Giving Your Home “Curb Appeal”
(The Outside Perspective)
By Blanche Evans

You’ve heard the expression “Sell the sizzle, not the steak!” Selling a home is just like marketing any other product. The more effort you put into the marketing, the more results you are likely to see in terms of activity and offers.

The first thing to realize is that whatever condition your home is in, it probably is not in “show” condition. There are items we learn to live with to the point that we forget the little eyesores and “honey-do’s” that never got done. Over the years, clutter accumulates. Our eyes adjust to that low light and that fading paint color. We love the home as it is and fail to see what the home is like compared to others. Other homes - your competition - may be in show condition. If yours isn’t, it will look “old and tired” by comparison.

Second, buyers are going to view your home with the opposite attitude from yours. You are presenting something you are proud of - the buyers are going to do their best to find as much wrong with it as possible. If they find too much wrong with it, they’ll walk. If they like the house, they will try to find enough wrong with it to make a lower offer. The reason they do that is to get a lower selling price on the house.

You see, the buyer and the seller are opposites. You are trying to sell the home for the most money and the buyer is trying to buy it for the least. To have a successful transaction, you are obviously going to have to meet in the middle somewhere.

To get, as much for your house as possible, you need to disarm the buyers before they even get through the door. Make them want the house so much from the time they drive up in front that they are willing to pay what the house is worth.

This is called curb appeal.

What makes curb appeal? It is an intangible, subjective quality, but it the one thing that can really sell a house. It is that quality that makes the buyer starts thinking emotionally instead of practically. It builds desire, the desire to own and to live a certain lifestyle that the exterior of the home appears to advertise. It can take you back to your childhood to when you had a home just like this one with the flowers in the front and the winding walkway to the door and a beautiful brass doorknocker on the front door. It is the quality that makes them want to go inside.

That is why if you have a limited budget to spend on marketing your home, you want to put the majority of it toward sprucing up the front entrance to your home. And you can do a lot of improvement with just a little elbow grease.

What your buyer sees from the street is the first impression they will have of your home. You want the first impression to be a good one, especially if there is another house down the street for sale that may be a little bit prettier, a little bit bigger or a little bit something more. Don’t worry, though; you aren’t out of the running yet.

Remember, your buyers’ first impression of the exterior of the home is important because it sets the tone for the rest of their walk-through. If your buyers have fallen in love with the exterior, they will look more favorably on what they find inside.

Some “Outside” Specifics

• Clear away anything dead - dead leaves, dead flowers, etc. Trim the trees, clean under the canopies.
• Replace flowerbeds with fresh blooming flowers. If you don’t have time to grow them from seed, just go buy a few blooming plants and plant them.
• Paint the front door and anything else that needs painting. Try to choose a neutral color that goes with the brick, roof or trim of your home.
• Open the front curtains and shutters. Light the lamps. Put out a clean, new welcome mat.
• Polish the brass doorknocker; polish or paint (as appropriate) the mailbox, light fixtures and address numbers.
• If you have a front porch, keep it swept. Clean the outside furniture and put nice, new pillows on the chairs.
• Keep the garage door closed. Put bikes, tricycles and children’s toys out of the way.
• Safely lock away pets. If you have a pet that remains in the back yard, let the showing agent know in advance. If your dog is a barker, overly protective or otherwise ill mannered, arrange to board it somewhere else during showings.