Selling your home can be one of the hardest things you can do. From picking the realtor to then playing the patience game with viewers and when you eventually get to sell your home, the paperwork required to get you over the finishing line. Of course, the most important thing in any home sale is actually selling your home. The first thing to selling any home is understanding what curb appeal is and how to get it!

What is curb appeal?
Wikipedia defines curb appeal as “the attractiveness of the exterior of a residential or commercial property, as viewed from the street. The term was extensively used in the United States during the housing boom and continues to be used as an indicator of the initial appeal of a property to prospective buyers.”

OK, curb appeal is how attractive your home looks to any potential buyer. But why is this important and how will it affect your home sale?

“Curb appeal is the first thing that any potential buyer will use to make a decision on your property. If it doesn’t look the part, then you will have a horrible situation where you can’t even get people to view, let alone make an offer.” Paul Russo from our Florida office continued with, “there are many different things you can take to make your home stand out and get that all important curb appeal; it’s a case of priorities and taking the road best travelled sometimes.”

5 tips for improving curb appeal

1) Focus on the photos
88% of all home searches in the US start online. If you never considered how important it was to get your property photos right, then now is the time. “Pick the right time of the day for pictures, preferably with good sunlight behind you. Don’t crowd your shot with things that may put buyers off like bikes on the lawn or dirty dishes in the sink!”

2) Be a buyer for a day
Imagine you were buying a home and take the time to spend a day looking at properties for sale. Which ones appealed to you and why? “Use this first hand experience to guide you through your own home sale. Drive past your house several times at different points of the day. What works and what doesn’t? That’s what you need to focus on.”


3) Prioritise repairs
Home repairs are a given for any seller, especially if you have lived in a property long enough to damage it. “Scuffs on doors, chipped paint and even that floorboard you’ve been meaning to repair are important but are they more important than let’s say, a new roof? Raised flags on your porch? Broken windows? Prioritise your repairs and don’t skimp on a good tradesman. Smaller things are usually accepted by buyers, but the big ticket stuff will have an impact on your home value.”

4) A bit of landscaping
The big thing about curb appeal is what your house looks like from the road/the curb. That said, what people will take a first, deciding look at is, your garden. “Green fingered sellers attract a lot of potential buyers because the lawn is well kept and the colours of plants and shrubs are appealing. Sometimes, the inside of the home isn’t so. But you don’t need to go overboard. Cut the lawn, mend any fence panels and for added colour, you can pick up bright plants and shrubs cheaply. Show these off in pots or planted in the soil that borders your lawn.”

5) Let there be light!

Finally one the best tips for improving curb appeal is, adding light. “Whether that is to your garden, your entrance or your home living spaces, great light gives people a welcoming feel. Outside lights illuminate darker spaces. Internal lights can make living areas more homely; and that’s important for buyers.”