Home Selling Fact: Curb Appeal Deserves Top Priority

First, You Have to Get Detached

It's difficult to look at our own house in the same way that potential home buyers do. When we become accustomed to the way something looks and functions, we cannot see its faults. Decide right now to stop thinking of the property as a home. It's a house—a commodity you want to sell for the highest dollar possible.

Curb Appeal Exercise

The next time you come home, stop across the street or far enough down the driveway to get a good view of the house and its surroundings.

Evening Appeal is Important

Do the curb appeal exercise again at dusk r just after dark, because it's not unusual for potential buyers to drive by houses in the evening.

Lighting is Always a Plus

• String low voltage lighting along your driveway, sidewalks, and around landscaping elements.
  
• Add a decorative street lamp or an attractive light fixture to a front porch.
  
• Solar versions of outdoor lights are quick and easy to install, but only work when they receive full sun each day.
  
• Lighting that's visible through front windows should enhance the home's appearance.

Don't Forget the Rear View

Buyers doing a drive by will try their best to see your back yard. If it's visible from another street or from someone's driveway, it should be a part of your curb appeal efforts.

 

Curb Appeal Starters

Start with these basic curb appeal tasks:

• Clean the windows and gutters.
• Kill mold and mildew on the house, sidewalks, roof, or driveway.
• Stow away unnecessary garden implements and tools.
• Pressure wash dirty siding and dingy decks.
• Keep sidewalks and driveways clean.
• Edge sidewalks and remove vegetation growing between concrete sections and bricks.
• Mow the lawn regularly. Get rid of weeds.
• Rake and dispose of leaves, even if your lot is wooded.
• Trim tree limbs that are near or touching the roof.

Landscaping Decisions

There are times that adding elements to your landscaping can help curb appeal, but there are also times when removing something is more effective.

Bad Landscaping Can
Delay a Sale:

We had a listing for a large brick house with white columns in front. Tall evergreens, planted in front of each column, had grown taller than the roof. They obscured the columns and windows and made it difficult to see the front of the house.

We suggested that the owner remove them. She trimmed them back, but they were unattractive and still kept potential buyers from seeing the true character of the house.

I sold the house to a couple who could see past the trees. One of their first tasks after closing was to yank them out of the ground, instantly boosting the home's curb appeal.

The Moral of the Story
Most buyers cannot visualize changes, and often won't take a second look at a house if the first isn't appealing to them. Those who can visualize changes, and are prepared to make them, expect YOU to reduce the price of the house to compensate for the work.

The seller was comfortable in the house and couldn't understand why leaving the trees in place made a difference. She forgot that the Realtor has to show buyers the best aspects of a property—you cannot expect them to imagine improvements on their own.