Improve Your Home's Curb Appeal
Category Advice
Curb appeal is what essentially makes your property pleasing to the eye. It’s what draws prospective buyers in and makes them like the house before they’ve seen the rest of it. In terms of marketing your home effectively, you have to have good appeal outside to get buyers inside. Curb appeal is necessary in order to increase your home’s listing value, as well as attracting and impressing prospects. Apart from this, improving a home’s curb appeal as a remodeling project is just as valuable to homeowners who want to show pride of ownership.
Avoid Negotiation
Your home is most probably your greatest asset, and it’s important for you to get your asking price when you decide to sell it. This would involve you taking the necessary actions to avoid prospective buyers wanting to negotiate. Most buyers want to instantly see themselves as the proud owners of what your home currently is when they come to view it. If there are a lot of changes to be made, this might be rather difficult for them to visualise, and if they’re not pleased at the first look, they’re definitely not going to take a second one. A buyer who can however visualise changes is not necessarily any better. In this case, they will expect you to compensate them for changes they’ll have to make by lowering your asking price. The first impression sets the expectation for the rest of the house and what buyers see outside should ideally be similar to what they can expect inside. If a prospect is not impressed with the outside, they’ll most likely try hard to find flaws on the inside, or even worse, they might start expecting them.
Assess the Current State
In order to begin the process, you need to view your home as a prospective buyer might. This might be a bit difficult, so ask a friend to come over and make any suggestions that will help you make the necessary improvements. Your goal is for prospects to find the home clean, tidy and welcoming. In order to make it attractive, you would have to think of its best features and how you can enhance them, as well as its worst features and how you can improve them. Nothing on your property should be broken, cracked, damaged, peeling or cluttered. These flaws will inevitably impact your asking price and may negatively affect the period that your home spends on the market.
Initiate Basic Maintenance
It’s typically easier to start off by fixing any damages, removing any clutter, retouching and cleaning the exterior. After seeing to the maintenance which ultimately enhances the home’s value, you can then move onto the phase of adding or replacing things. Start off by ensuring that no trees or other kinds of vegetation are blocking the view of your home, it needs to be seen clearly as you’ll want the character of the home to be evident. The paint should not be peeling, if so, you’ll need to retouch it and make sure the colour is similar to that of the homes in the neighborhood or on your street. There should be no oil stains or cracks on the surface of your driveway, neither should there be any mold or mildew stains, this includes the house’s exterior and roof. The exterior entryway should be welcoming and clearly defined by a demarcated pathway leading to the front door, and outdoor lighting should be installed to give the home a nighttime curb appeal. The landscaping should be well-groomed, so ensure that the lawn is mowed and plants are watered as a neatly manicured garden is always a great selling point. Finally, make sure that your garage isn’t being substituted for a storage facility. It instantly looks bigger when it’s clean and tidy, and an organised exterior implies an organised interior. Finishing touches can include tiling your pathway, installing a neat and visible address as well as upgrading your postbox if necessary.
You only have one chance to make a first impression to potential buyers, and what your home says on the outside can say a lot about what it looks like on the inside. Improving your home’s curb appeal will not only give off a positive image to neighbours, passersby, and guests, but can also be something you’ll be proud to come home to. De Lucia Group offers beneficial tips and advice to homeowners regarding homeownership.
Author: De Lucia Group
