Curb appeal is all about making the home’s exterior inviting, appealing, and tempting to potential buyers. It’s all about emphasizing your home’s outdoor space to make it as attractive as possible to those pulling up to your curb for the first time.
Taking curb appeal into consideration as a seller can be highly critical. The exterior appearance of your home will influence how valuable property is perceived by tourists and potential buyers, as well as how excited they are about making an offer. If a buyer can’t see themselves living in and enjoying a home from the outside, there’s no guarantee that seeing the rest of the house would persuade them otherwise.
First Impressions Have a Lot of Influence
Curb appeal is all about making the most of your home’s outdoor space so that your listing makes an excellent first impression — and first impressions do matter.
Did you know that a Princeton study discovered that people form first impressions of people and objects in a tenth of a second and that those first impressions can be difficult to change over time? And in today’s market, curb appeal makes a difference even before a buyer sees a house in person.
According to data from the Washington Post, 87 percent of home buyers claim they used photographs to help them find a home. According to the Post, professionally photographed homes will sell 32 percent faster than other listings and demand a 47 percent higher asking price per square foot.
Curb Appeal and Its Importance
It’s difficult to overestimate the value of good curb appeal to potential buyers. According to the 2018 Remodeling Impact Report from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), 94 percent of real estate professionals have recommended that sellers boost their curb appeal before listing a home for sale.
Similarly, according to the survey, 99 percent of NAR members believe curb appeal is critical in attracting a customer, with a whopping 79 percent believing it is imperative. Meanwhile, 97 percent of respondents agree that curb appeal is essential to prospective buyers, with 66 percent claiming it is crucial when considering homes.
What Factors Affect Curb Appeal?
Curb appeal is described as the appearance of a home from the outside that is friendly and inviting. To put it another way, curb appeal is a large term that can take several different shapes, sizes, and types.
Depending on the quality of their house, the amount of time and money they want to spend on upgrades, and the tastes and desires of customers in their local market, different sellers will take different approaches to curb appeal. Ideas on what constitutes “healthy” curb appeal change over time. Curb appeal designs and outdoor design features, like so many other facets of real estate, go through trends as customer preferences shift. Seasonality may also play a role, as spring and summer homebuyers can have a different perspective than fall and winter buyers.
Real estate professionals revealed the developments they thought were most likely to appeal to prospective buyers and add resale value to a home in a survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors. Those programs, for the most part, fall into three categories:
1.) Landscaping upkeep and enhancements
Landscaping is a broad term that encompasses lawn and tree maintenance, as well as preserving and enhancing your home’s garden or green spaces. Mulch, mow the grass, prune shrubs, plant flowers and greenery, and trim trees are all popular landscaping projects.
While these projects can seem innocuous, they can have a significant effect on your ability to sell a home quickly — and even how much you can sell your home for.
According to data cited by the real estate news site HomeLight, “a well-landscaped home” will sell for “5.5 – 12.7 percent more than one without landscaping.” If you put time and effort into caring for your landscaping, you will be able to expect a significant return on your investment; in reality, according to HouseLogic, lawn work and maintenance usually yield a 100 percent ROI or higher.
According to the Remodeling Impact Study, 74% of REALTORS® have advised sellers to “complete a landscape maintenance program before attempting to sell,” and 17% claim the project “recently secured a deal for them, resulting in a closed transaction.” Similarly, 55 percent of REALTORS® recommended that sellers focus on regular lawn care before attempting to sell, and nearly half (46 percent) proposed that sellers focus on proper tree care before trying to sell.
2.) Maintenance and improvements to the exterior of the house
Prospective buyers will be paying careful attention to the condition of your home as they take in the view. You may want to talk to your broker about taking on exterior repairs and maintenance projects before you put your house on the market. The options are endless, and your curb appeal to-do list might include anything from washing and cleaning the exterior of the home to updating or maintaining paint/siding, maintaining or updating the roof, and improving gutters, windows, and the front door.
These small ventures can have a significant effect when it comes to attracting buyers. Failure to keep up with regular outdoor maintenance, for example, “can reduce the value of your house by 10%,” according to HouseLogic. Meanwhile, even minor changes can make a significant difference. According to HouseLogic, thorough cleaning of a home’s exterior will add anywhere from “$10,000 to $15,000 to the selling prices” of some houses.
3.) Including or replacing exterior design elements
Adding new outdoor design elements or refinishing existing ones will help improve your property’s curb appeal. Replacing or updating your mailbox, replacing or updating your fence, installing or enhancing hardscaping, building a patio or deck room, adding or updating outdoor lighting features, upgrading to more sustainable outdoor elements, or adding “statement” features, such as yoga spaces, fire and water features, or particular activity areas, are all examples of projects in this category.
These enhancements, whether major or minor, may have a significant effect in certain situations. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, 13% of REALTORS® have recommended that sellers incorporate a statement landscape feature before attempting to sell, for example. Before selling a property, 27 percent of REALTORS® recommended that sellers update outdoor elements such as sidewalks, walkways, and planters.
How Houston Premium Homes Makes It Easier to Sell Your Home
The Houston Premium Homes family has earned its reputation as Houston’s Top Locally Operated Real Estate Team by always making the selling process easier to navigate at every step of the way — from pricing your home to having it ready to sell to promoting your listing, to leading negotiations and closing the deal.
Your Houston Premium Homes real estate agent is your trusted advisor and selling specialist and will relieve you of the burden by handling all the people and moving parts to ensure you get the results you want.