If you are considering selling your Sacramento area home, the curb appeal of your home is something to be very mindful of prior to putting up the For Sale sign. Does your home’s exterior create “love at first sight” or a “step on the gas and let’s get the heck out of here” reaction with prospective home buyers?
Ideally, you would like prospective home buyers to arrive to the front of your home and just fall in love with it. You would like them arrive at your home and be so impressed with the outside that they want to get inside and see the rest of your home. Give yourself an unfair advantage over the other homes for sale in the Sacramento area by upgrading your home’s exterior, which doesn’t necessarily have to cost you a lot of money.
In order to pocket a tidy profit when you sell your Sacramento area home, you would like to improve your home so that you have spent a little to make a lot. Spending just a bit of time and money to put some lipstick on your home can yield a nice return on your money. Again, this doesn’t mean that you need to spend a lot of money. At the end of the day, money spent on improvements that yield a greater sales price when you sell your home is money well spent and a prudent investment.
Rather than spending lots of money at an upscale retail store as you make improvements to your home’s exterior, explore less expensive alternatives first. For instance, Craigslist and eBay are excellent resources for an endless supply of second hand items that may be of great value to your home’s exterior, and at just the right price. Also check ReStore, the outlet store for Habitat for Humanity, which resells donated home building materials. Naturally, if you can’t find what you’re looking for at a bargain price, visit an upscale retailer and look for similar items on sale.
Beware that regardless of where you purchase items to spruce up your home’s curb appeal, if you use ugly, cheap, or tacky fixtures, you will actually make it more difficult to sell your home by reducing your home’s curb appeal.
A home that is alluring and inviting from the curb begins with the access to your home. In many newer neighborhoods, often times developers haven’t provided a separate walkway to the front door. Ideally, you don’t want to make prospective buyers walk around cars and trip over driveway edges to slink around and navigate to your front door. If your home doesn’t have a path or dedicated walkway to your home’s front door, add a simple, wandering pathway to the front door.
If you have a straight and plain concrete path or walkway, place some undulating flower beds on either side to create a relaxed feeling. Near your path or walkway, you might also consider adding a water feature to enhance the ambiance; there is something about moving water that relaxes the body and mind and refreshes the spirit. Strive to create a feeling of balance and harmony, like that found in nature.
I would also recommend that you use some friendly accessories to welcome buyers to your home. For instance:
Wind chimes add pleasure to your buyers’ sense of hearing;
Potted plants, such as flowers or soft ferns, are friendly, but avoid spiked plants with thorns near the doorway;
Floral baskets with bright yellow and white flowers show up the best during the day and at night;
A pair of rocking chairs, a double glider, or a porch swing will convey a friendly neighborhood and invite potential buyers to sit and chat;
A welcome mat also adds a real welcoming touch.
On the flip side of the coin, I would strongly recommend that you address some of the unwelcoming attributes that typically burden prospective Sacramento area home sellers by:
Repairing cracks in the driveway with cement epoxy;
Cleaning spider webs off eaves, windows and porch;
Repairing or replacing broken doorbells;
Cleaning or replacing dirty or burnt out exterior lights.
Prospective home buyers will forgive the subtle inadequacies of your home if they love it from the first time they see it. So take a few extra steps to enhance your home’s curb appeal and lure prospective buyers inside. Investing a little of your time and money will increase the likelihood that your home sells quickly and that you get top dollar for it. If you have any questions about the value of your home or if you are considering selling your Sacramento area home, I’d be happy to provide you with your neighborhood market data, comparable sales information, or answer any real estate questions that you might have. Feel free to give me a call anytime.