Curb appeal is literally the appeal your home has from the curb.  If a potential buyer sees your home from the street, and it doesn’t look appealing, you are going to lose them as a buyer before they EVER enter your home.  Appeal to the most number of buyers by creating a clean, warm, welcoming environment that people WANT to enter.  Appeal to their emotions…and subconsciously; you will be appealing to their desire to want YOUR home rather than the dozen other homes for sale in your neighborhood.

Even if you do not plan to sell your home, these simple and easy tricks will keep your home looking fresh and make every guest that comes into your home feel welcome. Check out innisfil real estate online if you’re looking to buy a new property.

Here are my Top Tips for creating curb appeal for under $100 that could potentially add $10,000 – $30,000 to your sale!

Keep it Clean

The front of the house, and the front of the door is the first thing your buyer (or guest) sees when they walk up to the house.  Having a clean outside will signal to the buyer that this space is warm, inviting and CLEAN. Whether your concrete is stained or just dirty, giving it a power wash will not only help it look better, but will help keep your house clean (guests will not be tracking in dirt when they walk through the door).

Doorway To Heaven

Front door appeal … think about the front door is the entrance to you home, your sanctuary, your little slice of heaven here on earth, so we need to make it beautiful.

Color is Key

The color of the door can change with the trends but also evoke strong emotions with your potential buyer. While I usually say to pick design elements that stand the test of time, I say go “trendy” with the color of the door.  The “Cape Cod” style is really popular at the moment in design and real estate and a popular modern update with this “cape cod” trend is a black door.  Plus, it will give a sharp, clean contrast to the front of the house…and black is easier to keep clean of hand prints. Bonus, if you’re interested in learning more about real estate then make sure to check out more here!

Let’s talk hardware

Our old door knob here at Home & Family was scratched and didn’t work properly.  When you see a nice, new door knob it makes you think that what is inside is nice and new too. When you hold a strong door knob (that actually works), people feel more confident as they enter.  Can you imagine if a buyer felt like they couldn’t get in because of a faulty door knob?  It would ruin their experience before they even get in the door.  Buyers want safe, clean homes that they don’t have to fix.  PLUS…buyers want a SAFE home for their family. They want to make sure the door locks, and their families are safe once they are inside. You may also swap your old house numbers with house numbers contemporary to create a modern look.

Welcome

A $15 door mat can make everyone feel welcome, and it’s dual purpose…it helps your guests wipe their feet before they come in keeping the entire house cleaner.  It also subliminally says “You are welcome to come into my home.”

Plant Away

Foliage

It’s a good idea to look at the space around you outside and clean up the foliage. For someone to feel welcome and at ease at your home, remember it needs to be clean and tidy. Foliage is a BIG part of this.  If you are walking up to someone’s home and the plants are wild and crazy, and you even have to duck and weave to make it to the front door from wild and overgrown branches and greens, you will already feel stressed before you walk in the door. Messy (or unorganized spaces) give your buyer and your guests anxiety. You want to minimize that BEFORE they even walk into the home.

Paint your Pots

If you have dirty pots outside your home, this can signal to the buyer that things inside your home are dirty as well. What’s worse is if the pots look rusty. Now we know in our intellectual side of our brain that terra cotta and plastic don’t rust, but subconsciously, if we see something that LOOKS like rust, we will wonder if the pipes inside the walls and under the house are rusty. Bad news for a potential buyer. So lets eliminate the problem and paint the pots. For our Home & Family I went with a monochrome color palette within the “cape cod” theme. Glossy black and a fresh crisp white. What is also great as that greens and flowers will really POP against them.

Seasonal Blooms

Now another little tip when choosing flowers for your flower beds. Go with the seasons! Choose plants that are suitable to your climate but also colors that are traditional for the season. Since we are heading into fall, I chose to focus on colors that represent the change of the season approaching. Beautiful burnt oranges, deep greens and rich plums.

These quick fixes might seem silly to most people because our intellect says “oh, that’s an easy fix and wouldn’t cost more than $100 bucks!” But buyers don’t buy with their intellect…they buy with their emotions. Appeal to the subconscious brain of your buyer by creating a warm, clean, inviting, safe place, and you will grab their heart and their emotions to buy your home before they EVEN walk through the door.

Are you selling your home? Share with us your questions and comments below! Remember we want to see your DIY’s so follow us on Instagram and Twitter @paigehemmis & hashtag #DIYfengshui 

If you missed the episode check it out by heading over to Home & Family!

XOXO,

Paige