House hunting can be like online dating. If you like the way someone looks, you click on their profile to find out more. Same goes for house hunting -- if a home looks good on the outside, you take a peek inside. A home's curb appeal is what attracts you to find out more. When selling your home, it's important that your home's appearance is inviting and enticing to potential buyers. You want them to stop at your house and take a peek inside, you want them to be interested in your home.
Here are five ways to improve your home's curb appeal:
1. Add some color to your home's exterior
Whether your home is a classic center hall colonial or a modern marvel of architecture, adding a splash of color to your home's exterior is an easy and fun way to make your home stand out.
An easy way to add color is to paint your front door. Many times the front door can be overlooked, but with a bucket of paint and an afternoon you could easily improve the curb appeal by painting your front door a stand out color.
2. Flowers can brighten your home's entryway
Plant some colorful annual flowers along the sides of your walkway leading up to your newly painted front door.
A layer of dark-colored mulch in your flower beds can also help make your plants and flowers pop and will leave your front yard looking crisp and clean. While you're taking care of your flowers, make sure that your lawn is neat and your trees and shrubs are also neatly manicured. If you've got some leaves strewn across the yard, rake them up.
Just remember that this is an area that you won't be able to recoup your money so try not to spend to much on landscaping options.
3. Make repairs to sell your home quickly
A broken shutter or broken latch on a fence are easily fixed and can drastically improve your curb appeal.
Look for minor repairs that can be completed easily. Items like garage doors, sidewalks, front porches, fences and siding should all be in good repair when you're placing your home on the market.
4. Update hardware or fixtures is an easy visual upgrade
Updating your door's handle and deadbolt is a quick fix. It will also save your realtor the trouble of fumbling with a rusty or stripped keyhole. While you're at the front door, check to make sure that your doorbell also works.
If you have outdoor light fixtures, see if they need to be cleaned, repaired or updated and make sure that the light bulbs are still bright enough.
5. Clean and organize the front of your house to improve its curb appeal
If you've got bikes, toys and furniture strewn about the front of your home, it will look cluttered.
- Remove the clutter from the front of your home. Put things back where they need to be or sell your belongings with a garage sale.
- Take a good critical look at your home's cleanliness. Does it need to be cleaned? If so, now is as good a time as any to start scrubbing. Use an all-purpose cleaning solution and a scrub brush to give your siding a good cleaning before putting it up on the market.
- Stand across the street and look for anything else that could stand to look better. Anything visible from the front of your home is fair game when it comes to a buyer's critical eye.
So if you've got a crooked fence or a gutter that's a little loose, just bite the bullet and fix it before scheduling your open house. It just might mean the difference between a quick sale or letting your house sit on the market for months.