A $1.3 Million Property That Hasn't Received A SINGLE Offer! | The Unsellables | House to Home

[Music] selling a house in today's market can be tricky and when the stakes are high every detail counts as a property expert i know you shouldn't have your house lingering on the market but sometimes getting homeowners to see the light it's half the battle [Music] stephen is a divorced dad who made it big in the high-tech industry and is now following his dreams of becoming an inventor his house has incredible views of lake ontario and is on the market for 1.3 million dollars the problem is it's not selling but that's why we're here to turn this house from unsellable to sellable well i bought the house about four years ago i loved it because the location the locations to die for the selling point is the view i decided a few years ago that i needed to focus on this adventure that i had come up with the idea for my invention is to help deaf people communicate with the rest of the world i'm starting to need capital to move it forward so it's unfortunate i have to sell but i have to sell it to fulfill my dream i'm running out of money all my money is tied up in the house so if i don't sell a house that's a that's a huge problem steven's house is situated on a double lot in the scarborough bluffs an upscale neighborhood that overlooks lake ontario there's only a certain fixed number of waterside properties and stevens has an amazing view on top of that similar-sized houses on this street have been selling between 900 000 to 1.5 million so we know it's not incorrectly priced people should be lining up to buy it but he hasn't received a single offer there's obviously a bit of a problem [Music] hi nice to see you nice to meet you wow that is some view it's a million dollar view it's awesome but the house is still not selling it's been on the market for two months not a single offer not a single offer this is a fantastic room it's quite 70s it's definitely got a retro feel and the wood is quite 70s as well definitely is i think the open plan concept works really well and the nice thing is the paint color is not battling with the view leads the eye straight out into the garden it's beautiful [Music] wow there's a lot of wood in here it doesn't scream 1.3 million this kitchen it needs an update it does need an update so where to next follow me brilliant huh i've never seen a juliet door inside before what is it the door to nowhere no it's it's actually my office here's my office oh i love the floor the original floors very pretty i think we can do something in here you think we can it's a little bit dark almost not with yup nice size room it's a great size room nice neutrally painted i'm not a fan of vertical blinds fairly original so that's the guest bedroom let's check out the master bedroom what a lovely room it's a good size you've got the original floor and you've got an incredible view what more could you ask for well i think we should get out into the garden all right then it's great this looks a little rickety steven steven steven it's just all weed it's awful isn't it right the garden is fantastic but it does have a slight air of dilapidation about it i've tried to weed it's it's just so overgrown wow that is absolutely beautiful we can have margaritas we don't have time we got weeding painting the view from stephen's house is fantastic but for 1.3 million people want more than just a view so if we're going to sell this house we're going to make sure the interior and the gardens wow just as much as the view this house has a lot going for it it's a good size i like the openhang concept but obviously we can't just rely on the view to sell this house there are a few oddities the 1950s kitchen was a bit of a surprise what we need to do is make it livable i'm not talking about a complete redo but we don't want them to go running for the hills when they see it having two bedrooms on this level i don't think is enough because this is the family neighborhood i think if we made the office a bedroom that would be fantastic there's a 70s film but it's also quite a masculine field right here i think we can maybe soften the edges a bit definitely need the feminine touch yes the garden is a fantastic size but what i would say is the million dollar view is slightly obscured so what we want to do is make the garden flow towards the view okay once we've done all this i think this will be a great package with the view with the garden with the interior and then we can have margaritas and look at the view all right when the work is finished stephen has to sell his house so he can put the capital towards his new invention to help the deaf his house has gorgeous views of the lake where the inside lets it down it's tired it's dated it is not family friendly and the garden is full of weeds i've got a meeting now with kim the real estate agent to see what she thinks is going on with the house now what type of bar do you think is going to fall in love with this house what would be nice to see is a family buy it or a couple buy it as opposed to uh the other option would be a builder because the family are going to pay the 1.3 that's right whereas a builder probably pay around a million that's right exactly so from the families what feedback have you had not enough bedrooms on the main level yeah and the kitchen they weren't enthralled with the kitchen at all but they love love love the location love love love that view so those pros have to kind of outweigh those cons so i think three bedrooms upstairs is really really important indeed so once we've made the inside slightly more family-orientated three bedrooms upgraded the kitchen and made the garden a bit tidier that'll make the house sink absolutely yeah okay and then hopefully fingers crossed will generate some proper interest in some offers for sure yeah i think that should do it [Music] steve i wanted to show you a comparable house in the neighborhood that shows well but the problem is your house is so unique it's difficult to find a comparison but i don't think i've done badly with this one so come on in great look forward to this is one of the two sitting rooms in the house it's nice and bright but it's just a touch more feminine a bit more family orientated than your house my knees are feminine touch yes [Music] now you know that one of your house's achilles heels is the kitchen it's putting potential buyers off and you've had feedback from people so you know what it is now this kitchen it's by no means brand new but it shows really well the cupboards they're clean they're fresh new hardware so the 50s kitchen out modern kitchen in all right now i really want to show you the three bedrooms upstairs i know what you're thinking small you're thinking small and you're not wrong so upstairs you have three bedrooms all on the one floor which families want so having three bedrooms on the same floor is a good thing that's why i want to turn the study into a bedroom appealing to the family vote right it's beautiful isn't it it really is the good thing about this house is it's more family orientated slightly smaller and slightly scruffier than your house but it shows really well and this house sold in six days six days six days yep but that should make you feel positive because we're gonna create changes in your house it's gonna make it look fabulous but we do have a lot of work to do let's get to it okay to help us get that fabulous updated look i've called in general contractor anthony sayers anthony is head of construction so he's going to go through the nuts and bolts of what we want to do great great house by the way outdated a little a little but it's it's nice i like the paneling but we need to address it by just painting it out to blend in with the rest of the house going into your kitchen your cabinets are really out there really yeah we'll prime them out paint them make it livable yeah good good and your office i'm gonna take the door out and close it in with glass some nice green glass so that you can still let light through make that a third bedroom it's a great idea let's head outside because we have lots of interesting things going on outside okay first of all i think we need to address the railing it's falling down so we'll just rebuild the whole railing how are we going to landscape the garden so the eye is drawn towards the view we're going to start by landscaping the garden de-weeding it exposing the rock garden that's here and then the other garden we're gonna cut out some of the plants that are there just to open up the view a little bit better right sounds fantastic okay the million dollar view is over there so let's go over i've got a great idea [Music] what we need to do out here is create more of a seating area so we'll do that by putting down some flagstones patio stones we have a lot of work to do so i suggest we get in the house and start [Music] that looks much more sturdy yes it is because uh the original one was nailed and i've screwed everything together screws uh will hold the materials together nails kind of give out over time right i've got new pressure treated pieces of wood what does pressure treated mean it's coated with a special chemical that will help preserve the wood for like 15 to 25 years wow and it's cheaper than cedar so cheap and long-lasting now is it gonna stay this color yes we're not gonna paint it or anything no not yet you have to let pressure treated sit and weather for a full year before you can stain it or paint it because the two woods kind of don't really match at the moment after we finish everything we'll power wash the old wood and hopefully it will kind of blend in to the new stuff well i'll leave you to it looks a million bucks [Music] [Music] building a stone patio takes a few steps first remove the top layer of grass remove a few inches of dirt take this great stuff it's called filter cloth what it does is prevents any weeds from growing through the patio and it will help for water drainage lay your filter cloth over the area and then take this magical stuff it's called screening it's like sand and gravel mixed together use it to level out the pad as much as possible tamp it make it as compact as you can and then put your stones down patio is fairly easy to do you just got to get your hands dirty [Music] the garden is looking so much better we've weeded and taken out the excess shrubbery and that gives the rock garden colour and adds structure to the garden and more importantly they draw the eye to the view i'm really pleased backyards are extremely important especially to young families so whatever dirty work you've got to do to make it look good it will be worth the effort this house is similar in price and presented as nicely on the outside as it is on the inside aside from being superbly decorated this living room is sophisticated and gender neutral the modern decor would appeal to a variety of buyers instead of screaming bachelor pad the same could be said of this elegant dining room where classic styling will catch the attention of potential buyers i always stress that an updated kitchen adds value buyers looking in this price range expect this level of design in a kitchen but whatever price your home is listed at painting your cupboards with a modern palette and updating the hardware is a good place to start [Music] the master bedroom is just as lovely and spacious as stevens but it's been accessorized giving it a higher end feel small details always make a big difference and in this house the attention to detail makes it look like a million bucks steven is laying everything on the line by selling his house to finance his new invention the interior was very dated and the garden was totally overgrown but now we've got rid of the data decor and we've done some serious landscaping i think it's not just the view that looks a million dollars steven's bachelor pad living room needed a bit of a feminine touch so we brightened it up with a paint job and some simple decor accents steven replaced his dated furniture with new pieces versatile enough for him to take wherever he goes the dining room didn't need much work but by simply adding new drapes and an inexpensive light fixture we've given it the ambience which makes people feel at home steven's outdated kitchen was pushing potential buyers off so we freshened up the cupboards with a coat of paint and added new hardware you can't underwhelm buyers expectations with a kitchen that doesn't look like it's worth the price tag but sometimes a simple update is all you need we completely transformed stephen's office into a charming third bedroom which buys expect to see in such a large home trading in those dated vertical blinds for new drapes really makes the feature out of the beautiful window as for that strange door that led to nowhere anthony's idea to replace it with glass worked out beautifully the guest bedroom had all the elements it should but none of the charm it's important to dress a room when you're trying to sell because you don't want space that adds value to seem like an afterthought the master bedroom was already a selling feature but for a million dollars you want it to look as smart as possible so we dress it up with accessories to give it a chic look to match the price tag and as for the biggest selling feature we pulled out all the stops to turn stephen's huge backyard garden into the million dollar oasis it should be the barbecue patio area needed more of a wow factor so we turned it into a fabulous eating spot worthy of summer entertaining the interlocking bricks were weather stained and full of weeds but a thorough clean made them look like new turning this patio into the kind of backyard haven a million dollar pad deserves the dilapidated stairs and railings were unsafe a huge tunnel for potential buyers but anthony's new railing is safe and sound and after a little power wash all the wood blends beautifully making it look like new curb appeal doesn't just apply to front yards you want to make sure the backyard looks just as fab as for all those shrubs blocking the million dollar view our fresh landscaping has added the value that this house needed especially now that everything flows nicely right through to the new flagstone sitting area which is the perfect place to enjoy the vista the entire property now has the look of a million dollar pad and at a grand total of four thousand dollars the money spent will now be money gained when buyers see this house for what it's really worth matching the look to the price is nothing though without a little clever marketing the kitchen is one of the most important features of the house but if you don't have the budget for a full renault a coat of paint and clean surfaces work miracles it's worthwhile considering buyers with families so turn that media room back into a valuable bedroom families love bedrooms in many cases your home is not just bricks and mortar it includes the entire property and if you're blessed with a spectacular view then make the most of it cut down the trees trim the bushes and open the curtains oh the changes are absolutely amazing with people coming through the house they'll see a much more friendly home much more inviting the house and the garden are now on par with the view stephen's house has been updated it's family friendly this place has been transformed it's open house time and i think potential buyers are going to be impressed with the view inside as well as out but there's only one way to find out let's open those doors [Laughter] please lovely to meet you well come on through oh my god wow this is beautiful very spacious sitting room love the fireplace come to the kitchen oh this is cozy well this is an original 1950s kitchen well the cupboards are nice they do have that country feel we could live in it for a while yeah see if we wanted to update it or not it does have that very charming feel to it this is really really nice it's a nice little guest bedroom this used to be a door and the door obviously led on to nowhere so we've put this glass in so you get so much light too yeah this has been done so nice it's so bright and light this is lovely it's nice and open got room for a nice large dresser wow i could handle waking up here every morning this is incredible it's beautiful it's nice and big and that's what i call a real oasis this is beautiful it's a very wide locker it's a double lot which is quite rare so it's pretty special i think it's fabulous beautiful landscaping i feel like i'm in a little garden of eden oh stunning simply stunning okay that does it that's worth the price right here good point the price is 1.3 million dollars they don't make houses like this anymore you'll never find a house like this how would you like it i like that the bedroom's on the same floor how does it compare to other houses you've seen one nicely put together but the backyard is amazing is this something you would consider coming back and having a second look at i think snow yes it's like having a cottage in a house and what it's beautiful so you've been looking for a couple of weeks has does anything compare to this i think so far this is probably the nicest one that we have seen you've got the house you've got the garden and you've got the view you can't go wrong well will you be coming back potentially for a second viewing i almost guarantee you wow i love guaranteed yeah thank you so much it was lovely to meet you so kim what do you think well i think it's lovely big transformation though love it the garden oh that's the coup right there absolutely that's just improved everything the view is wider now all you see are the beautiful sailboats out there it's gorgeous yeah but i definitely think this house is a hundred and ten percent more sellable absolutely i know steve's very very happy and i know it sounds corny but the fact is if he sells this house he's going to be putting money towards an invention that's going to help a lot of people that's right and i have my fingers crossed for a quick sale oh thank you so much i think it's going to happen this house has come such a long way now everywhere i look it's a beautiful view the inside's not dated it's warm and retro which is in keeping with the 1950s feel and the garden it's not overgrown anymore it's structured and gorgeous i think we've taken this house from unsellable to sellable the house definitely has changed it mirrors the view it's a million dollar view it's a million dollar home our hard work creating a newly updated look for steven's house paid off in space when interest levels rose considerably being so close to a sale means he's much nearer to financing his invention and bringing his dream to fruition cheers [Music] you

Channel: House to Home

Views: 449,795

Keywords: DIY home staging, House to Home, attract home buyers, boost property attractiveness, curb appeal improvement, decluttering tips, enhance home value, home design transformation, house auction tips, house flipping, house makeover challenges, house renovation ideas, house transformation TV show, interior design inspiration, listing enhancement, property selling advice, quick house sale, renovation, sell your property quickly, seller tips, selling tips

Id: CUt5FrpWYa8

Length: 21min 21sec (1281 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 16 2022