Home Truths: The challenges of East Bay home renovations (and a possible solution) – Berkeleyside

Photo: Red Oak Realty

One of the most challenging parts about owning a home is performing renovations. Unless you are a designer or architect, knowing the best design options and the most reliable vendors can be nearly impossible to navigate. In addition, managing the home improvement projects can be rife with challenges.

Red Oak agents have seen a host of problems, from owners causing vertigo with a bad combination of penny tile and dark grout, to contractors ordering the wrong products, forgetting to add a cabinet or simply not showing up. Its no wonder that home renovations reportedly make 12% of couples consider divorce.

These challenges are only exacerbated when doing renovations in preparation for a home sale. In January 2021, three-bedroom single family homes in Berkeley sold in an average of just 14 days, requiring that sellers be ready to move quickly. The stress of choosing the vendors, making the design decisions, managing the workload while moving all of a familys belongings, coupled with worrying about buyer response can be downright overwhelming. And with COVID-19 driving up demand along with the cost of labor and materials managing the process with a tight deadline has proven to be even more difficult.

Today Red Oak Realty is excited to announce Enhance, a thoughtful new program for East Bay sellers to improve their property before they sell. They do not pay until after the property closes, and its particularly special because they also dont have to manage the project or vendors. Instead, the project is handled by a team of professionals, including a licensed and insured general contractor, professional designers and project managers who make thoughtful, on-trend and budget-friendly decisions while showcasing the homes best features, all of which likely leads to a higher sales price.

The work is performed through Red Oaks exclusive relationship with The Home Co., a respected women-owned interior design, construction and staging company that has been servicing the East Bay since 2007. From design choices to painting, tiling, staging and landscaping, every aspect of the project is thoughtfully and professionally managed by a team of insured professionals.

Enhance covers up to $40,000 in project work, which might include small remodels, repairs and staging. After a walkthrough to scope the project, The Home Co. provides the seller with a proposed budget to approve, then handles the entire project from start to finish. There are no invoices, no haggling, no incomplete projects or vendors that hold up the timeline as its all sourced through one company who oversees every detail. Projects stay within their timeframe, and more importantly they stay completely within budget every time.

Red Oak has been running a pilot program since late last year. Two properties are closing this month and several more in process. The results have been outstanding! The owners of 679 59th Street in Oakland used an Enhance budget of $39,750 to renovate and stage their home. They listed on Jan. 7 and received eight offers after just six days. The property sold at $950,000, 40% over the list price. Here are a few before and after photos:

5443 Brookdale Ave, Oakland used a $40,000 Enhance budget, received 15 offers in 7 days, and broke the Laurel neighborhood record for a 2 bedroom home under 1,300 square feet. Enhance helped to make dramatic changes:

If you think you might need help renovating your home for sale, reach out to your Red Oak agent or learn more about Enhance.

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Home Truths: The challenges of East Bay home renovations (and a possible solution) - Berkeleyside