Boost your home’s street appeal!

If you want to know what the most overlooked area of pre-sale home preparation is, then look no further than your street appeal. Think about it. This is the first impression of your home that all buyers see, both in the sales campaign images, and in-person at inspections.

Street appeal is easily one of the most important factors for a successful sale. Yet despite its importance, it is often overlooked by home sellers, I guess this is because we all live inside our homes, not in front of them. Its much easier to focus on the things we interact with daily inside our homes and not give as much thought to what our neighbours or buyers see.

My first piece of advice is to put your buyers hat on, walk outside the front of your home and have a good look with a critical eye. What will buyers think when they pull up? What will their first impression be? What message is your street appeal sending to your buyers about what the rest of the home is like?

Because I can say with certainty, if a buyer is turned off by the street appeal, then you have probably lost them. A negative first impression will adversely impact a buyer’s opinion on the interior of your home. It probably shouldn’t be this way, but unfortunately this is human nature, we are fickle creatures. Even the best kitchen renovation can be tarnished by lacklustre street appeal presentation.

When selling, for the best possible outcome, you want the whole viewing experience to be a process of falling in love for the buyer. From the first interaction with the photos, to when they pull up out front, to the walk through the front door and inspection of the rest of your home. It’s a wholistic process and every step is important, but if the first step is a miss-step then the remaining steps are diminished.

NUMBERS TELL THE STORY

Your street appeal could be the difference between a potential buyer putting your house on their inspection short-list, or giving it a miss. It can also be the difference between coming in to have a look, or driving off without even inspecting. Inspection numbers are a critical ingredient for a successful sale.

Not only that, but it also affects how much buyers might be prepared to pay for your home. Research has shown that 9 in 10 Australians make an offer below the property’s asking price because the outside of the property lacks appeal.

GARDEN GLOW

Aesthetically pleasing gardens and landscaping can heavily influence a buyer’s perception of a property. Landscape economist, John Harris, claims that landscaping can increase the value of your home by up to 28%.

In a 2011 gardening survey, 70% of the interviewed real estate agents agreed that a neglected garden can lower the value of a property by 5 to 15%. A further 17% believed that it would impact the value even more.

TRIM, TIDY, AND NOT PRICEY

One of the best things about boosting your street appeal is that its often cost effective things that you can do yourself with a quick trip to Bunnings and some weekend warrior work. It’s the little things added together that create the whole impression.

If your home looks well maintained from the street, then the impression is that the rest of the home will be in good working order. Conversely, cracks, rust, weeds, and peeling paint will set off subconscious alarm bells for buyers, who then start looking for faults, rather than imagining themselves living in the home.

Trim the trees, wash the house down, do those painting touch ups, get those garden edges perfectly wipper-snipped, attack those weeds, freshen up the garden mulch/bark, and pressure wash the driveway. Once these improvements are finished, the overall impact on your home can be astounding.

WARM AND INVITING

Once you have done these final jobs as part of your street appeal tidy up, stand back again with your buyers hat on. Does your home look warm and inviting? Is your street appeal telling buyers that this home is well cared for, and is just waiting for them to move in and make it their own? If so then you are ready!

Often I find that home owners are looking at doing large renovations to their home to get it sale ready, such as kitchens and bathrooms. While these improvements do add big value to homes, they also come at a big costs. I regularly find that these small exterior improvements, particularly to the front of homes are the most effective at adding value to a sale with the least pain on the back pocket.

INVITE US OVER

If you feel you need any expert tips and advice from a third party, with our knowledge of buyer demand we are perfectly positioned to offer suggestions on the sorts of improvements that can add effective value to your home. Get in contact with us and we are more than happy to pop over and offer a helpful opinion on the best options for your home.