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Curb appeal is the term that refers to the first impression of your home.
Most people take a look at the exterior of the home and decide if it’s worth taking a tour or not. When people drive up to a home for an open house, they’ll decide if they love the house or not.
That’s why real estate agents stress how important it is to improve curb appeal before they list a home for sale. They know that a home with excellent curb appeal sells faster and for more money.
Homes with better curb appeal sell 7% higher. That can mean $14,000 more for a $200,000 home.
Read on to learn the top curb appeal methods that can have the most impact on the price of your home.
10 Tips to Improve Curb Appeal
1. Paint the Exterior of the Home
Painting the exterior of the home is the most dramatic way to improve curb appeal. The question that needs to be addressed is what color you choose.
It’s a big decision since the color of the home impacts curb appeal. You don’t want to do anything too extreme like purple or bright yellow.
Classic colors and natural tones are always a safe bet to improve curb appeal.
2. Repair the Driveway
Another area to focus on is the driveway. You don’t want to show a driveway with cracks and weeds popping up. That gives the wrong impression to buyers.
They’ll assume that there are other things wrong with the home as they walk through it. You can repair the cracks and reseal the driveway to show buyers that you take excellent care of the entire property.
3. Improve the Landscaping
Landscaping has the biggest impact on curb appeal. Think about the homes you see with weeds and overgrown grass. You form a negative impression of the home.
Don’t give potential buyers that opportunity. It doesn’t take much to redo the landscaping. You may need to plant grass seed in spots, add mulch around the foundation of the home, and clean up the weeds.
Don’t ignore the trees on your property. People love big trees on a property, but you need to make sure they don’t interfere with the roof or wires nearby.
You should work with a tree trimming service to make sure your trees look great.
4. Change the Doors
Something as simple as changing the front door can have a huge impact, too. You can repaint the front door to make it stand out. It also makes the entrance of the home more welcoming.
You can decide to change the style of the door to match the architecture of the home.
5. Adjust Your Walkway
Be honest with yourself, how welcoming is the walkway to the entrance of your home? If buyers don’t feel that it’s welcoming or inviting, they won’t be impressed with the home.
Ask yourself what would make the walkway more inviting? In most cases, it’s something as simple as adding colorful flowers along the sides of the walkway. In other cases, you just need to make minor repairs to the walkway.
6. Add Planters and Window Boxes
The easiest way to improve the curb appeal of your home is to add plants. You don’t need to turn over land or add soil to the landscaping.
You can simply add planters. Window boxes with colorful flowers give your home a charming look that can grab attention.
You just need to be careful not to crowd spaces with too many planters.
7. Paint Your Fence
Does your property have a fence? You want to make sure that stands out, but not too much. Check the fence to make sure that it’s working properly.
Check the boards and if you find any rotting or broken ones, replace them. A fresh coat of paint will give your fence new life, too.
8. Make It Colorful
Does your home seem plain because it’s too earthy? Neutral tones are great because they don’t force people to have strong emotions when they see the home.
However, when you add accent colors to the exterior of the home, the colors stand out. They can give a lot of life to the home right away.
There are a number of ways to add accent colors. You can have throw pillows on porch furniture, add flowers, and use bright trim color.
9. Upgrade Your Lights
Most people won’t notice the exterior light fixtures until the lights come on. Potential buyers will drive past the home later to see what the home looks like at night.
When you change the light fixtures to match the architecture and style of the home, you create a unified look that buyers find appealing.
10. Add Porch Seats
Everyone dreams of sitting on the front porch, sipping a cool drink, chatting with neighbors. You want to present that possibility to potential buyers when you sell your home.
If your home has a porch, add a seating area to make it appealing. You can add a small table or end tables.
Some people love the idea of a swinging bench seat, and that’s something that you can consider if you have a small space to work with.
Improve Curb Appeal One Step at a Time
Do you have what it takes to improve curb appeal of your home? You can make small changes like plant flowers and planters. You can make massive changes like painting the exterior of the home.
The bottom line is that you need to be ready to make some improvements if you want to boost the value of your home. Once you have captured the imaginations of potential buyers, selling the rest of the home is easy.
Now that you have the exterior of the home ready to go, check out the blog for tips to spruce up the interior.
