Old Fashioned Curb Appeal

So, in this modern era of on-line virtual tours and instant social media access to photos of the home inside and out, how much attention is paid to good old fashioned curb appeal anymore? While it is true that most home shoppers will avail themselves of available technologies in their search for a new home, people moving to a new city or even a new part of town will generally drive around the neighbourhood to check it out early in the process.

During my own search I took a drive with a friend looking at houses and based on what I saw that I liked, I took down addresses & realtor #s for follow up on computer and by phone. I passed up a lot of properties because they did not appeal to me. So, how can you improve the curb appeal of your property so that it appeals to the majority of people, draws interest, sells quickly and fetches your asking price? Don’t forget, even the virtual tours use pictures of your home. It should look its best because you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.

For starters, the very least you should do is either paint or pressure wash the front of your house. That fresh look of cleanliness hints that you take pride of ownership and the interior is probably well maintained.

 This illustrates the difference that power washing your home can make.

This one illustrates what a coat of paint can mean to the look of your home.

Keeping your yard neat and tidy also contributes to making a positive first impression. Adding some inexpensive outside lighting can make your home really stand out after dark.

Neatening the yard as was done above makes a difference, as does adding some lighting (below)

Sometimes less is more. We may have planted some lovely young bushes when we first moved in but now they have grown large enough to obscure the house from the street. In that case removing them can actually improve the curb appeal of your home as illustrated below.

Another easy and inexpensive way to improve the look of your home is as simple as replacing or even painting your front door with a fresh vibrant colour.

Part of upgrading the front door/entrance way is to get some LARGE street numbers or even a set of lighted street numbers to make it easier for drive by buyers to locate you.

Last but certainly not least, if you want to get top dollar for your house get a professional landscape company to design and install a new front yard for you. It will more than pay for itself in the value it brings to your home. In the Fraser Valley I recommend Easton Landscape Design. You can check out some of their designs here.