Curb appeal is absolutely critical when it comes to attracting buyers and closing sales, and it doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg. Here are four key tips to help you boost your property’s curb appeal without breaking the bank:
Paint
People are often blown away by how a paint job can utterly transform a home. Just one fresh coat, and boom—the place looks brand new. And at around $20 to $30 per gallon, paint is by far one of the most affordable quick fixes for boosting home value and curb appeal. Just one thing to keep in mind: Try to avoid crazy colors that might put people off. Stick to calm neutrals that everyone can agree on. And if you do opt for a splash of color, try to limit it to small accents.
Scrub
You wash your car, you wash your dog, but most people don’t even think about washing their houses. It’s very common for homeowners to confuse a dirty house with an aging paint job. So, before you head off to the hardware store to buy those buckets of paint, you might want to double check on whether you even need to paint in the first place. A once-over with soapy water and a long-handled soft-bristled brush might be what your home needed all along.
Plant
Some well-manicured landscaping will boost the curb appeal of any home. If you want to go over the top, you could bring in a professional landscaper to redesign your front lawn. But if your lawn is already in decent shape, a quick facelift should do the trick. Just pull the weeds, plant some fresh drought-resistant plants and grasses, add some new paving stones and/or decorative gravel, trim anything that looks overgrown, and you’ve got yourself a reborn yard. To add some extra life to your lawn, plant some colorful drought-tolerant annuals (e.g. Arizona poppy or cherry sage) in accent areas to catch the eye of your prospective buyers.
Update
Anything that’s old, dilapidated or mismatched needs to go. A few things that can usually benefit from an upgrade are mailboxes and address numbers. A nice new mailbox, whether it’s a nice painted wood model or die-cast aluminum, is a great way to make the whole place look fresh and new. Your hardware store should have plenty of options to choose from that won’t run you more than $100. The same goes for decorative house numbers and address plates. They may seem like small details, but when it comes to making a sale, details matter.
Remember to try to think like a prospective buyer. If you were in the market, what would you want to see when you pull up in front of the property for the first time? Keep this in mind as you go about sprucing up your property and you’ll be closing that deal in no time.
Contact the team at Summit Insurance Advisors for more information about signing up for homeowners insurance.