Case Study, 1918 Salt Lake Avenues Bungalow Sold $40K Over Ask (Preservation-First)

The home at intake

• ✓ Address area: Salt Lake City Avenues (lower Avenues)
• ✓ Build year: 1918
• ✓ Size: 1,650 sq ft, 3 bed / 1.5 bath
• ✓ Estimated value range pre-prep: $625K-$685K
• ✓ Days to listing: 87

Special considerations

• ✓ Lead-paint safety: EPA RRP rules apply for any painting/scraping. We follow these on every pre-1978 home.
• ✓ Original wood trim: Avenues buyers pay a premium for preserved original detail. Refinish, don’t replace.
• ✓ Plaster walls (not drywall): Patches require plaster compound, not drywall mud.
• ✓ Knob-and-tube wiring remnants: Some attic runs still active. Required coordination with licensed E200 electrician.

Walkthrough findings

• ✓ Plaster crack patches (8 spots, mostly settling cracks over door frames)
• ✓ Wood trim re-stain (front entry + dining room original baseboards + window casings)
• ✓ Interior paint refresh (walls only, trim re-stained in step above)
• ✓ Door hardware refresh, kept the original brass hardware but polished to a brilliant shine
• ✓ Kitchen faucet replacement (only kitchen fixture changed, kept original glass-knob upper cabinets per seller’s preference)

• ✓ 4 GFCI outlets (kitchen + bath + 2 exterior) installed by our coordinated E200 electrician
• ✓ 3 smoke + 2 CO detectors to current code
• ✓ Stair handrail re-secure (loose at top of basement stairs)
• ✓ Toilet wax ring reset (powder room)

• ✓ Replace last 2 active knob-and-tube runs with modern Romex (small attic section)
• ✓ This was a real value-add, inspector would have flagged it as a major issue otherwise

• ✓ Kitchen remodel (would have erased character + bad ROI in this neighborhood)
• ✓ Hardwood floor refinish (sanded floors lose patina, Avenues buyers want patina)
• ✓ Window replacement (original wood double-hungs are a feature, not a flaw)

Scope + execution

• ✓ Plaster patch + trim refresh: 3 days
• ✓ Paint (walls only, lead-safe): 4 days
• ✓ Hardware + faucet: 1 day
• ✓ Electrical (coordinated E200 sub): 1 day
• ✓ Misc inspection-risk items: 1 day
• ✓ Total execution: 10 working days, finished 60 days before listing (early target on purpose for staging)

The numbers

• ✓ Plaster patches (8 spots, including specialty compound): $895
• ✓ Wood trim re-stain (entryway + dining room): $1,485
• ✓ Interior wall paint (lead-safe, eggshell white): $3,250
• ✓ Hardware polish + reseat (no replacement): $245
• ✓ Kitchen faucet (Kohler brushed gold to match preserved brass): $385
• ✓ 4 GFCIs + 5 detectors (coordinated with electrician): $785
• ✓ Knob-and-tube replacement (small attic section, electrician’s bid): $1,200
• ✓ Stair handrail + toilet wax ring: $245

Total scope: $8,490

The result

• ✓ Listed at $695K
• ✓ 11 showings first weekend
• ✓ 4 offers by Monday
• ✓ Accepted offer: $735,000 ($40K over ask)
• ✓ Listing photos featured the preserved wood trim and original hardware as selling points
• ✓ Inspection: 1 minor item, no credit requested
• ✓ Buyer specifically called out “we love that the character was preserved”

The lesson

Older Wasatch Front homes (Avenues, Sugar House, Marmalade, parts of Holladay) need a different pre-listing strategy than newer homes. Preservation IS the value-add. A contractor who tries to “modernize” a 1918 bungalow erases what the buyer is actually paying for.

Vet your contractor specifically on pre-WW2 home experience if your home is in that category.

Have an older Wasatch Front home? Tell us when you call, we’ll send a tech with pre-1940 experience. (801) 895-2084.

Related: Handyman in the Avenues · Handyman in Sugar House · More case studies

Note: Customer details anonymized for privacy. Scope details, costs, and outcome data are representative of an actual Avenues walkthrough completed in 2026.