Increasing Your Home’s Curb Appeal Makes For a Quick House Sale
Believe it or not, alot of potential home buyers judge whether they want to see the inside of a house based on their initial impression formed when driving past the house. That means you usually only have a few minutes, to make a potential buyer want to go inside. Make sure your house stands out as one that looks well-taken care of, appealing, and inviting.
There are many no-cost and low-cost ways to accomplish this. Use the list below as a checklist to help identify areas of your home which may need improvement to make a buyer want to take a closer look.
Remove all weeds and trash. Be sure to remove the weeds where the curb meets the street. Buyers don’t just want a home where they won’t have to weed on day one, they want to think you took great care of the place. Attention to detail counts!
Trim bushes and trees as necessary. You may like the privacy of having your bushes higher than your window sills, but to most people, that looks overgrown. Try to keep the end of bushes from extending over the borders of the gardens. In general, when bushes and plants are leaping out of the gardens, it looks unkept.
Make sure the rain gutters are all fully attached to the house and be sure you have cleaned them so no plants are growing out of them.
Wind up all hoses and put away children’s toys, yard tools, or any other items which are about.
Be sure there are no shutters, awnings, or storm doors which are hanging at funny angles. Use a few nails or screws and straighten them up!
If your storm door is very tired and you don’t want to invest the money in a new one, perhaps removing it all together is a good option.
Be sure your trash cans are well to the side or back of the house.
Keep your garage door(s) closed. If you have a screen door or a storm door, consider leaving the interior front door open if you are home…it looks inviting. The same goes for your draperies. Let folks catch a glimpse of a pretty interior, instead of seeing a place that looks all closed up.
Be sure everything is clean, clean, clean!! Power wash the sidewalk if you need to. Be sure there is no mildew anywhere in sight. Soap and water can work miracles!
If you do all of this, so far you will have made a big improvement and you won’t have spent a dime! Now it’s on to some of the low-cost curb appeal improvements.
Add a pot of blooming flowers by the front door. Add flowers where they can be seen from the street.
Trim, or have a tree surgeon trim, all dead branches from trees.
Add fresh, dark mulch to your flower beds, and be sure the edges are well tended to.
Examine the walks. If they are stone or concrete pavers, replace any which are broken, if practical. If you have very uneven concrete sidewalks, consider the cost of repair. If large pieces of concrete are jutting up, it may be worth fixing.
While painting all of your trim would be lovely, it is a big, usually expensive undertaking. Consider giving the front door a fresh coat of paint. It is a quick way to spruce up one of the first places people look.
Look at your house numbers. If they are tired, replace them. Select brass, stainless, black iron…whatever complements the other decorating elements.
Look carefully at your mailbox. Whether it is by the curb or attached to the house, be sure it isn’t dented, hanging askew, and sporting a tired, faded flag. If it is, replace it with a new one. Again, it should complement your other decorating elements.
You can even add a seasonal, decorative cover to your mail box. It is another easy, inexpensive way to add some color to the potential buyer’s view.
Look critically at your front porch and street lights. Is the glass clean? Do they need a new coat of paint? Do they need to be replaced?
Your house numbers, mail box, mailbox cover, and exterior light fixtures should be more than just fresh and utilitarian; they can be decorating accents which pull the look of your home together.
