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The Power of Curb Appeal


In every residential neighborhood, there's always that one house. You know the one: that house that looks absolutely amazing, and just drives the neighbors green with envy!

Ok, you probably thought we were going the other direction, which serves just as well to make the point. Let's get it out of the way then: how about that messed up looking place with the uncut grass, tires on the brown lawn, and cats - so... many... cats! Just kidding, we love cats of course, but what's the deal with that unkempt house and the sense that if you walk past it, a feral creature might just pop out of nowhere?

*Shudder* Anyway, that was an example of an overreaction, as we're sure the neglected landscaping is the only thing wrong with "that house" on the block, and everything else is probably fine. However, when you are the one selling the home, it is crucial to expect such quick disqualifications from potential buyers if your curb appeal is not top notch. Fortunately, Premier Midtown Realty has got you covered with these five tips for making sure you are harnessing the power of curb appeal. In fact, the reaction of a possible buyer could be quite the opposite of what we saw in the bad example, if you have stellar curb appeal. All of the visions of living there and loving it will possibly come to mind before they even enter the house! Again, this is the power of curb appeal! Make your home look more like a model and less like a "used" house, and the chances of getting an offer will increase dramatically.




Tip #1: If your home has a front lawn, make sure it is freshly mowed and has no major brown patches. Do not leave anything on the lawn unless it is part of the décor, and even if it is a holiday, clear off the decorations so the nice green lawn can be seen. This tip seems like a no-brainer, but believe it or not, buyers looking at your house when first arriving will notice immediately if there is anything wrong with the grass. The goal is actually to not have them notice anything unusual about the front lawn (or back lawn, for that matter) - just that it looks the way it should (green, trimmed, and not cluttered with anything). If you do not have a lawn and instead have gravel or bricks, just make sure they look tidy and clean, with no weeds or obvious damage anywhere.

Tip #2: Make sure the rest of your front (and back) yard landscaping looks good, also! Clear off any leaves, pull weeds, prune flowers, and trim low hanging tree branches. If you have a dog, make sure the yards are free of - er, dog "presents" on the grass and elsewhere. The rule of thumb with your yards when showing the home is to keep them free of clutter, filth, and anything else that would detract from the appeal of the home. Would you want to buy a house that had anything like this lying around? Of course not! Just keep your place clean, and you'll be sure to impress potential buyers.

Tip #3: How does the paint look? It would be worth the investment to hire a painter if the house paint is peeling, faded, or is a bad color combination. Sure, there's nothing wrong with us expressing ourselves with neons and clashing colors elsewhere in our lives, but the house needs to be painted a reasonably muted and palatable color scheme. White, beige, light grey, very soft primary colors (red, blue, yellow), even softer secondary colors (green, purple, orange, and similar others), and then carefully selected color trims, if any. Think of websites: which ones are easiest for reading, if you are going through a news article? The one with neon green text and a dark purple background is a bit distracting versus the one with black text over an off-white background, right? Sounds boring, but that's really the way to go when selling your home. After you buy another one, paint it whatever you'd like (if there's no HOA, that is) but just remember to return it to the plainer color scheme before listing it for sale!

Tip #4: Are any windows broken or cracked? How about light fixtures? Is the roof looking okay? Is anything broken that you can see when walking up to the front door? Defects in a house are normal, as sometimes things break. However, you do not want possible buyers to see defects in the house the moment they arrive! You will have a chance to disclose any defective parts of the house to the buyer after they've decided to make an offer, but they will not get to that point if they see something visibly wrong with the house before even setting foot indoors. If there is something defective that you cannot fix, or were planning on leaving "as-is" when selling the house, it is still important to do what you can to clean it up so it looks as presentable as possible. Don't try to hide anything, but do try to make sure that the defective component of your house has obviously been acknowledged and treated to the best of your ability, instead of having rust near a dripping pipe or gutter, for instance, or mold and discoloration surrounding an old window seal, or an unearthed sprinkler with mud splattered on the side of the house - or anything else like those examples.

Tip #5: You've cleaned up and addressed anything that's less than perfect about the front of the home. Now let's spruce it up with a few affordable additions, like a nice looking bench or large potted plant on the porch. Want to go further than that? Try adding a reasonably priced and good looking picket fence around the lawn. You can also replace light fixtures, the front door knocker, the house numbers, or the doorbell with new ones to add appeal. Just make sure that if you pick gold accents, you use them for everything, or white, black, silver, etc. so there are not major mismatches. Simple updates and upgrades like that don't cost that much and might be the extra feature that wins a buyer's affection for your home!




We have a lot more useful tips and ideas at our website - just click here: Premier Midtown Realty and look at either the "For Buyers" page or the "For Sellers" page, depending on which one you need. We update all the time with helpful resources to make it as simple as possible to buy, sell, move, and navigate all things real estate, so check back often and feel free to share our website with friends and family!


Premier Midtown Realty: "Your Partners in Midtown Sacramento & Central Valley Real Estate!'  

Ryan Wagner, California Real Estate Broker. CA BRE license # 01968073.