Curb Appeal - Your Home's First Impression

After 10 years of working in the real estate industry, "curb appeal" and "first impression" are phrases I have said more times than I can remember. In fact, I bet I've said them at least 3 times today, and it's only 10am! If you were to Google the definition of curb appeal you will find it to say "the attractiveness of a property for sale and its surroundings when viewed from the street." Notice it says ‘property for sale.’ Why? It's simple, if your property is not for sale, it only matters what you think about the front of your house.

Just like when you meet someone for the first time, your house is meeting someone for the first time and it needs to nail that first impression. It’s not just some real estate agent touring through your home giving their opinion of it, hopefully it’s your home’s new owner that is scouting it out to make sure it’s the perfect fit for their family. Your house needs to put its best foot forward right from the beginning of the process.

Spring and summer are the easiest times to give your home a bit of a face lift to get a home run on that first impression, but how?

Rule #1 - Mow the lawn and rake the cuttings. An out of control yard rarely gives a prospective buyer that warm and fuzzy feeling about your home.

Rule#2 – Maintenance; make sure your steps and front door are painted (or stained).

Rule #3 - Add flowers and get rid of the weeds. If you don't have a green thumb, go to your local garden centre and ask for low maintenance plants and leave them in pots because if they die, they are easier to replace. There are a number of great low-maintenance plants that do well in Fort McMurray, such as a double flowering plum or bridal wreath spirea.

Rule#4 – Clean! I can’t stress this enough. Wipe off the front door, spray the mud off the walk way and steps, and be sure to leave your home tidy inside because a dirty home is a pretty big turn off for a prospective buyer.

Sounds easy right? So why is curb appeal important? Because, it's a buyer’s very first impression to your home. As a seller, you owe it to yourself to make sure a buyer’s first thought about your home is “wow” or “nice” rather than “ugh” or "that's going to need some work."