Curb Appeal

So you want to sell your home? If you are thinking about putting your house on the market, there are several things to consider before doing so. Now that the real estate market has cooled off, selling your home can be difficult, especially if you are unprepared.
Creating “curb appeal” is one of the most important issues when competing in today’s real estate market. Without it, buyers will more than likely not even think about viewing the inside of your home: Of course, unless you’ve priced your home much less than all the other comparable homes in your neighborhood. Under-pricing your home is not always the best thing to do, especially if you have a considerable amount of money invested in your home. Therefore, you need to prepare your home to sell according to what homebuyers expect to get when purchasing a home to be in the running.
Having “curb appeal” simply means showing the front exterior and yard of your home as neat, appealing and well-maintained, with that “gotta have it” appearance. What do most buyers expect to see when they look at a home? Well, peeling paint, weedy grass, empty planting beds and broken fences are not things homebuyers like to see when they view a home. This means work, work and more work for them and that puts your house at the bottom of their list of homes to consider purchasing. If you don’t want to scare off potential buyers, these things need to be taken care of before you put your house on the market. First impressions are lasting impressions when it comes to any real estate market. But, don’t be discouraged. This certainly doesn’t mean you have to completely renovate your home in order to sell it.
Try driving by your home first and take a good look at it. You may like the way it looks, but would a prospective buyer like it enough to spend their “hard earned” money on it? Creating a look that is pleasing to the eye is not that difficult. Basic improvements in the front landscaping and front exterior of your home is usually all that is needed to generate curb appeal. This is the best place to start when preparing your home for a sale.
To get a general idea of what buyers desire in a home, just leaf through a few home and garden magazines. Even though most of the homes depicted in the photographs are not the norm, most people are media-oriented, so presenting the front of your home and yard as “visually” appealing will at least get their “feet” in your door. Once homebuyers start imagining themselves living in your home, then you have certainly won half the battle when it comes to selling your home in a “cool” real estate market.