Approach

The sales strategy was to take advantage of the desirability of the school district and update the house to make it one of the most attractive properties in the area. The owners had already identified their next home and moved out all of the belongings that they intended to keep. Our team included a Castellana Realty Broker, Castellana Homes General Contractor, and our preferred stager. We met with the homeowner and reviewed each room and the exterior in detail, building a comprehensive list of repairs, updates and staging solutions.

Each item was evaluated critically to ensure that money put into preparing the home was returned through increased price and/or decreased market time. The major areas of focus were:

1. replace the worn out carpeting
2. replace the damaged kitchen flooring
3. repaint the interior of the home
4. repair anything in the home that was not working and fix several builder defects
5. remove the damaged gazebo and debris around the home
6. remove remain belongings and stage the home to sell

All updates and repairs were performed by Castellana Homes over a two week period.

The final work plan included:

1. Power-wash concrete patio in backyard
2. Clean and paint one coat on arbor and railing in backyard
3. Remove and haul damaged gazebo and other debris around house
4. Repair loose, broken tiles at front walkway
5. Re-seed backyard lawn
6. Clean front porch including light fixture, door, and door hardware
7. Install new carpeting throughout house
8. Clean and repair damaged flooring behind dishwasher
9. Replace flooring in Kitchen, re-set transition moldings
10. Pull back vinyl flooring at Master Bath shower and kids' bath tub, clean underlayment, re-lay flooring
11. Repair broken newel posts at base of stairway
12. Patch and paint interior walls
13. Touch up interior trim as necessary
14. Sand and finish damaged side of kitchen island
15. Remove damaged built-in cabinets in Family Room
16. Replace light bulbs as necessary
17. Troubleshoot and repair gas fireplaces at Master Bedroom and Family Room
18. Fix Master Bath shower door so it closes properly
19. Remove broken mini-blind in family room
20. Clean windows, doors and screens
21. Haul items in garage and remaining in house
22. Switch hot/cold valves in master shower (incorrectly installed by builder)
23. Repair drywall after hot/cold valves switched
24. Replace floor guides on closet doors in upstairs bedrooms
25. Fix torn screen in upstairs bedroom
26. Replace door stop on upstairs front bedroom door
27. Replace all missing electrical covers
28. Replace air filter in furnace
29. Clean and repair gas appliances in family and master bedroom
30. Replace smoke detectors in bedrooms and hall
31. Replace rear sliding door screen
32. Remove and dispose of second satellite dish (incorrectly installed)
33. Tighten leaking sink drain connections in upstairs bath
34. Perform roof repairs as indicated in roof inspection
35. Route plumbing vent to exterior of roof (incorrectly installed by builder)
36. Add flashing and roof tiles around new plumbing vent
37. Stage home throughout

Result

This home looked like a model when it was ready for the market. The home was promoted with a heavy mix of online and newspaper advertising, broker tours and open houses. It sold within days with multiple offers easily setting a new price point in the neighborhood at well over $1,400,000.

Pre-update projections
45 days on the market, $1,250,000 sale price

Castellana Realty results
7 days on the market, $1,444,000 sale price

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