Wow! 2018 was a killer year for the Danielle In The City Team. We helped over 40 groups of people make moves and we wanted to share our top 5 sales success stories with you to usher us into 2019.
The home sale stories we’ve chosen all have similar characteristics; they were beautiful yet challenging and their owners were all making big life changes.
- 106 Dupont, Toronto.
This duplex was my biggest challenge of the year, I aided in the construction financing of the renovation and reconfigured the layout. The homeowner wanted to move as soon as possible and so I put the home up for sale at the end of June when renovations were complete. The market was soft at that time and it was a difficult home to sell to people being a split 2/2 duplex on a busier street. We eventually sold in September for a fantastic price of 1.5m to 2 younger couples who saw both the lifestyle and appreciation potential. * The Home was also featured as Toronto Life’s home of the week – making it our first feature in a publication.
Prep work needed: extensive interior construction, painting, new roof, deep cleaning, staging, photography
Days on Market = 96
Challenge – unusual configuration, unique buyer needed
- 22 Amroth, Toronto.
This gorgeous detached home at Woodbine and Danforth had a basement apartment, fantastic location, and lot size but people had trouble seeing past the fact that it didn’t have parking. The homeowners decided they didn’t need all of that space after all and were looking to downsize out of the neighborhood – I had my work cut out for me as we listed early June and it took a month to sell ( that seemed like forever back then). We had an offer date and didn’t get our price but we eventually sold for 1.165m which was what we had hoped for all along.
Prep work needed: landscaping, handyman, cleaning, staging, photography
Days on Market = 24
Challenge = no parking
- 511 Jones, Toronto.
Well, this home didn’t even make it to market – My clients wanted to move their 4 kids to a bigger place in Oakville; Jones is a busier street but the home was GORGEOUS. Aidan, the owner of AC Interior Design did an amazing job at making this Leslieville Semi-detached look effortlessly classy and functional. This home also had a beautiful basement apartment that generated a ton of cash flow. I brought over one of my good friends and her husband to see the place before we went to market and they instantly fell in love with it ( I kinda knew they would). I was able to make the price work for both parties by eliminating one side of the commission to get a deal done – that’s what this business is all about – GETTING THE DEAL DONE; no matter what it takes. We sold for 1.175m because of the commission elimination
The prep work – handyman, painting, staging, cleaning, photography
Days on Market = 0
Challenge = 4 kids, a dog, tight sales price goals
- 10 Laidlaw, Toronto.
This Liberty Village townhome was already at a disadvantage when the week before we went to market a unit with the exact same layout ( and better view) came out. The listing agent ( a friend of mine) was taking offers and none came in – oh boy, what were we going to do? We decided to price it at what we wanted as the homeowner had already purchased a family home in Oakville ( wait, am I moving all my people to Halton now??). The price tag was a little too high for the market so we lowered it to be competitive a week in. What happened next is unbelievable. A third home with exactly the same layout came out and get this; they were holding back offers…. Now I’ve got a unit that’s cheaper than mine, and another one that is way cheaper but holding back – buyers don’t know what to do – but I did. I knew I had to take the first offer that came in or it was going to go to one of the other agents. I negotiated for the best price with what I had and the other homes sat for weeks and weeks with no good offers. My client was a little upset he didn’t get top dollar but he got the highest sale price of the three at $720k and the right closing date.
The Prep work – painting, cleaning, staging, photography
Days on Market = 15
Challenge – two other identical townhome in the same complex, soft market and inferior view
- 18 Florence Wyle Lane, Toronto
South Riverdale has very few affordable condos, townhouses and homes to live in. When we listed this townhome at the end of the Spring we thought selling it would be a walk in the park ( and it kind of was). Unfortunately, the buyer couldn’t close because his home hadn’t sold in the time we needed it to OH NO, – SO, instead of leaving my client to scramble I decided to sell the home to a close family member (saving both sides cash) to save the deal at the eleventh hour. This was another case of doing whatever it takes to get a deal done; you do EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO SAVE THE DEAL.
The Prep work – landscaping, cleaning, photography
Days on market = 30
Challenge – last-minute deal fell through, scrambled to find new buyers.
**2018 brought us a greater appreciation for the tougher sales years and softer markets; we had gotten use to homes selling with ease. This year we improved our home preparation skills, tactics, pricing strategies and negotiations – what an amazing year it was.
If you’re looking to sell your home in 2019 you can count on us to do the best job out there – NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES 😉
