Thinking of Selling Your Home? Essential Steps to Creating Street Appeal

With buyers having a great deal of choice, creating street appeal is essential; it will enable potential buyers to connect with a house so they will want to look inside.  An appealing frontage will make selling your house a whole lot easier.

We are all told not to judge a book by its cover but let’s face it, it happens, especially when it comes to real estate.  At any time of the day or night potential buyers could drive by your house and instantly make the decision about whether they would like to arrange a viewing or not.

Street appeal is the first impression that your home offers to prospective buyers and will set the tone for the rest of the house.  You wouldn’t go on a first date wearing a pair of track pants, hair a complete mess and last night’s dinner still on your face…No!  You would shower, do your hair nicely, and wear something fabulous.  Well, creating street appeal works on the same principle.

Declutter the outside of your home

• Get rid of any old junk no longer required
• Put away any toys or sporting equipment including from around the pool
• Hide rubbish bins from view

Fix any thing that needs repairing, for example

• Fly screens that may have holes in them
• A gate latch that might not close properly
• Cracked brickwork or peeling paint (If you have a bigger budget, repainting will give a fresh look and will certainly improve the value of the property)

Wash, wash, and wash!  (It may sound like a bit of work, however it will be well worth the effort come inspection days)

• Wash down the house, garage and shed
• The driveway
• Gates and fences

Prune the garden to perfection

• Weed the garden beds, trim bushes and trees and mow the lawn weekly
• Water your garden and lawns to ensure a lush green look (if water restrictions allow)
• Add splashes of colour with a few new flowering plants to the garden or in pots near the front door

Once you have finished making the outside of your home look great, walk across the street or go for a drive past your home, see how it looks to a potential buyer the first time they see it, do you like what you see?  

Remember, the objective is to get buyers into your home, fall in love with it and ultimately buy it.   When a house looks great from the outside, buyers are more likely to want to see the inside, that’s one step closer to sealing the deal.   Now all you need to do is ensure the inside also looks great too.