How We Sold 356 Chestnut St in Nutley, NJ (Yep, With Only One Bathroom)
Spoiler: Strategic marketing beats “perfect house” every day of the week. 356 Chestnut St wasn’t turnkey glamour. It was a charming Nutley home with great bones, prime walkability, and… exactly one bathroom. In a world of dual-vanity Pinterest dreams, that’s a speed bump. But bumps are made to be flattened. Here’s how we positioned, promoted, and closed this property — and what every Nutley homeowner can steal from the playbook when it’s their turn to sell.
Quick Stat Sheet (Because We All Want the TL;DR)
- Property: 356 Chestnut St, Nutley, NJ
- Challenge: Single bathroom in a market where 1.5–2+ baths are the norm for move‑up buyers.
- Opportunity: Layout + lot depth offered clear, realistic paths to add a second bath.
- Location Flex: Walkable to schools, Franklin Ave shops/dining, parks, and commuter routes.
- Strategy: Lead with potential + lifestyle. Use high‑impact media to drive traffic. Educate buyers on expansion options.
- Result: Consistent showings, strong buyer engagement, and a successful sale.
The Reality Check: One-Bath Homes Are a Hard Swipe Right
Let’s not sugar‑coat it. Most buying households today expect at least 1.5 baths. Morning traffic jams around a single sink = buyer anxiety. When buyers start running reno math in their heads without guidance, they overestimate cost, get spooked, and bounce. Our job? Control the narrative before fear owns the showing.
Why Single-Bath Listings Stall
- Lifestyle friction (kids, guests, WFH schedules).
- Perceived reno chaos (Where would it go? What will it cost?).
- Resale myth spiral (“If I buy it, I’ll have trouble selling later”).
We went straight at those objections — in the copy, the media, and during showings.
Step 1: Pre-Listing Walkthrough & Feasibility Framing
Before a camera ever came out, we walked the property with an eye toward Where does bath #2 live? We identified realistic locations (think: portion of an oversized bedroom, closet reallocation, or bump‑out) so we could speak confidently to buyers. No blue‑sky promises. Just: Here are 2–3 viable paths your contractor can price. That shifted the mental model from “problem” to “project.”
Pro Tip for Sellers: Buyers don’t need full architectural plans — they need believable options. A simple annotated floor sketch or bullet list of potential expansion spots can keep a deal alive.
Step 2: Media That Makes Space Obvious
Bad listing photos shrink rooms. Great listing photos sell possibilities. We staged to highlight width, depth, and traffic flow so buyers could instantly see where an additional bath might integrate without wrecking the floor plan.
What we produced:
- Magazine‑grade still photography with angle discipline to reveal wall runs + closet adjacency.
- A cinematic walkthrough video (mobile‑optimized vertical cut + long‑form YouTube version) calling out “future bath flex” zones with onscreen lower‑thirds.
- Floor plan graphics layered into the video + in the MLS docs package.
- Short social Reels teasing “House Hack: Add Bath #2 Here” — click‑through to full listing.
When buyers arrive already educated, showings convert.
Step 3: Targeted Marketing to the Right Buyer Profiles
Not everyone will take on a light improvement. That’s fine. We focused marketing spend where the upside lives:
Buyer Segments We Targeted
- Growing families who value school proximity over immediate perfection.
- First move‑up buyers priced out of bigger turnkey inventory.
- Equity‑minded buyers willing to add value vs pay retail for someone else’s reno.
Channels & Tactics
- Geo‑targeted social ads around Nutley, Belleville, Clifton, and Montclair commuter corridors.
- Email blast to our “DIY upgrade” segment (tagged from past inquiry behavior).
- Short‑form video posts answering: How hard is it to add a second bath? (drives curiosity click).
- Retargeting pixels to re‑engage viewers who watched >50% of the walkthrough.
Step 4: Showing Strategy — Sell the Lifestyle and the Plan
During in‑person showings we didn’t wait for the elephant in the room to speak.
Our in‑showing script sounded like:
“Yes, it’s a single bath now. Good news: You’ve got the square footage and plumbing access here to add a second full or half bath without losing a bedroom. We’ve seen similar Nutley homes do it for far less than buyers expect. Let me show you the two most likely spots.”
Buyers relaxed. Instead of hunting for flaws, they pictured upgrades.
Location: Why 356 Chestnut St Hit Different
Nutley’s walkability is a real lever — but only if you market it like lifestyle, not a bullet in the MLS remarks.
Walk-to Perks Buyers Cared About:
- Nutley’s local schools.
- Franklin Ave dining, coffee, and errands.
- Parks + recreation.
- Quick access to bus + major commuting routes to NYC.
We mapped these in our digital brochure and pinned driving/walking times in paid ads. When buyers can picture ditching a second car or shaving 30 minutes off weekday logistics, that single bath doesn’t feel like a deal‑breaker.
The Outcome
Traffic was steady from launch through offer — because the people coming through the door were pre‑framed to see value. Instead of apologies for the one bath, we led with opportunity and location. That produced competitive interest and a successful sale.
(Exact price details reserved for client confidentiality; call me if you want the range and comps.)
What Sellers Can Learn from 356 Chestnut St
If your home isn’t “HGTV ready,” you don’t sit out the market. You out‑strategize it.
Playbook to Steal:
- Identify the objection buyers will have.
- Pre‑solve it with realistic options.
- Show the solution visually in photos/video.
- Target the right buyer mindset, not the whole internet.
- Own the conversation during showings.
Do that, and you can sell a one‑bath house in a two‑bath world.
Thinking About Selling in Nutley (or Anywhere in Northern NJ)?
Let’s talk strategy before you spend a dollar on upgrades you may not need. I’ll show you how to position your property, where to invest (and where not to), and how to use media + messaging to create demand even when your home isn’t “perfect.”