If you’ve been considering selling your home, you’ve likely heard about staging your home. Staging is all the rage in real estate these days. When done correctly, it can be incredibly effective in highlighting the best features of a house. However, when talk turns to staging, most people think mainly of the interior.
However, home staging extends to the exterior of a house in the form of its curb appeal. Taking steps to improve your home’s curb appeal is indeed a home staging strategy by another name.
Curb appeal is important because so many decisions in real estate are snap decisions. While in most situations, people shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, that’s exactly what happens when it comes to real estate. First impressions matter, and if buyers aren’t impressed by your listing photos or when they pull up to the curb for a showing, they may just move on.
There are few metrics that determine just how much of an impact home staging has, and yet, most real estate experts will agree that it does have a significant impact in the attention a house gets and the price.
When you work with an experienced real estate agent in Oshawa to sell your Oshawa home, they’ll provide advice on things you can do to make your home stand out and promote its best features. But there are things that any homeowner planning to sell their home can and should consider doing before contacting an agent to provide a boost to your home’s curb appeal. Here are several ways to improve the curb appeal of your home.
The Front Door Comes First
Your front door is the focal point of your home. It welcomes people in and is probably the first part of your home that buyers and visitors will see up close. It’s essential that your front door is in good condition. If it’s not, you might consider replacing it, but otherwise, a fresh coat of paint will probably do the trick.
When you paint inside your home, which is another essential home staging tip, it’s best to use neutral colors. But the front door is the one area where you’re encouraged to through a splash of color on it; Think bright red, yellow, or blue. These will help make your house stand out and bring attention to it.
Keep a Clean Property
When selling your house, it’s essential that you keep up with lawn care. That means cutting grass, cleaning edges, maintaining flower beds, and ensuring everything remains vibrant. Even if you’re selling off-season, keeping up with lawn maintenance will make all the difference. That means raking leaves, deadheading flowerbeds, shovelling snow, and salting sidewalks.
Small Touches
In our busy lives, few of us stop to consider the state of our mailbox, house numbers, or porch light fixtures. But when you list your home, you better believe these little things will play a significant role. While it’s unlikely buyers will reject your home because of a dingy mailbox, the effect of the lack of maintenance of these things can pack a big punch.
When these small elements are dirty, dull and grimy, they can pull down the appearance of a house without you even noticing it. But when you take the time to clean them, it’s like giving your whole exterior a lift. Better yet, consider replacing these elements with new ones with complementary styles for a cohesive look and feel.
Let There Be Light
When selling a house, you have to be prepared for buyers to come at all times. Often, this will be in the evening to accommodate for work and school schedules. What’s the point in putting all this work into improving your curb appeal if it’s too dark out for anyone to see it?
This is where outdoor lighting comes in. Not only will effective lighting help buyers make it in and out of your house safely, but it also gives the feeling of security. When done right, lighting often provides a warm, magical feeling – not a bad feeling to give off when you’re trying to get people to buy your house.
As mentioned, there should be a light to illuminate the entrance to your home, but you can do even more. Install solar lights to line any pathways on your property, a safety feature that also looks lovely. Go a step further and add twinkle lights to trees, bushes, or around the porch to give off a fairytale atmosphere. Consider flood lights to illuminate any architectural features that make your home stand out.
Bring Some Plant Life to It
If you have a garden, a surefire way to impress is to have beautiful flowers thriving and blooming. Make sure you don’t overcrowd your garden, and stick to no more than three colors. Also, be sure to keep flowerbeds neat and tidy. But even if you don’t have a garden, you can still add some attractive plant life.
Container gardens are a convenient and excellent way to bring life to your property. You can put them on the porch, steps or even stick them in nicer urns and pots on your lawn. The great thing about these is they are relatively affordable and allow you to make swaps as needed. Perfect for those who lack a green thumb or have trouble making up their minds.
When it comes time to sell your home, spend some time staging the outside of your house to give your curb appeal a boost!
