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Seller Tips: Make Sure They Fall In Love at First Sight

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Real Estate Agent with Savvy + Company (704) 491-3310 228209

Charlotte Home Seller Tips | 7 Easy Steps for Improving Your Charlotte Home’s Curb Appeal

beautiful lawn 7 Easy Steps for Improving Your Charlotte Home’s Curb AppealAs a seller preparing to sell your Charlotte home, you may be busy emptying closets and painting interior walls but, don’t forget about the outside.  Remember the old adage, “You only get one chance to make a first impression?”  Well, this is your one chance!  Many sellers tend to forget about the outside of their homes.  Home buying is emotional and, like many emotional reactions, it can be heavily impacted by first impressions.

Here are some suggestions on how to encourage love at first sight by increasing the curb appeal of your Charlotte home:

  • Repair the Front Walk – The very first thing that people notice as they’re walking to your front door, is the walkway.  If you have crumbling cement or stepping stones that slide deeper into the mud with every raindrop, check into updating the front walk so that it is inviting, safe, and weed-free.
  • Paint – If the paint is peeling on the outside of your house, potential buyers go in wondering how well your home has been maintained. Spending a little money before you put your home on the market will get you a better sales price and quicker purchase.  If you absolutely can’t afford to paint the whole house, at the very least, the shutters and front door must be freshened up.
  • Tidy up – You may be so used to seeing the crumbling stack of firewood by the garbage cans and the old paint cans by the shed that they fade into the landscape.  However, potential homeowners WILL see the mess.   As you look around the outside of your house, think about what you can throw away or put out of sight.  The broken swing on the tree actually takes away from the grandeur of that old oak.  And, please, remove those garden gnomes–all buyers are not as partial to them as you may be.
  • Trim Everything – If the hedges under the front windows of your Charlotte home are so unruly that they cover the windows, it’s past time to find the clippers.
  • Power-wash decks so they look fresh.  You may want to consider staining them (or repainting, whichever the case may be) if they look too weathered.
  • Clean the gutters – Tiny maple trees growing in your gutters scream “Water damage!” to potential buyers.
  • Landscaped beds – If your green thumb is actually brown, and your garden sports a post-apocalyptic motif, hey, that’s okay!  If that’s the case, consider the wonders of mulch.  It covers up that patch under the oak where the grass won’t grow. Buy a few simple plants and mulch around them to achieve a calm canvas on which gardeners can imagine more complex plantings, while those with challenged gardening skills can envision easy maintenance.

The theme of all these tips is to create an image of your home as a place of order, calm and cleanliness; a place where prospective home buyers feel comfortable and cozy.  This common theme lends itself to having buyers fall in love at first sight with your home--the interior is icing on the cake!

Whether you’re ready to sell or need more information before taking the plunge, I can help. Give me a call today at (704)491-3310 or email me at Broker@TheCharlotteScoop.com.


Read more: http://www.icharlotterealestate.com/7-easy-steps-for-improving-your-charlotte-home%e2%80%99s-curb-appeal/#ixzz1eJL6bLa0

Comments (14)

Cheryl Dickson
Retired Realtor / Retired Home Inspector - Oklahoma City, OK
Retired Realtor, GRI / Retired Home Inspector
Very helpful tips Debi! "Love at First Sight!" Making a great first impression is so important. Curb Appeal is the first step in keeping the interest of potential buyers as they drive by previewing homes. This will get their interest so they call Debe and make an appointment to view the home.
Nov 20, 2011 03:43 PM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408 - Daytona Beach, FL
Buy Daytona condos for heavenly good prices

Debbie, how often Seller, who avoid doing anything, hoping that it would fly, then still do all these things, only to find out that they can't bring back those numerous prospects that saw the house and did not make an offer.

Nov 20, 2011 04:01 PM
Rich Cederberg
eXp Realty - Albuquerque, NM
eXp Realty Agent Albuquerque

Really cute title and really good points for sellers Debe!

Nov 20, 2011 04:27 PM
Laura Allen, Lake Tahoe - Truckee Real Estate for Sale TahoeLauraRealEstate.com
Coldwell Banker Realty, Tahoe City, CA (530) 414-1260 - Tahoe City, CA
Tahoe Real Estate Agent Helping Buyers and Sellers

Debe - You are so right.  House buyer is a very emotional process.  It's critical to make a great first impression.  Connect emotionally with your buyer and you'll get your home sold quickly.  Great tips!

Nov 20, 2011 04:56 PM
Kenneth Cole
Weichert Realtors Appleseed Group, 2043 Richmond Ave. S.I.N.Y. 10314. office phone 718-698-9797, Appleseedhomes.com... - Staten Island, NY
NYS Licensed Real Estate Salesperson

Good morning Debe; I always say that you don't get second chance for a first impression.  Bookmarking these tips, and suggesting, thanks.

Nov 20, 2011 10:18 PM
Richard Iarossi
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage - Crofton, MD
Crofton MD Real Estate, Annapolis MD Real Estate

Dene,

Over the years I can't tell you how many clients have told me to pass on looking at a house because they didn't like the curb appeal when we drove up. Some of the easiest fixes are outside.

Rich

Nov 21, 2011 12:24 AM
Cherise Selley
Selley Group Real Estate, LLC - Colorado Springs, CO
Colorado Springs Realtor

Debe,

I don't know if I should thank you for these tips or consider them as part of my "Honey-do" list...LOL... g

Nov 21, 2011 03:40 AM
Joan Cox
House to Home, Inc. - Denver Real Estate - 720-231-6373 - Denver, CO
Denver Real Estate - Selling One Home at a Time

Debe, THAT is one gorgeous yard, and buyers would flock to that yard!     Seeing greenery would be the best right now, but in Denver it is getting a bit brown.    It would even look better with snow.....    You are lucky to have warmer weather AND greenery!

Nov 21, 2011 07:07 AM
Endre Barath, Jr.
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties - Beverly Hills, CA
Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002

Debe, great wisdom you are passing on to sellers here, I hope they are listening. Almost every time a home has good curb appeal the other sins of the home are over looked.

Nov 21, 2011 01:58 PM
Sharon Paxson
Sharon Paxson, Realtor® EQTY Forbes Global Properties - Newport Beach, CA
Newport Beach Real Estate

Hi Debe -great tips and I am sure the sellers always appreciate easy tips for sure!! Power wash - great tip!

Nov 21, 2011 03:46 PM
Renée Donohue~Home Photography
Savvy Home Pix - Allegan, MI
Western Michigan Real Estate Photographer

Great & VERY SIMPLE tips that really don't involve much money (if you do it yourself) to spruce up that home to sell!

Nov 22, 2011 05:34 AM
Jane Peters
Home Jane Realty - Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles real estate concierge services

Excellent advice, Debe.  So many times I have actually watched people drive by a home that does not look appealing from the outside.  If they don't stop and come in that is the end of that buyer.

Nov 22, 2011 04:37 PM
Gayle Rich-Boxman Fishhawk Lake Real Estate
John L Scott Market Center - Birkenfeld, OR
"Your Local Expert!" 503-739-3843

Debe~One can only wish that the landscape was as lush and colorful as your picture! I have future sellers that are going through a divorce, they have a butt-ugly home from the outside (so so sad) in a bad location, yet once you get INSIDE, it's really quite lovely! They don't want to spend any money, which I understand. I have talked with them about adding some "pop"...just some COLOR outside that could be easily done and inexpensively, too--to take away from the horrible color of the home as the well as the REALLY BAD DESIGN (a Reality Home, at its very worst). It's like pulling teeth. I'm tempted to go and buy plants and bushes MYSELF. Except that it's now heading into miserable and cold weather--not a good time for planting!

Nov 22, 2011 04:40 PM
Doug Anderson
Tucker Associates Real Estate Services - Danville, CA
Bay Area Real Estate Views

Debe - May you share great times with family and friends in the upcoming days...


HAPPY THANKSGIVING!


Happy Thanksgiving!

Nov 23, 2011 04:25 PM