Does your home have curb appeal? Take an outside view.
Would you go to a job interview with the remains of
breakfast on your suit? Wearing mismatched shoes? With
messy, uncombed hair? Of course not! When you're preparing
to put your house on the market, think of it in similar
terms: Before you'll get the "interview," you need to give
your home its best outerview!
These days, curb appeal is the key to getting past the
first view from a potential buyer, either on the Internet,
or their first drive-by sighting. Even if you have no
immediate intentions of putting your home on the market,
improving your outdoor living space can increase your
personal satisfaction and enjoyment while living in your
home.
For my Client Appreciation Program this month, I am
sending you information that will help you assess your
home's curb appeal and ideas for improvements that can add
value. It also tells you the most-looked-at areas you should
focus on improving first. The back page of this month's Item
of Value provides the "Curb Appeal in a Hurry" checklist of
quick-and-tidy tasks you can do in four key areas. Designer
tips provide practical, yet clever, ideas for spiffing up a
wooden patio or deck and filling in a balding lawn.
If you're in need of a referral to a good trade or
service professional, let me know. Since I'm so active in
the market, I've come across some excellent resources and
would love to share them with you.
Sincerely,
Sherry
Rich, REALTOR(r)
Sales Agent, RE/MAX Hall of Fame
Accredited Buyer Representative, Certified Relocation
Professional, Certified Residential Specialist, Graduate
REALTORS Institute
Make sure your home has
the curb appeal it deserves. If you want to increase the
value of your home, the best thing you can do is to stand
outside--way outside, across the street--and view your
property as if seeing it for the first time. Would you want
to knock on the door?
Common sense dictates that
when you are out cruising neighborhoods looking at houses,
you'll judge on what you see first--a home's outer
attributes, or curb appeal. If the outside doesn't catch
your fancy, then you will drive on by to greener lawns. Add
to that the latest phenomenon, the seven in ten who use the
Internet to identify homes enticing enough to visit in
person. Follow these suggestions to ensure your home has
appeal at the curb and the computer.
START BY CLEANING UP
Walk around the perimeter
of the yard to pick up litter left over from trash day,
leaves, garden tools, pieces of projects not yet completed,
weeds and foliage gone wild. Cleaning up is pretty basic,
and yet when we live in an environment, we tend to stop
seeing it as a newcomer as a potential buyer will.
ASSESS THE SITUATION
With a critical eye, tour
the sidewalks around your house, walkways leading to it, the
yard (all sides), and landscaping, and scour any portion of
the house visible from outside, including siding, roof,
gutters, doors, windows, window treatments, porch, deck,
garage and sheds. Make a list of anything that needs to be
cleaned up, repaired, painted, planted, trimmed, etc.
MAKE IMPROVEMENTS
Once you've completed your
assessment, determine what tasks are truly just a matter of
cleaning up, what will need repairs or muscle work, and what
may need professional help or significant investment.
NEXT-LEVEL CLEAN-UP
Power-wash siding,
walls, and roof tiles.
Wash windows.
Sweep walkways, mow
lawn, clean up plant beds, add flowers.
Accessorize,
especially in front areas.
MINOR REPAIR WORK
Repave or fill cracked
sidewalks.
Re-hang dangling
gutter pipe.
Trim tree branches
that touch buildings or block needed views.
Green up patchy lawn,
fill bald spots in border plantings.
Check lighting.
MAJOR REPAIR WORK
Commit to extensive
landscaping.
Add a new roof.
Refinish the driveway.
Paint or refinish the
exterior
TIPS
Real estate and home
improvement experts say the most important key areas to
spiff up are: main entrance, front door, exterior walls,
roof, and landscaping. In fact, good landscaping has been
shown to hasten the sale of a home by as much as six weeks.
In terms of investment, however, be careful not to
"over-improve" for the neighborhood, as buyers won't pay
more than what other homes in the neighborhood are worth.
To refinish a weathered
wooden patio or deck, start by taking off the old finish
with a deck stripped and power washer. Scrub it with a deck
cleaning solution. Be thorough in cleaning and drying before
refinishing. Top it off with simple, attractive accessories,
such as nice cushions and umbrella, sculpture, a potted
tree, etc.
Grassless dirt areas of
lawn under heavy canopy trees can be spruced up (and
disguised) by creating a small garden. Arrange cast-concrete
blocks to create an even, level wall around the dirt. Fill
in with topsoil and plant shade-tolerant flowers or plants.
OR fill with attractive rocks or much and set in potted
plants.
Pick up litter, pooper-scoop.
Weed, prune, and mulch garden beds.
Mow lawn, trim edges, rake.
Prune shrubs and trees
Sweep sidewalks, clear weeds from cracks
Main entry
Clear sidewalks and
driveway.
Clear and clean walkway to front entrance
Clean porch. Repaint if needed. Accessorize with a new
mailbox, potted flowers, stylish outdoor furniture, wall
plaque, or sculpture.
Front door
Clean surface, glass, and
handle.
If scratched or scuffed, repaint or refinish.
Make sure knob, lock, and doorbell and door doesn't stick.
If screen door isn't steel or tempered glass, remove it.
House exterior
Power wash siding and
roof--but not so hard that paint peels off
Wash windows, inside and out. Replace worn or cheap
curtains with treatments that looks stylish from both sides
of the window. Consider window boxes with flowers.
Clean deck or patio. Refinish if necessary, and
accessorize.
