59 Weston - Daly City

Site Conditions

• Yards in both the front and back were a mess
• Interior felt disjointed with three different types of flooring
• Dark colors throughout the home made spaces feel small and outdated 

Results of Our Work​​​​​​​

• ​​​​​​​11 offers received
• Listed for $1M, sold for $1.518M, $519,000 over asking
• ROI at least 334%, ($47,945 investment in resurfacing produced an additional $160,000 in seller profit), staging $3,900

Keep It Clean and Simple
Like many sellers, the owners of this single-family home in the Westlake 1, Olympic neighborhood of Daly City assumed costly renovations would be needed to sell it. We recommended a more cost-effective approach to achieving a simple, clean look.

They were skeptical, which is why it took nine months and six proposal revisions before they were ready to list—in the dead of summer. Not ideal. But as always when we believe in a property, we took the challenge head-on.

The home felt very disjointed. The lower level bathroom and bedroom were painted in dark colors that made the home feel smaller and outdated. We needed to repaint walls and surfaces in bright, contemporary colors to open up the perception of space.

Rooms had different flooring materials, and the staircase had a third flooring type. We needed to bring all the areas of the home into a clean, contemporary condition. Rather than a costly refinishing of the old, unattractive hardwood, we simply overlaid it with a matte finish, wide plank flooring to mimic a luxury wooden appearance.

After studying each sale in the neighborhood for the past year, Craig determined that home sales were averaging $850/SF (per square foot). He believed that reaching $900/SF was achievable for this 1,550 SF home.

We entertained 11 offers. The highest, at $1.518M or over $979/SF, confirmed Craig was right and then some! Our skeptical sellers became believers that day that whatever owners want for their own homes, buyers will pay top dollar for a property that’s transformed into what they want—a look that’s contemporary, simple and clean.

Front Yard (before)​​​​​​​ The seller had big plans to improve that landscape until Craig advised that would be a waste of her money. He advocated for a simple, clean design that would retain a newly painted home as the centerpiece.

Front Yard (after)​​​​​​​ By brightening up the hue of the groundcover, the home’s presence was improved and our landscaper was successful in washing the stepping stones so they coordinated with the freshly painted neutral colors of the home for a synergistic effect.

Kitchen (before)​​​​​​​ From the maple cabinets to the yellowing red oak flooring, the kitchen felt outdated and off-putting. So much orange! The presence of the additional table spelled “not enough storage” for buyers and didn’t accentuate the possibility of an eat-in kitchen feature.

Kitchen (after)​​​​​​​ We achieved an eat-in kitchen feature by adding the table and benches. All the cabinetry was painted in a light-enhancing, clean white color. The new wide plank luxury flooring finished off the space in elegance.

Fireplace (before)​​​​​​​ Previously, the fireplace was used for candle burning. Hardly what today's buyers are seeking in a wood-burning fireplace of their own.

Fireplace (after)​​​​​​​ By painting out all the varied colored elements at the fireplace surround, including the red brick and off-putting dark gray grout lines, the clean lines of the fireplace and its symmetry of design came to life elegantly and memorably at little expense. Many sellers are hesitant to paint fireplace brick, but the results speak for themselves.

Living Room & Dining Room (from Living Room, before)​​​​​​​ Looking across the living room into the dining room, the home felt disjointed. Craig chose to focus on eliminating the parquet flooring and narrow plank red oak flooring to elevate the home's appeal to families willing to pay a premium.

Living Room & Dining Room (from Living Room, after)​​​​​​​ The addition of the wide plank flooring really made a difference, especially in larger room scenes such as this one. This is an investment that the sellers objected to initially, but eventually came around and made the decision to follow my recommendations.

Dining Room & Living Room (from Dining Room, before)​​​​​​​ Here’s another view of the length of the dining room looking into the living room. For us to capture the very highest bids, we had to focus on the subtleties. While it was tough for sellers to envision, the orange, brown, and gold had to be eliminated.

Dining Room & Living Room (from Dining Room, after)​​​​​​​ The sellers were very reluctant to invest in the flooring. Almost everything else they eventually agreed with, especially after they’d seen our other successes. The end result was very well received by buyers and achieved just the impact we were seeking.

Bathroom (before)​​​​​​​ This second bathroom was painted dark blue, and it felt out of place. What we envisioned was painting the bathroom white and adding a much larger wall-mounted mirror to improve the perception of the room. Craig added lines to the photo to illustrate the new mirror placement.

Bathroom (after)​​​​​​​ A coat of paint, a wall-mounted mirror and a new light fixture were all the changes required to transform this bathroom. The new wide plank flooring coordinated nicely with the existing shower tile. It wasn’t Craig’s first choice in color, but it worked out for the best!

Stairway Flooring (before)​​​​​​​ Notice the dark rusty nail stains? These dark spots generally penetrate the wood beyond the surface. Therefore, the floors would have to be stained a color “value” at least equal to or darker than the spots for a consistent color. Our stager advised against such a dark color.

Stairway Flooring (after) The installation of wide plank luxury flooring made a difference throughout the home. More importantly, it served to effectively tie all areas of the home together. The lighter, brighter coloration was refreshing and gave the home a contemporary, uplifting look throughout.

Backyard (before)​​​​​​​ The yard was troubling. Nothing about this otherwise prime outdoor space was appealing, which left us with a lot to accomplish to potentially drive the price of this home higher. Can you imagine living here, foregoing peace and good design for whatever this is?

Backyard (after) The dingy wooden planks were power-washed to bring back a bit of life to them. The groundcover added appeal at very little cost. We painted the concrete slabs a unifying color because there had been three separate concrete pours, each with a differing texture and coloration. This result required very little time and expense. Buyers could now envision family gatherings, entertaining friends, and relaxing outdoor experiences.