Curb Appeal is Key!

Nothing will bring more potential buyers into your home than outstanding curb appeal. Research has shown that great curb appeal can increase the value of your property by as much as 15-20%.

In today’s competitive real estate market buyers can afford to be choosy and consider only houses that show well from the street. If they don’t like what they see when they drive by (or see it online), they may never even make it through your front door. You need to make sure your home puts its best foot forward from the very first moment a buyer sees it.

What Is Curb Appeal?

It’s that quality that makes buyers say “wow!” when they first see a house. It’s what makes them emotionally connect with a house and imagine themselves living there, even before they walk in the door. It’s what makes a house feel like a home.

Curb appeal is also important because, to a potential buyer, the outside of your home tells the story of what it will look like inside. If the outside of the house looks great, buyers will be positively pre-disposed to like the inside as well. However, if the outside is unkempt, they will assume that the inside is not well cared for either.

How to Get Curb Appeal

• Clean up the yard: make sure the lawn is mowed, sidewalks are edged, bushes and shrubs are trimmed. Add fresh mulch to the beds. Put away hoses and garden tools.
• Wash the siding.
• Clean windows and gutters.
• Install a more attractive front door. Or give it a fresh coat of paint and new hardware. Also repaint the woodwork surrounding the front door and make sure the light fixture is clean. Remember, buyers will have a few moments to see your entry up close as they are waiting to get into the house.
• Purchase a new welcome mat.
• Position planters on either side of the front door and fill them with colorful flowers. In winter, use evergreens.
• Make sure house numbers are visible from the street and that the style is consistent with the porch lights and mailbox.

Free Newsletter

Go to signup form

Staging Links

• Painting Your House to Sell
• 5 Things to Do Now to Sell Your House in 2009
• Staging Statistics
• Curb Appeal

Did you know…?

…that on the North Shore, landscaping has the third highest ROI (332%) of any improvement you can make to your house?

Please Contact Us

Anne West

Call me at 847-687-5957

Or email me