Bucks County and Montgomery County, PA offer stunning landscapes, long distance vistas, rivers, lakes, farmland and an abundant assortment of living options. A simple Sunday drive can easily turn into a dream home window-shopping excursion. A house with the stone façade, an old Victorian with a huge backyard and outdoor colonial oven, and laundry list of other beautifully kept homes can all catch the eye of a number of passersby. The attention all these gorgeous homes attract are due to their respective curb appeal. Without it, these homes may simply blend into the background, turning a selling opportunity into a liability.
Curb appeal refers to the outside presentation of a home, and the first impression of any home can draw in a lot of potential buyers. From simple pleasing aesthetics, to making a house feel like a home before a potential buyer even walking through the door, curb appeal can be a seller’s best friend.
Aesthetics and Natural Draw
Potential buyers are naturally drawn in by the first impression of a home. The more properly maintained and aesthetically appealing it looks from the outside, the more willing a buyer is to explore the inside. It’s the appeal that turns the heads of countless cyclists, drivers, and joggers as they pass by. If left unkempt, the heads stop turning and the natural draw will fade. When thinking about the curb appeal of a home, it’s important to ask a few simple questions:
Is the lawn properly maintained and clear of any unsightly weeds or brown spots?
- Does the house need painting?
- Does the roof look like it needs to be replaced?
- Are the hedges and decorative shrubbery all properly trimmed?
- Do any trees look like they need pruning?
- Does the home or deck need a power washing?
Viewing a home through the lens of a buyer can help answer these questions and can even uncover new ways to improve the aesthetics of a home. Quick fixes and a weekend’s worth of simple landscaping projects can greatly improve a home’s curb appeal and draw much greater attention.
Impression of Less Maintenance
Nobody buys a home to start raking leafs or trim hedges. Homes that give an impression of less maintenance is a big plus to any potential buyer. Even something simple like an unkempt tree can scare away otherwise interested parties out of fear for an expensive future tree removal job. Taking care of these issues up front will put any buyer’s mind at ease and a smile on their face as they ask to see the inside.
Turn a Negative into a Positive
A crack in the path to the front door, or an unsightly electric meter oddly placed in the front of a home can raise the eyebrow of a potential buyer. Although these issues don’t effect the structural integrity of a home, blemishes like these in a home’s curb appeal can detract potentially interested individuals. Unfortunately, issues like these can require an ample amount of time and money to fix. In order to avoid these distractions, a homeowner can use a little creativity to draw the attention away from these negatives while improving their home’s overall curb appeal. Draw attention away from the crack by planting flowers on either side of the path, or hide the meter with a flowering shrub. Some creative thinking is all it takes to mask any blemishes to make a home look perfect.
Welcome Home
Selling a home all comes down to making the buyer feel like their already home. A lot of work goes into the inside of the house to achieve this goal, but that initial “wow” factor a potential buyer gets while pulling up to the home for the first time is critical. Presentation is everything in showing off a home’s potential, and all that hard work by the homeowner to cover the electric meter and trim that old tree will go far in making complete strangers feel like their already home.
Get the Offer You Want
From remodeling the kitchen to making essential repairs, a lot of work goes into improving a home’s value before putting it on the market. After all, like any good investment, the more you put into it, the more you should get out of it. Yet all that hard work done indoors to increase the list price can be lost if poor curb appeal is discouraging potential buyers from walking through the front door. Spending a weekend or two to improve a home’s curb appeal can immediately catch the eye of multiple interested buyers. This increased demand can translate into receiving quicker offers and bids close to or even above the home’s list price.
The agents at Class-Harlan Real Estate are experts in preparing any home to be put on the market. With some of the most experienced agents in Bucks County, their agents will help you decide which projects are most important in improving your home’s curb appeal so you can start drawing in potential buyers immediately. Maximize on your investment by contacting a Class-Harlan agent today.
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