Some estimates say that whatever you put into your front yard in terms of investment, you will get back four times over. We are not making any hard and fast claims about that … but we do know that the front yard can absolutely make or break a home’s salability. Everybody knows, from being told as a kid, that true beauty is on the inside. But when it comes to real estate (and books, incidentally!) we still judge by the cover. If doesn’t matter how much you’ve spent on the bathroom, kitchen or carpeting in the bulk of the house, if you have left your front yard messy, there will be a majority of people who won’t even bother to see those things, because the front yard made them feel it wasn’t worth bothering. So where do you start in your front yard?

Cleaning it up is the first big step. It has to be mean and clean – no exceptions. If you have bark or rock garden beds, get all of the weds out from the middle of them, rake them flat and blow them off using the gentlest setting on a garden blower. Remove any garden debris that hasn’t been removed by the blower. Wash off your driveway – either give it a good sweep down, hose it off or get down with a scrubbing brush for oil and other car fluid stains. Wash or scrub your paving. Wash all of your fences and handrails with soap and water. Clean out the gutters , and while you are up there, you could give the roof and the gutters themselves a wash down with a bucket. Grab a pressure washer (you can hire them or borrow them if you don’t already have one) to do the exterior walls, and grab a ladder to do the windows and windowsills.

After this, go through your front yard and have a look at everything somebody will be touching or using on their way through – things like gate handles, paths, house numbers (which are used to find the house!), porches and door knockers or bells. Consider replacing these if they are getting a bit worn, or else just give them a bit of extra spit and polish. Think about getting things like a hose reel, a lock for the mailbox, even a remote control system for either the gate or garage … it will be noticed!

The part that is a lot more fun, but also more time consuming and requires more investment, is in the structure of the yard. Here you can think about walling and sectioning areas, tree placement and garden bed placement. There are a thousand different best case scenarios for a thousand different homes, but this is where you consider fencing, usability and balance. In terms of trees, think about the visual balance of your home from the street. If your front door is in the middle of the house when viewed from the front, create roughly symmetrical plantings on either side of it. Use larger trees and more shrubs to create symmetry if your front door is off to one side. Use repeating patterns throughout your garden, and don’t choose too many different types of trees or plants – create a theme. Also, when you are planting, don’t allow the front door to be ‘covered’ – of course you will always be able to use it, but try not to obscure it visually. That makes your home seem less welcoming – and while privacy may be good, if you are trying to sell, potential buyers need to feel welcome.

However, just remember you are halfway there simply by thinking about it and putting in a little effort. Not much more to go!

Paint It … Black?

You will often see it written that a fresh coat of paint is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to liven up your home for sale – not to mention adding to its value. When it comes to choosing the color though, you obviously have the whole rainbow to choose from … plus a little more, when you add metallic colors, and variations like pastel, tints and stains. However, when you are looking to sell your home, the color scheme you choose is not about you at all – it is about potential buyers, and what they want to see. So, how do you get inside their heads?

Well, there is a little coda to start with – you can’t please all of the people all of the time. Even if you paint a natural color like white, beige or tan, some people will be utterly repulsed by it. Even when you have painted freshly, some people will still come in and the first thing they say will be “Gosh, it’d be a great home if it only wasn’t painted such an awful color!”. Don’t worry about this – it’s natural. You will always be guided somewhat by your own tastes and preferences, but there are some ways to make sure, within those parameters, that you choose colors that will sit with the widest range of people.

A good starting point is looking at your surroundings. Even if your neighbor’s houses are painted sunset orange with violent purple windowsills, don’t ignore them completely in picking your paint. Choose a more subtle version of gaudy colors (plum, or perhaps terracotta for highlights on a neutral background would be a good choice in this case), or try to choose complementary colors. Grab a color wheel (with the spectrum on it) from a paint or hardware shop, and look at painting a color that is close to either side of your neighbors’ colors, or on the opposite side of the wheel.

Your surroundings are also important in terms of your landscaping and yard. If you have a lot of trees around your house, don’t paint it green. You’ll never get it a green that matches every tree, nor one that complements every tree. If you have flowering trees or shrubs in your yard (especially your front yard – the first impression is the most important!), consider using these as a basis for a highlight color. Choose the ones that are either most prevalent, or will be in season when you are selling.

As you will know if you have ever painted a house, it can soon become an executive decision as to what you paint which color. Does the ceiling detail get painted the highlight color (it just takes so long!), or is it better off downplayed? What color should the air conditioner be? What about the downspouts? They are really part of the body of the house, they should be the highlight color, right? Well, you need to decide according to what sort of feature the item is. If it is artistic, highlight it. If it is purely practical, then don’t.

As to the actual color … don’t be limited to the neutral palette. Sure, some people might be put off by your choice, but this will also be true whatever color you paint. Feature walls and modern, fashionably colored detailing can make an indelible first impression on the right buyer, that is worth more than all of the unease on some other potentials. Don’t go crazy, but don’t be afraid of color, either.

Remember, just like in clothing, white (or light colors) seem to expand, where black and darker colors draw in. If you have a small house that you want to seem larger, go lighter. If your house is large and you want to make the yard more of a feature, go dark.

Don’t forget, you can try before you buy … that is the beauty of paint, that it can always be painted over! Sample pots are often free, and you can bring your ideas out of the realm of imagination, into what your potential buyers will actually see. Above all, have fun!