It’s an old saying, but a true one, that ‘First Impressions Count’. You therefore need to pay careful attention to how your home presents from the outside – and work on ways to ensure that your property has a pleasant and well-manicured street appeal.
It’s not necessary to invest a fortune, but if you attend to the basics well, potential purchasers visiting your ‘Home Open’ will have a positive attitude about the property before they enter the front door.
Here are a series of simple steps that you and your family can take to create that favourable First Impression:
- Trim bushes, shrubs and foliage around your property and make sure that the trimmings are removed;
- If you have a fence or wall, wash it and remove any obvious stains;
- Sweep the path to the front door and the driveway;
- Apply fresh mulch around your garden beds, shrubs and trees;
- If you flower beds are dull and boring, purchase colourful flowers from the local nursery;
- If you have a lawn, arrange for it to be fertilised well in advance of the first Home Open, and then have it freshly cut with the edges trimmed;
- Wash the gutters and remove cobwebs from the eaves;
- Make sure the reticulation is working correctly and check all the sprinklers;
- If the exterior paintwork is faded or damaged, a ‘lick of paint’ will work wonders;
- Look at your front door closely and if it’s looking ‘tired’, apply either varnish or fresh paint according to the finish required;
- If the door furniture is faded and damaged, replace it with new ‘Gainsborough’ or similar product;
Make sure that the exterior doormat is new and welcoming.
Remember that you are competing with the other homes for sale nearby. Do your own local research. Check on the street appeal of these homes, and make sure that yours is the ‘pick of the crop’.