Madison Valley Townhouse Refresh
The Highlights
In October 2017, Get Happy at Home Real Estate Team helped our clients purchase this home for $770,000
Happy at Home Contracting did $60,000 of work on this townhouse
In April 2022, Get Happy at Home Real Estate Team sold the home for $1,061,000
The neighboring unit (mostly original, good condition) had sold for $755,000 4 months before
The Story
We initially helped our buyer clients purchase this townhouse. They were hoping to buy a brand new townhouse, but the homes they liked were out of their budget. We found this townhouse in Seattle’s Madison Valley neighborhood with a fantastic location and a great floor plan, and our clients bought it for $770,000.
Of the huge benefits of our contracting team is the fact that we are also real estate agents. So as Matt toured homes with our clients, he was constantly letting them know how he envisioned they would be able to update the home, how much it would likely cost, and how much the home would likely be worth when all was said and done. Some houses they toured would have required way too much work and money to have the impact they wanted.
To make this townhouse feel like the “new” townhouse our clients were hoping for, they hired us to do a total refresh package. After our clients were under contract, we went to the house to assess what needed to be done. What finishes did our clients want? What updates would take them from “liking” to “loving” the home? We got a deposit for the work so we could start ordering supplies, and also created a calendar of when we would be able to have projects completed by. We did all of this prep work before our clients even closed on the home, so we were ready to get to work as soon as they got their keys!
We did all of the work on the house before they even moved in, and it took us 1 month to complete. Our lead Matt Miner project managed it from start to finish. We our proud to say that our clients absolutely loved it.
Testimonial
“The Get Happy at Home Team and Happy at Home Contracting are amazing! They're absolute experts in the Greater Seattle Area real estate market, extremely focused and strategic in in the sale/purchase process, and are so much fun to work with!”
“They helped us buy our first home in Seattle and also helped us sell it recently. At the time we purchased our house, Matt’s team helped us update the house with several renovations such as all countertops in the kitchen and bathroom, flooring, fireplace with floating shelves, and a cool statement wall in our bedroom. The house looked completely modern and refreshed! When it came time to sell the house, Matt’s team made the process super fast and smooth. In both cases, we trusted them wholeheartedly, and we couldn't be happier! Seattle is a crazy real estate market and we couldn't have navigated it without them!”
- Ankita and Anuneet
The Work We Did
When we do a refresh like this, our goal is to spend minimally for maximum impact. And because the townhouse was built in 2007, there were really only a few things we could tweak to make it feel more modern.
The Brazilian cherry wood-looking engineered floors and carpet made the home look dated. So we took out the engineered flooring and carpets and replaced everything (including the stairs) with a brushed oak flooring that was very popular at the time.
We painted the cabinets a pale green color—something that was more trendy at the time. We sanded, primed, and painted the cabinet to make sure the paint would hold up. Gray was popular but fading… so they did green cabinets.
We put in new counter tops, new lighting fixtures, and new hardware.
We changed out the old canned lighting to modern LED lights.
The fireplace was looking a bit old school (it had a maple wood look with ugly tile). We replaced the tile and built shelving on either side of the fireplace.
The tile was replaced in the bathrooms, to give them a more contemporary look.
The Results
When our clients were ready to sell their Madison Valley townhouse, we did another minimal refresh. For example, we painted the walls to give the home that “like new” feel.
In spring of 2022, we listed the home for $849,880 and sold it for $1,061,000. The neighboring unit (mostly original, good condition) had sold for $755,000 4 months before.
