Home Are Selling - Make Your Home Stand Out
October 1, 2008
The first impression that a serious buyer has of a property is often made as the buyers drive through an area where they would like to live. Although many buyers now use the Internet to as their primary search tool, those photos of the property can influence the decision to drive by or call for an appointment.
Sooooooooooooooooo:
Take a look at the exterior of your property. (Even if you are not thinking of selling these are good items to put on your "fix-it" list)
1. Driveway. It is amazing to me to see some great properties with pretty awful driveway surfaces. If your driveway is concrete, check out concrete cleaners that will get rid of stains. There are also concrete crack repair kits available. If the driveway is asphalt, a seal coat will return it to a clean black look. Of course, looking in to replacing the entire driveway and replacing it with new material does make a substantial improvement to the look of the property.
(Often a prospective buyer walks up a distressed driveway and has already mentally eliminated the property from the A-list.)
2. As with driveways, walkways are also important first impressions. Is your walkway clean and well maintained? Is it safe or are there raised portions? Check it out.
3. Landscaping. Is your mature? or just overgrown? If the landscaping hides the front facade of your house, it is probably time to trim or remove some of the greenery. Buyers are seldom attracted to something they can not view as they drive by. As the winter season approaches, you may want to over seed your lawn with a winter grass that will make the lawn a gorgeous shade of green. (If you are into water conservation, you may even want to transform your green lawn into an attractive, low maintenance xeriscape.) Weeding planters is easy, but shows the prospective buyer that you, the homeowner, have pride in your property. Finally, garden shops have lots of plants available for adding color to the landscape. These plants can really brighten up the look of your property for a minimal investment.
4.Exterior Paint. Maybe just scraping and painting the trim will transform a dull looking house into an attractive house. Since many of the Inland Empire homes have a stuccoed exterior, usually just the trim is all that needs to be painted. There are also contractors who will power wash the exterior of a house and give it a fresh clean look for much less cost that a painting job.
5. Entry. The buyer arrives at your door and sees a door that has truly seen better days. Our hot sun can ruin the varnished surface of a door. Home centers offer a large variety of replacement doors and those new doors can really update a 10-20-30+ year old house. Perhaps just paint and some new hardware will provide the fresh look.
6. Cleaning. At least weekly, maybe daily, cut off dead blossoms, rake up fallen leaves and pick up other small debris. If you have exterior lighting, check it to be certain that it is operating properly. Gopher mounds need to be smoothed out and the grass replaced. A lawn with all those little piles of dirt may really turn off a prospective buyer.
Many of these suggestions are not costly. Doing them will make you feel better about your property and they will most certainly improve your "curb appeal".
The first impression that a serious buyer has of a property is often made as the buyers drive through an area where they would like to live. Although many buyers now use the Internet to as their primary search tool, those photos of the property can influence the decision to drive by or call for an appointment.
Sooooooooooooooooo:
Take a look at the exterior of your property. (Even if you are not thinking of selling these are good items to put on your "fix-it" list)
1. Driveway. It is amazing to me to see some great properties with pretty awful driveway surfaces. If your driveway is concrete, check out concrete cleaners that will get rid of stains. There are also concrete crack repair kits available. If the driveway is asphalt, a seal coat will return it to a clean black look. Of course, looking in to replacing the entire driveway and replacing it with new material does make a substantial improvement to the look of the property.
(Often a prospective buyer walks up a distressed driveway and has already mentally eliminated the property from the A-list.)
2. As with driveways, walkways are also important first impressions. Is your walkway clean and well maintained? Is it safe or are there raised portions? Check it out.
3. Landscaping. Is your mature? or just overgrown? If the landscaping hides the front facade of your house, it is probably time to trim or remove some of the greenery. Buyers are seldom attracted to something they can not view as they drive by. As the winter season approaches, you may want to over seed your lawn with a winter grass that will make the lawn a gorgeous shade of green. (If you are into water conservation, you may even want to transform your green lawn into an attractive, low maintenance xeriscape.) Weeding planters is easy, but shows the prospective buyer that you, the homeowner, have pride in your property. Finally, garden shops have lots of plants available for adding color to the landscape. These plants can really brighten up the look of your property for a minimal investment.
4.Exterior Paint. Maybe just scraping and painting the trim will transform a dull looking house into an attractive house. Since many of the Inland Empire homes have a stuccoed exterior, usually just the trim is all that needs to be painted. There are also contractors who will power wash the exterior of a house and give it a fresh clean look for much less cost that a painting job.
5. Entry. The buyer arrives at your door and sees a door that has truly seen better days. Our hot sun can ruin the varnished surface of a door. Home centers offer a large variety of replacement doors and those new doors can really update a 10-20-30+ year old house. Perhaps just paint and some new hardware will provide the fresh look.
6. Cleaning. At least weekly, maybe daily, cut off dead blossoms, rake up fallen leaves and pick up other small debris. If you have exterior lighting, check it to be certain that it is operating properly. Gopher mounds need to be smoothed out and the grass replaced. A lawn with all those little piles of dirt may really turn off a prospective buyer.
Many of these suggestions are not costly. Doing them will make you feel better about your property and they will most certainly improve your "curb appeal".
posted by shirley harry at 8:49 AM
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