Make an Impactful First Impression with Curb Appeal

Have you ever seen something that you didn’t know you needed? Just look at all the things you’ve seen on Amazon! From weirdly-designed knickknacks to surprisingly useful tools, we’ve all had our fair share of impulse buying.

What makes us bite the bait? Some may argue an affordable (or even misleading!) price gets us good, but others say it’s because of growing trends like how those fidget spinners for the kids were the talk of the town. While those things indeed play a role in our decision-making process, another significant factor that makes us buy things in a heartbeat is a product’s first impression! We don’t judge a book by its cover, but that statement is often only used for books that look bad. How frequently have we bought (or at least considered buying) something mainly because it looked good?

But what does all this have to do with real estate? Well, you’ve seen the title. If making a product look good results in more sales, it’s just as effective with selling houses. An impressive aesthetic always catches someone’s eye and maybe even their interest! And what do people see first? That’s right, the outside of the home. Here, we’ll talk about why curb appeal (or the overall outside look of the house) is a big deal and some of the ways you can utilize it to make the sale much faster!

Why Curb Appeal?

As mentioned earlier, your property’s curb appeal translates into someone’s impression of the home. Their idea of what’s outside the home forms their expectations for what’s inside. If the porch looks this pleasing on the outside, the rooms inside should look just as lovely, right? That’s the thought you want your potential buyers to have.

Just as some people are quick to judge others based on appearance, other potential buyers would not want to spend a couple of seconds looking at a house with no curb appeal because they’d rather go to the next one across the street – which looks much better at first glance.

Because a strong curb appeal makes your home stand out, it will instantly increase its value! Sure, it’ll turn away buyers that are looking for more affordable options, but depending on your needs, you might not necessarily want low ballers lining up on your front door.

Start with the Basics, Then Step it Up

Curb appeal doesn’t always have to be expensive. If you’re on a budget, you can easily have the lawn mown, power wash the driveway, clean the windows, take cobwebs out, and sweep the sidewalk! Of course, you can take it to the next level as needed. Here are some of the things you might want to take care of:

Repaint. You might be surprised to see that your house is in dire need of repainting! Even tiny paint chips anywhere could be noticeable for someone looking for a “pristine” look and deduct points on the decision-making scorecard. Petty? Yes. But it can easily be managed by having a painter take care of the small details.

Repair. A buyer generally shouldn’t expect a used house in a brand-new condition, but you can do your best to make it look like one – at least on the outside if we’re talking about curb appeal. Patch up any damaged posts, cracked concrete walls/driveways, missing planks on the fence, or anything of the sort.

Replace. Sometimes, repairing won’t cut it. A terrible, ill-fitting front door could be a deal-breaker to some. If it can’t be fixed, replacing it may be the next best option. The same thing goes for broken windows, tiles, and pots.

Replant. Honestly, we’re just trying to keep the list starting with the same prefix, but your mown lawn sometimes might not be enough. If the house’s surroundings look like a jungle with overgrown trees and shrubs, then, no matter how beautifully built the home is, only Indiana Jones would be interested in the ruins you’re trying to sell. If you’re unsure how to go about this, you can always hire a landscaper.

You might be a little apprehensive about spending a little extra, but as we said earlier, curb appeal increases your property’s value, so you may come out getting more from what you’ll be spending. Once you’ve managed to boost your curb appeal, your house is bound to be at the top of your buyers’ minds.

Also, curb appeal doesn’t even have to be what buyers see when they drive up to your house! Even photos of your property from your online listings can grab people’s attention more than the one whose owner didn’t have time to do all of that!

Don’t Like All This Extra Work?

What’s wrong with not having time to do all this? Not everyone has the bandwidth to go the extra mile. We get it. Some of the steps here can be a chore! For example, mowing the lawn is a literal chore that some of us have our children do instead. If we don’t have the time for that, how can we do the other more tedious things on the list?

Of course, you can hire someone to do all the work for you, which is great, but not for everyone. You’d still have to take care of paying them, making sure they know what they’re doing, and dealing with all the small things that can get incredibly annoying.

So, what’s the solution? Well, you might want to look into selling with a real estate investor. Investors aren’t like your average buyer that’s looking for their dream home. In fact, real estate investors make dream homes for buyers. They buy from people who want to get the sale done as fast as possible. Sure, you’re going to get less for it, but you can get the sale closed for as fast as a week! To put that into perspective, if you look at online listing sites like Zillow, you’re bound to see ads that have been there for months!

If you want to give it a shot, you’re free to do a quick Google search for the best investors near you. Want a recommendation? Try contacting Shorefront Investments. Of course, we say that because that’s us! We’ve in the business for years, helping people find quality housing for good prices. You can give us a call at (850) 713-4866, send us an email, or fill a form on our front page. If you’re not from our area, we could still recommend others who could help you out!