The stress of selling a house can be enormous: from the frequent open houses to keeping everything clean to dealing with realtor after realtor, there’s a lot on your plate. While it may be difficult to handle, the satisfaction of knowing your house is finally sold can’t be beat. How can you make sure your house gets sold as soon as possible? Increase the curb appeal! Potential buyers get their first impression about a house by looking at the outside. They might give it a lackluster grade before they even step inside. To ensure that your house gets an A+ as soon as the buyer steps out of their car, you need to make sure that your exterior looks its best.
One tell-tale sign of a dated house is having faded and broken-down shutters. If your shutters look old, your house looks old, and very few people want to buy an “old” house. They may want a Victorian or Tudor style house for the charm, but they definitely don’t want a house that looks run-down—or worse, is run-down. To update your home’s style before it hits the market, consider investing in vinyl exterior shutters. Vinyl shutters have the traditional look of wood, but don’t weather and fade with time. That makes them a great investment, because you can tell potential homeowners that the brand-new vinyl shutters will keep their like-new look. Vinyl exterior shutters are also on average less expensive than wooden shutters, making them a budget-friendly improvement. Sure, you could paint your wooden shutters again. But long-lasting vinyl shutters will make your home look sharp and clean and give off a great first impression.
Another easy home improvement is making sure that your garden is weeded and flowers are planted. Flowers are inexpensive ways to bring splashes of color to your house and make it look warm and inviting. Likewise, weeding not only makes the garden look better, but also makes you appear to be a homeowner who cares about the quality of your house. This translates indoors, because if your yard looks ungrounded, the potential buyers may also assume that you have not taken care of the inside of your house. Well maintained landscaping is a great way to give your home a polished look.
One final way to create some curb appeal for your home is to power-wash your house. Although you might not believe your home is dirty, it is. That bright white you had when your home was first built is probably more of a gray now. It’s not your fault—your house can’t hide from nature, where dirt covers the ground and animals live. But, power-washing your home can give it that sparkle it originally had, which is much more attractive to buyers than a dull and faded color.
These aren’t guarantees that your home will get sold. However, if you follow these inexpensive tips, your home will definitely be viewed in a much better light. Curb appeal is like the first impression you give on a job interview. You wouldn’t wear sweatpants to an interview, and neither should your house. Dress your house in a suit and tie and be sure to seal the deal with your potential buyer.