Curb Appeal and the 30 Second Rule

The exterior of your home can easily be equated to the all important first impression.  Home buyers looking at a home’s exterior typically formulate this first impression in a mere 30 seconds.  Great curb appeal can mean the difference between buyers longing to see more or high tailing it out of there.

When selling your home, put yourself in the buyer’s shoes.  They see an overgrown lawn, chipping paint, and a broken light fixture.  The obvious next thought is… “If this is how the owners care for the exterior of the home, the inside MUST be a mess!  Not to mention the unseen maintenance issues lurking in the walls, roof, and mechanicals.”  It is essential when selling your home, especially in a buyers market, that you make the most of your 30 second impression by putting your house at the top of its game.  A great way to help you spruce up your home’s exterior is to stand across the street and look at your home from a buyer’s perspective.  Ask yourself these questions:

1. What is your 30 second first impression of your yard, driveway, paths and home’s exterior?
2. Do you have overgrown bushes, weeds in your lawn or branches to be trimmed?
3. What are your home’s best features?  Are they currently highlighted?

After you look critically at the exterior it is time to get to work on drawing buyers in to see your home’s interior.  In addition to working on any glaring issues you spot during your assessment, your curb appeal to-do list should also include the following:

1. Put a fresh coat of paint on your front door and shutters, replace your dented mailbox and dirty/tarnished house numbers
2. Clean all of the windows (both inside and out) and remove any debris from gutters
3. Update or simply clean all outdoor light fixtures
4. Pressure wash any dirty siding, decks and patios
5. Get rid of weeds in the lawn, flower beds or sidewalk cracks.
6. Keep lawn neatly mowed and sidewalks, driveway and paths edged and clean.
7. In the fall rake and dispose of the leaves
8. In the spring/summer plant colorful flowers
9. Have trees trimmed especially those branches and limbs near the roof
10. Organize and store garden hoses, kids toys, tools, garbage cans etc.
11. Buy a clean new doormat

I understand this list requires a lot of time and energy…but trust me, buyers will notice!  If you are serious about attracting as many buyers as possible and selling your home quickly you need to set your home’s curb appeal as a top priority!