Landscaping & Curb Appeal
You never have a second chance to make a first impression, and the same goes for your home while it’s on the market. Your home’s exterior is the first glimpse of a prospective buyer’s look at what could be their new home, so you need to make sure your home has curb appeal. What is curb appeal and how do you get it?
Curb appeal is literally how your home looks from the street. It’s the first impression and can make your home go from a “drive by” to “must see”. How to get it? A little paint, a small decorating budget and a lot of elbow grease!
Paint
If you can’t handle an all-over exterior paint job due to time and budget constraints, at least paint the front door and trim. Make sure the exterior color palette blends nicely with the surroundings, including other homes nearby. Peeling paint is an instant detraction, scrape and paint anything that’s peeling.
Landscaping
Make sure your grass is mowed, all outdoor toys put away and that everything looks well-maintained. You don’t want a buyer to see your nice big yard, a selling point, and think about how hard it will be too mow. Keep it freshly cut with the lawn mower put away.
Flowers are great way to add impact and color to landscaping. Consider planting annuals, they look best in groupings, amongst shrubs for appealing landscaping. If there’s no garden, either make one or consider a container of annuals to brighten up the yard. A new layer of mulch in gardens can help the garden.
Trim hedges, bushes and trees and make sure walkways are weed free.
Welcome Buyer!
Make sure the entryway is attractive and welcoming. Wreaths always look nice and symmetrical light fixtures and front-door accents create welcoming entryways. Make sure the front door hardware and any light fixtures are up to date, clean and in good working order.
Driveway
Make sure your driveway is free of cracks and weeds and in good repair. Make sure there’s no clunker in the driveway – or even worse – the yard. Get rid of anything that doesn’t serve a purpose – decorative accents do have a purpose, and they can take away attention from more detracting aspects to the exterior of the home.
Curb appeal can make or break a home sale, make sure the exterior of your home appeals to you, your neighbors and a prospective buyer.