If you have ever bought or sold a home you are probably familiar with the term “curb appeal”. Curb appeal is the “it” factor for a home. It either makes you want to come in and look around or it doesn’t. How do you improve curb appeal? What makes for good curb appeal? Below you will find some pertinent questions to ask yourself about your home. Answer them honestly and you might find some ways you can improve your homes curb appeal.
Does the home look maintained? Are there any loose or unattached gutters, shutters? Is there peeling paint on the front door, porch or entry area? Have the bushes been trimmed or are they overgrown? Has the lawn been maintained or is it overgrown and full of weeds? Do all the exterior lights work? Is your homes address clearly marked with no missing numbers? If your house has passed the visible maintenance inspection continue on if not, it is definitely worth your time tend to those tasks first. If you feel you can not take on those repair or maintenance tasks yourself then look to hire a reputable handyman to handle them for you.
Next, ask yourself does it look inviting? If it looks drab add a couple of large flower pots near the entrance to give it some color, or maybe some nice flowering perennials near the mailbox. Be careful not to overdo it you want it to look inviting not like you have to spend all of your weekends weeding.
Now ask yourself does it look cluttered? Are the kids toys and bikes strewn all over the yard? Perhaps you love garden gnomes and plastic pink flamingos, in your yard, however most people will see it as too much. Same goes for displaying your collection of wind chimes and brightly colored wind socks in the front of the house. Keep it simple when decorating your yard and entry area, a neatly maintained landscape and a couple well placed flower pots is usually sufficient.
Hopefully you have assessed your curb appeal and defined ways in which to improve it. Maybe you have several weekends worth of work to do to get it looking good, or maybe just a few hours, but in the end any work you do to improve your homes curb appeal is time well spent as it will help maintain or increase your property value. Good luck and happy home improving.