Senses are very important in home selling particularly vision. Believe it or not, many potential home buyers make a choice whether or not to view a house just by taking a drive-by. So if your home lacks that coveted curb appeal its time to get out of the comfortable chair and start looking at how you can improve your prospects.
See through a Buyers Eyes
Step one is to go out to the street. Try to look at your house critically. Try not to think of this as your home at this very moment but look at it as you might if you were a BUYER. Is there any paint chipping? Has the yard been raked and cleaned of debris? Whats your first impression of the roof and entryway?
Walk a little ways down the block look again while youre returning home. Drive by your house a few times and keep asking yourself the tough questions. As you find faults make a list then see what you can do to rectify them without blowing your budget. Some of the issues for which to watch include messy weeds, dirty driveway / deck / sidewalk, broken tree limbs hanging down, filled gutters, and signs of mold.
Curb Appeal from the Back
Its easy to get so caught up in prettying up the front of a house that many apes forget that curb appeal can apply to the back yard too. If a buyer goes down another street or into a neighbors driveway, theyll trying to get a peek at your back view, so make sure the back yard looks as good as the front.
Lighten up to Speed Sales:
One incredible advantage to showing a house off is having doorway, sidewalk and driveway lights so that even at night people can see what youre offering. As a landscaping item, border lights arent terribly expensive. If the light fixtures adjacent to your front door look old or worn, nows a good time to replace them.
Flowers, Trees, Features:
Next on your list is pondering how flowers, trees and other landscape features are currently impacting your houses curb appeal. No matter how much you may love nature, that big old tree might need to be cut back so people can really SEE your house, for example. By comparison, a few tastefully placed flower pots with hues that compliment the house paint can work wonders for the way your house feels.
Touch it Up:
Whilebuyer apesmay not see it immediately, replacing old hardware and putting up a handsome mailbox can really change the impression you make. Put some swag on the front door that symbolically says, welcome and make sure the trim around your door doesnt look old and blah. Remember that even if your curb appeal entices people to view the home, your door is akin to a letter of invitation to buy. The home-buying experience begins once through that threshold and first impressions matter.