Enhance Curb Appeal

Curb appeal is crucial when you want to sell your home. When your home catches a buyer’s eye, they might not have a clue what it was that grabbed their attention in the first place. That’s the elusive nature of curb appeal. Curb appeal is the positive first impression that makes a home buyer click on your listing instead of moving on to the next. It’s a wow factor that motivates passersby to park their cars and get out so they can take a closer look. Fortunately, you can enhance your home's first impression with cleaning, painting, maintenance, and basic enhancements. Here are 7 ideas to get you started.

• Clean or Paint Your Exterior: If your exterior paint appears faded, first try a power wash. It costs far less than repainting. Exterior paint brightens up once you've removed the film left by years of dirt build-up. Also, inspect rails, window sills, shutters, and other wooden trim for signs of paint peeling that might suggest a repaint is unavoidable.

• Clean & Fix Your Driveway / Walkway: A clean and smooth walkway and driveway give your property a welcome-home look. Patch all cracks, gouges, and holes. Clean or resurface oil spots and discolored areas. Your hard work will help to beautify your yard and reduce liability hazards.

• Revamp Your Roof: If your roof is faded or worn, a little roof TLC can give your home a curb appeal upgrade. Roofs deteriorate due to age. Some have undetected storm damage, missing nails, and faded or broken shingles or tiles. If your roof is visible from the street, a potential buyer won’t miss these things.

• Repair Your Windows:Make sure your windows and seals are in good condition. Replace cracked panes, worn seals, and insulated glass windows with condensation between the panes. P.S. Wash your windows!

• Clean Out Your Gutters: Every season, new layers of leaves, twigs, and dirt find their way into your gutters. If you don’t clean out the debris, it can be noticeable to a buyer viewing your home. A build up of debris can also make your gutters sag.

• Declutter Your Yard: Yes, decluttering is a trendy term for a junky old problem. Whatever you choose to call it, the process is the same. Look at your home with a critical eye. Get rid of the unnecessary stuff. Tidy up the rest. Put away your water hose, wheelbarrow, tools, and toys so they're not just hanging out in the yard. Tidy up your porch and park your cars in the garage. Consider getting an off-premises storage unit for items you rarely use but still want to keep.

• Refresh Your Landscaping: When you’re trying to sell your home, updated landscaping can bring buyers to your door. You don’t have to go for the fantasy garden you always wanted. Make it clean, neat, and simple.

  • Keep your lawn mowed.

  • Edge it for a neat manicured look.

  • Re-seed or add sod to bald patches.

  • Remove dead leaves and dying plants.

  • Create accent areas of flowering or green plants.

  • Add walkway lights for nighttime visibility, beauty, and safety.

Make Your Home More Inviting

Anyone who has ever sold their home wants to do it quickly and for top dollar. When you're ready to switch from the "Am I ready to sell my home" stage into full-on house selling mode, consider these tips to prep and stage your home.

• Add Fresh Paint: Add fresh paint inside and out, if exterior paint is needed. Don't neglect hidden painted areas, like baseboards or shutters, as you make everything look fresh. If you've recently painted, you may not have to do this step, but consider the color scheme. If you've used a bold, bright color, you may be better off with something more neutral. Remember, you want the home to look as if it's ready to move in to when people tour, and that brilliant teal accent wall may not be their favorite color scheme.

• Address the Floors: If you have carpeting, consider replacing it or having it thoroughly and professionally cleaned. If you have hard floors, have them refinished. If the flooring is stained or damaged, have it replaced. Clean, new-looking floors are essential to selling your home for a good price.

• Make the Yard Shine: From the grass to the gardens, your yard needs to look its best before you list your home for sale. Whether you need to do a complete landscape job or simply need to clean up a bit and trim those shrubs, take the time to do it before you list the home. Curb appeal is the first thing that will get your home noticed, so this is an area to spend a little bit of time and money!

• Draw the Eye to the Front Door: Your goal when prepping your home for sale is to make it look inviting, and this starts with drawing people in. Painting the front door in a contrasting color to the rest of the exterior or using planting boxes around the front door can help with this. Make it the place the eye is first drawn to!

• De-personalize and De-clutter the Home: Next, move inside. Remove anything that could be considered clutter, and take time to pack away those items that are highly personal, like your family photos and your children's artwork. You'll have a place to display these items in your new home, but leaving them in your current home makes it feel like "your" home, not a home a buyer would want to move into.

Don't Set Unnecessary Showing Restrictions

It is important to have your home available for potential buyers to view as often as possible. More traffice equals more possible interest and sales.