How to Improve Your Home’s Curb Appeal

The majority of buyers decide whether they will go inside a house or not based on what the exterior. The more time you spend on the outside of your house, the more time a buyer will want to spend on the inside.

Simple Curb Appeal Exercise –

Think to yourself:

What is my first impression of my house?

What are the best features of the outside of the house? How can I enhance those features?

What are the worst features of the house? How can I reduce those features?

 

Park where a buyer would leave their car and walk up to your house as they would. Is there anything about the exterior that you would notice first? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?

Take pictures of the outside of the house. Look at the pictures in black and white; it is easier to see the problem areas this way.

Make a list of projects that need to be completed. Things as simple as:

-Kill mold and mildew

– Put away tools and unsightly objects

-Clean windows and gutters

-Pressure wash siding, decks and sidewalks

-Kill weeds and edge sidewalks

-MOW THE LAWN!

-Get rid of leaves

-Keep tree limbs away from the roof

 

Don’t forget the back of the house.

You should spend just as much time maintaining the back of the house as you do the front. Chances are, buyers will do their best to see what the backyard looks like.

 

What does it look like at night?

Try adding some (tasteful) lighting. Accent lighting could have a huge impact on a buyer driving past the property at night. What ever you do, DO NOT leave Christmas lights up past the holiday season.

 

Tips:

-Fresh paint really makes a difference

-Front doors leave an impression. Try something with glass.

-Think of everything from stains to hardware (doorknobs etc.)

For more information please visit http://www.lookfordallashomes.com

 

Top 10 Ways to Make Home Buyers Hate Your House-

1. The Smells

Odors are the first thing to turn a possible buyer off of your property. Cigarette smoke, pets and mildew are the first things to worry about.

Get rid of the odors rather than covering them up with a temporary “fix-all”.

2. Over-bearing dogs

Some people may be scared of a dog that meets you at the door or in the driveway. If you control or contain your pet you will get a much better response. A common idea is to simply put the pet in a room or in the garage and ask people to not go in such areas – bad idea. Someone may think you have something to hide in that room that would turn them away from buying.

Every room and space of the house should be open to inspection by anyone that views it.

3. Bathrooms that are Dirty

Gross bathrooms are going to turn away any person that walks into one. Doe what ever you have to do to make sure your bathroom is glimmering and shinning.

4. Lowly Lit Areas

Try to brighten up whatever areas of the house are not receive much light.

-Change out any bulbs that may need replacements

-Add lights

-Install a quality skylight

-Get rid of heavy window coverings

-Repaint rooms with dark colors

-Take out limbs that throw shadows on the house

It will also be beneficial to clean windows (inside and out) to bring in more light and get rid of fogginess.

5. Busy Wallpaper

If your house has rooms upon rooms of busy wallpaper you may want to consider removing or replacing it. Wallpaper is a personal choice that may not be mirrored by someone even if they are a fan of wallpaper in general.

Make sure you don’t just paint over it because it will be very obvious and make it more difficult to remove.

6. Moist Basements

Dampness or stagnant smells in the basement could make the buyer think that the foundation leaks even if it is simply from clogged drains, lack of gutters or downspouts that are aimed the wrong way.

7. Insects

Anything that creeps, crawls or slithers must go!

8. Lack of Curb Appeal

The front of the house is the first thing any buyer will see; it must be amazing. Even if you don’t completely refresh the coat of paint on the house, simply fix rickety doors and get the lawn in great shape.

9. Plants Growing in the Gutter

If your gutters are not maintained a buyer will wonder what else isn’t.

10. Seller being there for a showing

Leave the house during showings! A buyer could feel awkward; like they are lingering or intruding. Give them some breathing room and let them take a good look at the house they might want to buy.

 

 

These things can be corrected at a minimal cost. Do it before you put your house on the market so it doesn’t acquire a poor reputation with agents and end up at the end of a list of showings to a potential buyer.

For more information please visit http://www.look4dallashomes.com

 

Increase in Home Sales in DFW Area

Statistics (just released by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University) show clearly that the worst of the down turn in single-family home sales in the DFW area is behind us. For the past eight months, through February of 2012, home sales were higher than each month for the comparable time in 2011. In particular, January 2012 saw a 9% increase sales over January 2011 and February 2012 saw an increase of 27% in single-family home sales over February 2011. This is very good economic news for our area. The total number of single-family homes sold in the DFW area for February 2012 was 4649. The median home price for these sold homes was up by about 1% over 2011. The average number of days these homes were on the Market for 2012 was 91 days compounded to 102 days for February 2011.

Another favorable indicator for February 2012, the number of homes offered for sale for the DFW area (NTREIS) was 27, 836, which indicates that the inventory of available homes for sale is down by 22% over February 2012.

by Joe Neel

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