beautiful red brick, arched windows, mature landscaping and the architectural details that make older Toronto houses so appealing.
But it needed a little help. And the transformation didn’t require a six-month renovation or a six-figure budget.
Start With the First Impression
Before a buyer ever sees the kitchen, bathrooms or bedrooms, they see the front of the house.
In this case, the architecture was terrific, but the mature landscaping had become so substantial that it was beginning to hide it.
That is where a professional arborist can make a remarkable difference.
Goodwood Tree Company helped open up the landscaping so that the house could once again become the star. Goodwood is a Toronto-based, fully insured tree-care company specializing in urban residential and commercial tree care. (Goodwood)
Compare the photographs and you can immediately see the point: you don’t necessarily need to change the house. Sometimes you simply need to reveal it.
That matters enormously in real estate photography, online marketing and, most importantly, when a buyer walks up the path for the first time.
BEFORE AFTER
Never Underestimate Paint
Inside a home, fresh paint remains one of my favourite pre-listing improvements.
It is relatively straightforward, immediately noticeable and can make an older property feel brighter, cleaner and better maintained.
For this project, we turned to WOW 1 DAY PAINTING Toronto.
Their Toronto operation handles interior and exterior painting as well as trim, doors, drywall repairs and other projects. Their model uses larger crews to complete many projects quickly — exactly the sort of approach that can be valuable when preparing a Toronto home for sale and working against a listing deadline. (WOW 1 DAY PAINTING)
Fresh paint doesn’t have to make a house look brand new. In fact, with a character home, that isn’t necessarily the objective.
The goal is to make it look fresh, cared for and ready for its next owner.
Clean Means More Than Clean
Then comes something sellers occasionally underestimate: the deep clean.
There is an enormous difference between a house that’s been cleaned and one that’s been professionally deep cleaned.
Windows, baseboards, corners, floors, kitchens and bathrooms all contribute to a buyer’s subconscious impression of how well a home has been maintained.
Deep Cleaning Toronto offers one-time deep cleaning, residential cleaning and move-in/move-out cleaning throughout Toronto and the GTA.
Before photography and showings, this can be money very well spent.
Buyers may never say, “What beautifully cleaned baseboards!”
But they absolutely notice when a house feels fresh.
BEFORE AFTER
And Then There Were the Stairs…
The staircase in these photographs is perhaps my favourite example.It wasn’t a glamorous renovation project. The existing flooring was dated and damaged, but replacing everything professionally would have added cost and potentially delayed getting the property ready.
The solution? Peel-and-stick tiles from Amazon.ca.
Take a look at the before-and-after photographs. Is this a $20,000 renovation? Of course not.
That’s precisely the point.
A simple cosmetic improvement made the staircase look dramatically cleaner, more finished and more presentable. It removed something that could have distracted buyers and replaced it with a much better first impression.
BEFORE During AFTER
AND OF COURSE, VIRTUAL STAGING
Preparing a Home Isn’t Always About Renovating
After decades of selling Toronto real estate, I have learned that preparing a property for sale is not about spending the most money.
It’s about knowing where to spend it.
Painting. Deep cleaning. Pruning overgrown landscaping. Removing clutter. Changing lightbulbs. Repairing something visibly broken. And yes, sometimes even an inexpensive box of peel-and-stick tiles.
Individually, these may seem like minor improvements. Together, they change the story a house tells.
And in today’s Toronto real estate market, that story matters. Buyers often make their first decision about a property while looking at photographs on their phone. By the time they walk through the front door, they have already formed an opinion.
Our job at Silver Burtnick Milan & Associates, Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, is not simply to put a property on MLS®. It is to help our sellers determine what should be done — and equally importantly, what doesn’t need to be done — before we bring that property to market.
Sometimes the best advice is a major improvement. Sometimes it’s paint, a great cleaning crew and an arborist. And sometimes it’s a box of peel-and-stick tiles.
What a difference a day makes.
