Simple, inexpensive, and effective: the first impression

The first impression of your home comes from the outside.

Often, potential buyers are driving through the neighborhood, looking at homes that they have seen on the internet or in the newspaper, taking a first look to see if your home is one that they would like to visit. Or they may have decided on a neighborhood, and are looking for "For Sale" signs. Or your property might just catch the eye of someone who had no intention of moving, until they saw that your home was available! Driving around the tri-hamlet area at the end of winter, I see many on-sale homes that are sadly missing any appeal from the street.

So how do you maximise this "curb appeal" during the colder months? How can you make sure your home is appealing to anyone who passes buy, who might be looking to buy?

(And if you are a landlord looking for a tenant, this applies to you too!)

Here are some simple things that can be done at little or no cost, to make your home more appealing--and to stop people just driving straight by. If they don't like the look from outside, they will rarely step through the front door.

1) Remove all litter and rubbish from the yard and street around the home. During winter, the wind, racoons and crows all do their share in spreading garbage around our community. Take an honest look at the home that is for sale, and the street outside... then find a garbage bag or two, and clean up. If there are undeveloped plots surrounding the home, see what you can do there, too. One house I saw yesterday has a "For Sale" sign, plus a Town of Brookhaven posting telling the owner to clean up the litter.... now that is not a good way of advertising what the house might be like inside!

2) Think about power washing the siding and fencing. Remember what it looked like once-upon-a-time? A coat of moss does nothing but add the impression of neglect. There are many local companies who will do the power wash for you, or you can do it yourself. Our local home improvement stores have inexpensive homeowner washers, or they can be rented by the day--and if you're doing the siding, why not do the deck and/or any cement or concrete hard surface, too? Check out craigslist.com and search for "powerwashing" or "power wash", and you'll find local people who can help. Your home may soon look twenty years younger!

3) Tidy up overgrown and straggly areas of the yard. Trim back the pampas grass, tidy the edges of the flower borders. Now is a good time to minimize the effect of invasive vines and briars, as you can easily see what is dead wood. Even though spring has not yet sprung, the yard can still look tidy, and show prospective buyers that they do not immediately need to completely redo the landscape. Tidy away any childrens' toys when they are not being played with--have the children help you to keep the home ready for buyers. And make sure there is nothing visible from the street that should not be. Stand across the street and look with a critical eye. Is there anything ugly on view? Would you be intrigued and want to step through the front door, or would you drive away as fast as possible?

4) Check the front door and windows for any damaged paintwork, and repaint if necessary. As we live in a coastal area, wind and water can quickly hurt exterior woodwork, and small problems can easily become major. Get out the paintbrush! Home improvement stores can now very easily match any paint color--just take in a chip of paint, and they will mix it for you on the spot. Small repairs only need a small can of paint.

5) Keep the windows shiny and clean! Windows are like a home's eyes, looking out into the world.

6) If your home has large shrubs right in front of the house, which are covering the windows, think about trimming them back or even removing them. Don't hide the home's beauty from the street! This will also let more light into the home, something that will appeal to more buyers once you have brought them through the door.

7) Add a few pots of flowering bulbs on the porch, or by the front door, or along the path. A splash of color makes everyone smile! (If you are in a neighborhood where the deer roam, choose daffodils and not tulips, as the tulips will be gone as soon as they flower, while the daffodils are left for us to enjoy.)

8) Most of all: enjoy the process of making your home the best it can be! In this slow market, everything you can do to make the home more appealing, to bring in more prospective buyers, is going to help. Homes are still selling, and people are still renting--they are just a little more choosy. So help them to choose yours!

(And if you have a little money to spend on curb appeal, consider replacing your metal/wire fence with a wood or white vinyl fence. They are not much more expensive, they are just as effective, and they give charm no matter what time of the year.)