First impressions are the be-all and end-all when it comes to home-buying and home-selling. According to research, about 63% of homebuyers visit the homes they like on the internet. What do they see? Well, they see things in the home’s exterior, such as the front yard, front entry, sidewalk and driveway, which acts as a sneak preview of what is to come when they enter your home. Read further to know 7 ways you can impress homebuyers from the curb.
Wash your home’s exterior
Before you plant more azaleas or scrape off the paint, get rid of the mildew, dirt and general filth off the exterior of your home. Washing your house can add thousands of dollars to the price of your home.
With a long hand-held, soft-bristled brush and soapy water, you can get rid of the dirt and dust that’s on your metal, wood, vinyl, brick, fiber cement and stucco siding. Wash the windows from the inside out, hose down downspouts, and swipe cobwebs off eaves. Also remember your garage door.
You can get a friend to help you make your home shine in a couple of weekends, instead of using professional cleaners who’ll cost hundreds of dollars but finish in two days—depending on your home’s size as well as number of windows.
Repaint the front door
This is really straightforward but also very effective and you just need a paint brush and gallon of paint. Believe you me, when a homebuyer takes a quick glance at a house, in most cases the first thing they see is the front door. Therefore, you should personalize that front door by painting it your preferred color. Bright, bold colors will make your home stand out. You can also choose a classic black if you want something a bit more subtle. You can get more information about home paint colors by visiting http://www.diyluke.com/.
Change the roof
This may seem weird at first but changing the design or color of your roof can drastically change the way your home is seen. When you want to personalize some things in your home, the roof is usually seen as something that’s untouchable but this just is not true. In fact, you can try designs and colors to find out what fits your home. You’ll be amazed to find out just how much improvement a roof can bring.
Clean the pathway
The second area that’ll be easily noticeable is the route to your front door as anyone who’s never been to your home will be looking down for any rogue patches or slabs of grass that might trip them up. You have a world of options here such as laying a good pathway, laying down turf that looks natural, or even placing some wooden platforms among stones.
Refresh the paint job
This is the most common hack for increasing your property’s curb appeal. When you freshen your home’s paint job, buyers will notice it instantly, and appraisers will estimate its value. However, painting is a time-consuming and expensive makeover.
Your best option is to use the same color you already have. Just scrape off a bit and take it to your local store for it to be matched. Resist the temptation to use color to make a statement. An appraiser will reduce the value of a home that’s painted a color that’s very different from its competition.
Add some dash of color
Even a bit of color attracts and catches the eye of potential homebuyers.
Plant some tulips in the fall that’ll flower in the spring. Plant some pansies by the mailbox. Put a brightly colored chair or bench at the front porch. You can also get a bit daring by painting the front door blue or red.
These colorful touches may not increase your home’s value but they can certainly improve curb appeal and help you sell your home faster.
Take care of maintenance
Nothing can ruin your home’s curb appeal and turn off potential buyers like peeling paint, hanging gutters, or missing bricks on the front steps. These things can not only damage your property, they can also reduce your home’s value by about 10%.
The following are some maintenance tasks that will drastically enhance the appearance of your house: straighten shutters, reseal cracked asphalt, refasten sagging gutters, replace cracked windows, and repaint bricks that have no mortar.
