Curb Appeal Real Estate – Are you in the process of selling your home? Firstly, congratulations on this major life milestone! Selling a house can be a daunting process, especially if this is your first home, but rest assured that we have some tips and tricks on how to help you get your home off the market faster.
How important is curb appeal in real estate?
Walk outside and take a good hard look at your home. For a moment, set aside your loving personal memories that you associate with your home, and imagine that you’re a stranger seeing this house for the first time. What do you think? Does this look like a home you’d want to move into all over again? Or do the aged shingles and dead rose bushes put you off?
If you’re leaning more towards the latter, it may be time to give the outside of your home a facelift to boost your curb appeal and draw in more potential buyers.
You may be thinking, “what the heck is curb appeal?”, and that’s ok! Curb appeal is essentially the first impression someone has of your home from the street, or the curb. We all know first impressions are important, and for a home they can be a deal breaker or a deal maker. The outside of your home sets up expectation for what it will be like on the inside. You may have put hundreds or thousands of dollars into interior renovations that leave your home looking like a fairy tale castle, but it doesn’t help your case if no one can see them from the outside!
While curb appeal isn’t as exciting as tearing down walls to create an open concept or putting in a waterfall showerhead, but people are visual by nature, and that extends to the outside of your home. Wouldn’t you be more willing to stop by an open house if the home makes you stop and admire it before you’ve even stepped across the threshold?
How do you increase curb appeal when selling a house?
Keep on reading for some ideas and tips on how to up your home’s curb appeal before putting it on the market to get some potential buyers in the door, and ultimately seal the deal!
Welcome All!
Where is the first place a potential buyer will go? The front door and entryway of your home of course! Your front door is the gateway to the rest of the home, and it sets the tone for how the rest of the house in maintained and taken care of. This means giving everything a thorough sweeping to remove dirt and leaves, touching up door paint (or even painting the door a new color!), and knocking down cobwebs or any other creepy crawly critters. If you have some extra room in your budget, consider replacing outdated doors or fixing up screens.
If you have additional space, give your outside entryway a festive and welcoming feel with seasonal décor, or a welcome mat with a quirky saying or image.
Raise the Roof
Curb Appeal Real Estate – When was the last time you took a good hard look at your roof? We won’t tell. But, depending on how long you’ve lived in your home, it may be time for an upgrade that will help draw in buyers, especially if it looks a little worse for wear. If you ultimately decide it’s time to replace the roof, find a professional team to help you do it to insure that it looks the absolute best it can. For these more costly types of upgrades, you can make a return on your curb appeal investment by asking for a higher selling price due to renovations you’ve made for the next buyer!
However, if you choose to leave the roof as is but it really needs repair, your potential buyer could ask to knock down the price due to renovations they’ll have to make after moving in.
Keep that Asphalt Looking Fresh
Curb Appeal Real Estate – We’re talking about something that’s easy to overlook; driveways and sidewalks. Now is the time to get the weed whacker out and trim up the areas where your lawn meets the asphalt and pull out any sneaky weeds that have found a home in cracks, or spray them with weed killer. If you have time and wiggle room in your budget, consider giving your driveway a coat of new asphalt. If this is out of budget or too time consuming, consider getting rid of any stains or unsightly spots by renting or borrowing a power washer. Say goodbye to years of dirt, grime, and general wear and tear from daily use of your driveway!
Set the Tone with Lighting
What kind of aesthetic do you want your home to have when the sun goes down? Wow potential buyers by matching the architecture of your home with touches of mood boosting lighting. Is your home more contemporary modern? Consider energy saving cool-toned LED lights to line the driveway, and have modern fixtures installed on either side of the garage. Does your home have more of a vintage or homey feel? Warm-toned lights framing your entryway or vintage-feel outdoor lamp next to your mailbox will help set the tone and help a potential buyer envision their life there. Adding extra lighting will help your home feel more welcoming, whether it be 2pm or 2am!
Take Years off the Siding
This is where the handy dandy power washer that you used on the driveway will come in handy again! If the siding or bricks on your home have seen better days, but you don’t want to replace everything, give them a solid power wash! Years of weather and daily wear and tear can cause a buildup of dirt and grime on the outside of your home, and while the siding is doing its job protecting you from the elements, it could always use a little TLC. Using a power washer is a fast and efficient way to give the outside of your home a makeover, and you don’t have to limit it to the siding or the driveway! Give your patio or deck a scrub down, as well as anything else you plan on leaving for the next homeowner, like built-in fire-pits.
Landscaping Is Key
Curb Appeal Real Estate – The cherry on top of everything else you’ve done to make your home look its best, is thoughtful landscaping. If you have minimum resources or time before selling your home, this may be the most important thing to invest those resources in. Take stock of everything that is already in place, like the lawn, hedges, and pre-existing trees, and take care of those things before you start adding new plants and other landscaping. From there, consider the climate and soil type of your yard, and plan accordingly. Planting shrubs or flowers that won’t last in the Texas heat and humidity won’t do you any good. Add a fresh layer of mulch, or some new stone trimming, and your house will look completely refreshed, ready for a new homeowner to step in and call the property “home”.
Thank you for reading our real estate and homeowner’s blog. We are Weichert Realtors – The Place of Houses, and we’re happy to have helped you learn more about curb appeal and selling your home.
