First impressions matter most. This is a concept that many homeowners trying to sell their homes and first-time real estate investors trying to sell or rent their properties fail to understand. Curb appeal is the first impression of a home. It is what you as an investor or seller want those driving to buy to think of as home. For this reason, you should pay careful attention and spend a degree of time and effort to make the exterior of the home inviting and appealing to potential buyers or renters.
One of the first things people will notice is chipped paint and bland or tired faded colors on the exterior. Vinyl siding is usually inviting because it is easy to clean and rejuvenate. It also happens to be fairly low-maintenance, which tends to attract the attention of buyers and renters. However, there are some who believe that siding detracts from the potential character of a home. To each his own, as this is a personal decision on behalf of the buyer and seller. Regardless, a clean paint job or siding makes a better impression than an obvious state of disrepair.
Remember, first impressions are important. If the exterior of the house is fairly bland, a potential buyer will likely find a diamond in the rough inside your home. Another thing you can do to increase curb appeal is to plant low-maintenance flowers and plants on the exterior of your house. You don’t want to invest in plants that require constant care, nor do you want to get serious about investing in plants that will grow out of control and look unwieldy. At the very least, you don’t want to plant these plants outside of your house as it faces the road. However, in many cases, shrubs and climbing vines do well along the fence that surrounds the property, or as a privacy divider between your property and neighboring properties.
If you live in an area that is not conducive to green grass, you may want to consider some sort of mix that will thrive with less water, or choose some form of landscaping that does not rely on large areas of grass for aesthetic purposes, such as off-site planting, then it is likely a wise idea. The key is to make the exterior of the house as attractive as the interior that you want the people looking at it to find.
Another thing to keep in mind when upgrading is to clean the sidewalk and driveway, if it is concrete. It’s amazing what a high-powered pressure washer can do for sidewalks, driveways and/or front porches. However, don’t stop there; take the time to make sure your windows and doors are clean as well. It’s the little things that often make the biggest impression. If you’ve taken proper care of the exterior of your home and kept it nice and shiny, then (in the minds of buyers) you’ll do the same for the interior of your home, which they’re likely considering right now.
Taking more time to make sure the exterior of your home is attractive to buyers can translate into a higher and faster offer than ignoring the front door and curb appeal of a significant piece of real estate. Don’t ignore this powerful advice, and you should enjoy more success in your efforts to sell your home or investment property.