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Keeping Your Curb Appeal

By
Real Estate Agent with Exit Elite Realty

A home will have already made an impression on a potential buyer before someone even walks through your door. A buyer will know, or get "that feeling" within the first 30 seconds if that home is going to stand out from the rest.  With this, Curb Appeal is everything and is your chance to make your home memorable for the right reasons.

Here are a few tips I would like to share to help maintain that perception

Clean up the Clutter Daily-I want you to stand at the curb or end of your driveway and take a look at your yard, or entrance. Try to look at your home as a potential buyer would.  Rake those leaves, clean those gutters, and clean up those dead flowers or tree branches if need be.  Do the bushes need trimming? Does your walkway need a crisp look?  Keep a lookout for these important factors as you enter and leave the home.

Keep your lawn clean and fresh looking-Try to mow your lawn weekly and looking fresh at all times. Pull the weeds from flowers beds, and place fresh fertilizer or mulch if need be. These inexpensive actions will go a long way in keeping your home ahead of the competition

Remove unnecessary items from that front entrance- Take a moment to look at your front entrance. This is the first place that buyer is going to see and you do not want them to have to overlook excess furniture, personal clutter, or accessories that have been personalized to fit your taste.  Make it as open and inviting as possible to make someone not wait to get inside. If their first thought is if there is clutter on the outside, imagine what they are thinking about the inside before they even walk in the door.

Gail Szeluga
Weichert Realtors-Marlboro, Manalapan - Manalapan, NJ
Manalapan, Marlboro & Monmouth County

Great Post but you have it as Members Only. I would change that so the "sellers" out there can see it. 

May 12, 2010 11:41 AM
Chris Thomas
Smart Move Real Estate - Denham Springs, LA
Realtor of Livingston Parish and Baton Rouge La

This is right on it Reed.First impressionson is the most important factor.

May 12, 2010 11:41 AM
Chris Alston
Chris Alston (Keller Williams Realty, Silicon Valley, California) - Campbell, CA
Silicon Valley, California

I like your point regarding cleaning up daily!  I am sure that not everyone follows that train of thought! 

May 12, 2010 11:44 AM
James Bath
Gulf Shores Realty - Venice, FL
REALTOR® , AHWD® , SRES® ,e-PRO®

Curb Appeal is almost taught in Kindergarten or Day Care, you know like "Everything important in life, I learned in Kindergarten!".  Yet time and time again when one drives up to a newly listed property they would surmise that the Agent has never heard of it. 

How can that be?  Shouldn't all salespeople want "their" properties to look sharp?  Do any of the department stores leave trash at the front door?  Are the aisles cluttered with boxes and fallen product?  The age old excuse "The sellers didn't want to change a thing, they like it looking cozy and lived in!" doesn't really cut it, does it.  You have taken a contract to sell a property; it is your responsibility to take charge and do what it takes even if you have to pick up the broom to get the bug debris off of the entry doors and walls.  You might even spend a few bucks to put some annuals in the front garden bed.  You are the one in the know!

So, why do so many listed properties look like they really don't want to be sold?  Beats me!

May 12, 2010 12:29 PM
Keith Elliott Jr
KEIRE Realty Group - Manassas, VA
Principal Broker/Owner

Hello Reed,

Welcome to Active Rain and congratulations on your first post! The opportunities to learn and network are incredible here.  Best of luck to you!

-Keith

May 12, 2010 05:33 PM
Steve and Jan Bachman
RE/MAX Gateway, Reston, Herndon, Ashburn, Sterling, Fairfax - Herndon, VA
Realtors - Northern Virginia

 

Welcome to Active Rain Red... have fun in the game.

We joined last November and have found that the Rainmaker outside blog combined with Localism have worked well for us…. getting us better page placement on Google searches within neighborhoods. Worth checking out. 

It is also a good idea to use a lot of pictures in your post from the area you cover to get and hold people's attention...they shy away from reading blocks of text.

A side benefit of AR is learning from other folks’s social media creativity and making friends for future referrals. Here is a good place to start: Learning  to use Active Rain  

Have great success this year,

Steve and Jan

 

 

 

May 16, 2010 08:53 AM
Sergio Rebollo Jr.
Real Estate TeamMates - Miami, FL

Welcome to ActiveRain. This is a great community to network with others as well a great place to learn from other's experiences and knowledge. I've enjoyed it; I hope you enjoy it as well.

May 18, 2010 04:32 AM
Letitia Stevenson
BHHS Fox & Roach | www.DelawareValleyRE.com - Greenville, DE
Listing Agent DE/PA/MD, Digital Marketer & Coach

Reed, Welcome to Active Rain! Active Rain is a great place to share your knowledge, expertise and thoughts, as well as network and learn so much from the vast pool of talent already onboard.

Welcome Aboard and Much Success!

May 28, 2010 04:55 PM