Why these Toronto agents are doing more, not less, in a slow market

The fully renovated kitchen at 11 Garrick Rd. in Toronto features two-toned sage green and wood-tone cabinetry, quartz countertops and a full slab backsplash — a complete gut renovation overseen by Stephanie Cluett-Eid and Trish MacKenzie of Royal LePage Real Estate (supplied).

In a tough real estate market, less is definitely not more. While some agents cut back on expenses such as photography and staging as properties languish on the market, Stephanie Cluett-Eid and Trish MacKenzie say upping their service is more important than ever.

What makes the agents with Royal LePage Real Estate in Toronto stand apart is that in addition to their regular duties as agents, they also oversee home improvements and renovations. They take a hands-on approach to staging to ensure each house gives off the right lifestyle vibe to attract a buyer.

“We are often involved in the renovation planning and execution. We ourselves are not doing the renovations but have taken on the design, inspiration and personal shopping to oversee the renovations from start to finish,” says Cluett-Eid.

“I would say there is a small percentage of Realtors who do this. While many will consult with the sellers on what work to do to a house in order to increase its chance of selling, or ensure it sells for more… I think often it’s just advice and then referrals to contractors.

“We felt that adding this hands-on service has reduced the stress a seller might have. We have our trusted contractors and it has made things a lot more seamless to be a part of the preparation and renovation process from the start,” she says.

Cluett-Eid has seen her share of houses during her 25-year career and knows what buyers want

“Given the market conditions of the past couple of years, and now in a buyer’s market, there are not very many buyers willing to take on a project. But at the very least, you have to show the buyers the potential of the home, create the visual.”

Trish MacKenzie, left, and Stephanie Cluett-Eid, agents with Royal LePage Real Estate in Toronto (supplied). 

Lifestyle is the product

That all-important visual is lifestyle, say the business partners, who bill themselves as “lifestyle consultants” for that reason. “We make each home shine,” says MacKenzie — but in a way that showcases a certain way of living.

For example, a house that belonged to an artist and a jazz musician was staged to showcase the artist’s works, creating an artist-in-residence/gallery feel. The design also highlighted space where the musician could feel at home. Whether by coincidence or attracted by design, the buyers turned out to be jazz musicians, MacKenzie says.

The consultants create a Pinterest vision board unique to each client, along with a reasonable budget, says MacKenzie, who joined the firm after working for eight years with a new home developer. She holds arts and business degrees and brings project management expertise to the partnership.

“Sometimes we don’t do a whole renovation.” It depends what the client needs, she says.

Cluett-Eid adds that because they give their contractors so much business, those contractors in turn offer the partners’ clients “good pricing and complete jobs quickly. It’s a collaborative effort.”

Buyers are more discerning than ever

Making homes look good is more important than ever. Since COVID-19, potential buyers are more educated on the process — and exhausted from having to make an offer after seeing a house for 15 minutes, Cluett-Eid says.

For these buyers, the smallest details carry more weight. A buyer might take $15,000 off the listing price over a paint colour. That’s why it’s worthwhile for sellers to make updates and create a comfortable space, MacKenzie says.

“The houses that are selling are the pretty ones, the popular kids, the ones people are emotionally connected to,” says Cluett-Eid.

After the pandemic spike, when buyers overpaid in a panic, the market has shifted back closer to what it was before. The difference: unrenovated houses used to sell for less than their updated counterparts, but they would still sell. Now, if a house isn’t renovated, it’s not selling at all, she says.

Owning their own staging inventory

To reduce costs, the partners decided to buy their own staging furniture and accessories and do the work themselves. That means they don’t have to cover staging costs and insurance, and don’t have to worry if something gets broken.

Another reason they chose to stage themselves: when they hired stagers, all of the houses looked the same. Instead, each space gets what Cluett-Eid calls the “Trishing” treatment — MacKenzie’s creative touch applied to every room.

“Staging is not using the brightest and shiniest items but rather about creating a comfortable space, layering details,” says MacKenzie. She buys from places like Facebook Marketplace and Value Village, rather than using all-new items that might make a space look too perfect.

“Real estate has changed so much. You’re not just a salesperson,” says Cluett-Eid.

Getting creative with marketing

They take a systematic approach to every project, going through a checklist to ensure they come up with the right suggestions for the seller. But some properties need a different approach.

In a little-known neighbourhood with a lot of foot traffic, they built a lemonade stand in front of a listing. They took photos and posted them on social media. Neighbours who loved the lemonade stand did the same, and it gained traction online, Cluett-Eid says.

The home ended up selling to a buyer who would otherwise never have searched in that area. “There was no picture of the house, just Stephanie and the lemonade stand. The buyer thought the neighbourhood looked interesting,” MacKenzie says, and came to check it out.

Another tactic: treating the walls of a home as a gallery. Their artist-in-residence program lets artists hang their work at no cost. The artist is introduced and placards are placed beside each piece in gallery style — a mutual benefit, with the artists posting the house to their own networks and drawing more interest in the listing.

Bigger projects, bigger team

“While I would say we do several listings a year overseeing renovations and updates, this past year we’ve taken on bigger projects. The house we are working on right now is the biggest project we’ve taken on. It’s a full overhaul from washrooms to floors, paint, custom built-ins, lighting and plumbing fixtures,” says Cluett-Eid.

More clients are interested in the project management aspect, and a couple have asked them to be on-site. As their business has grown, they’ve added two agents, an assistant and an operations manager to their team.

The two agents met in 2021 when MacKenzie attended a course for new agents that Cluett-Eid was teaching. With their respective backgrounds, they were a natural fit.

“It was easy to partner,” Cluett-Eid says. MacKenzie recalls it starting as a mentor/mentee situation, but after doing a deal together, they discovered how well they worked as partners. “We were having a lot of fun and attracting lots of interest in the neighbourhood.”

Their strategy is paying off. Despite the challenging market, they’ve done 15 deals this year, currently have eight listings and expect 10 more by June.

“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel. This is not the moment to scale back. We have evolved the way we approach business,” says MacKenzie.

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