Curb Appeal - First Impressions Count When Selling Your Home
People selling their homes via real estate brokers get lots of
coaching. People selling their own homes as FSBOs need the same.
One of the most important topics on which FSBOs can benefit from
coaching is "curb appeal." How does your home look when a
potential buyer drives up to the curb and takes that all
important first look?
Be Sure It Looks Great
Single family residences require the most work. The FSBO seller
of a single family home also has the most control of what is
seen from the curb, so let's start there. Make sure grass is
cut, leaves are raked, sidewalks swept and edged, and planting
beds are freshly mulched. That's just the beginning.
Narrow walks leading to front doors are not inviting. If you can
afford to have the walk replaced with a wider one, do it. A walk
with some curve to it is often appealing. One which is wider
where it meets the public walk and wider as it reaches the front
steps can look particularly inviting. If two men can approach
your front door side by side without jostling each other, your
walk is sufficiently wide.
What if you have a narrow walk and a small budget? You can
improvise with brick, stone, or concrete pavers from Lowes or
Home Depot if you're handy and healthy. Choose whichever
material is most compatible with your house. Dig out the grass
on either side of your walk and lay a line of the chosen paving
materials parallel along each side of your walk. Fill in with
mulch (not the colored type, just good earth toned natural
stuff, please), sand, or river gravel. Make sure there's a crisp
edge where the grass starts.
Large, overgrown shrubs that crowd the house and cover windows
are a negative. Prune them back. If there is a narrow planting
bed along the front of the house, widen it. Have the bed swoop
in a curve around to the side of the house. Depending on the
size and scale of the house, plant something like a dogwood, a
butterfly bush or a holly in the curve at the corner of the
house. Make sure it will not be so close or so large as to
overwhelm the house in a few years. Fill in with smaller plants
at the front of the widened bed. Mulch. Mulch. Mulch. But the
mulch should be only two or three inches deep. Don't let it pile
up on the trunks of trees.
Plant colorful flowers in containers on either side of the front
door if the season is conducive. Geraniums work well in sunny
spots. Impatiens are good in shade. Make sure the containers are
of natural materials. Most plastic containers look tacky and
cheap. Advertisements for luxury cars show them near expensive
houses and beautifully dressed people for a reason. Association.
You want the things seen on the way to your front door to be in
good taste and of excellent quality. Fortunately, that doesn't
necessarily mean they have to be expensive. Clay pots are good.
Old iron urns are great with traditional homes. Oak barrels can
look wonderful with rustic homes. The addition of a bit of
trailing ivy or sweet potato vines can be attractive. It's
possible to achieve a miniature garden by combining several
sorts of plants in larger containers.
Make sure the front door is clean and the paint is in good
condition. Be sure it swings on its hinges well. It needs to
open and close well and firmly. The doorknob should work well
and not have any "bobble" motion when it's used. Exterior light
fixtures should be clean and free of rust. Front windows should
be clean and shining.
When preparing to sell your house, make sure you get everything
in order. As superficial as it may sound, curb appeal is a
dominant factor in getting sales.