Sell Your House Faster With These Curb Appeal Tips

Let’s talk about curb appeal tips that can make your property sell quicker.

OK, guys. Common sense is not always a common thing. So, I’m going to be very plain and simple. What I’m about to tell you is probably Real Estate 101. We’re really going down to the basics.

How to Improve a Property’s Curb Appeal

1. Paint the exterior

The first tip is you have to paint the bloody property. Make sure that property is pressure cleaned and scraped and you’re using a paint color that is not going to stand out from other homes on the street. What I mean by that is don’t do any crazy colors like bright yellow, orange, or pink. Unless that’s what other homes on the street look like.

I say that because here in Toledo, there are homes in the historic district that have a lot of funky colors. So, if you went with a plain color, it might look a little too simple. You always want to stick to a color that is similar to the other homes on the street. But paint, guys, can go a very long way.

One of the first things that I learned about renovations and rehab when I was in Australia is that you can actually paint a lot of things. You can paint the exterior. You can paint the interior. You can paint kitchen cabinets. You can paint a vanity, and you can even re-enamel a bathtub. So, you can get away with painting a lot of things where you can add more value.

A good rule of thumb is this: If you’re spending one dollar on that specific renovation item, you want to get three dollars back. In other words, let’s say it’s going to cost you $10,000 to paint your house. Without painting it, you can sell it for $200,000; by painting it, you can sell it for $230,000. This means it’s a good investment on your money to paint.

2. Improve the landscape

The second way to improve curb appeal is landscaping. I don’t want you guys having overgrown yards, crappy-looking flowers, no mulch, and a driveway that looks like crap. These are some very simple things that a lot of prospective buyers would want to see as they drive by or as they inspect a home. Don’t forget guys, the first impression is every impression.

If you can offer that “wow” factor from the beginning to that prospective buyer, I think everything is going to run much smoother when they get inside the home. A lot of folks will just drive by, and if they don’t like the property based on the way it looks from the street, they won’t even schedule to see the inside. Make sure the property has the wow factor.

Paint is a big one. Landscaping and tidying up the front yard and driveway is another. And here’s a quick little side tip. I’ve seen a lot of real estate brokerages coming out with solar panel yard signs. To me, this indicates that there might be a demand from prospective buyers to see what it looks like and if it’s a safe area at night. So, another thing you may want to do is add some feature lights to give the property a glow or pop in the evening. I’ve always liked to see homes with feature lighting.

That’s a tip from me on top of the two things you should do. It’s all very simple and common sense stuff.

What other tips would you give someone looking to improve their property’s curb appeal?

Comment below.

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.