If you’re selling your home, maximizing the curb appeal is necessary to get the most viewings and the best offer. Around 76% of home buyers think that first impressions are important when house hunting, so getting this right is crucial.
In this post, we’ll show you eight quick and easy ways you can boost your home’s curb appeal on any budget. These affordable yet effective tips will make your home look its best, whether you’re hoping to sell or just want an inviting frontage.
Why is Curb Appeal So Important?
If you’re wondering why curb appeal is so important, a 2018 report by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) had some important insights:
- 100% of costs related to exterior home maintenance are recovered at the time of sale.
- 99% of NAR members believe that curb appeal is important when attracting buyers.
- 94% of realtors have recommended that clients boost their home’s curb appeal before putting the property on the market.
- 75% of homeowners said they enjoyed being home more and felt happier after investing in curb appeal.
As you can see, curb appeal isn’t just important for resale purposes; it can also make you happier to be in your home.
8 Tips to Boost Your Home’s Curb Appeal
Even if you don’t have the time or budget for all eight of these tips, implementing just one or two can make a huge difference.
Clean Up Your Landscaping
If you have weeds growing through your drive or overgrown bushes, your house will look neglected. It’s natural for people to think that the interior of your home is also neglected if you don’t look after the exterior, so cleaning up your landscaping is an important first step.
- Trim overgrown bushes, hedges, and trees.
- If you have the budget, remove any imposing trees or hedgerows blocking sunlight.
- Weed your driveway and any pathways.
- Weed any flowerbeds and remove all dead plants. Pro tip: plant evergreen shrubs to reduce pruning and help your flowerbeds look good year-round.
- If your fence or railings look tired, think about wiping them down and adding a fresh coat of paint.
These landscaping tasks won’t take more than a day, but they will make a world of difference to the curb appeal of your property.
Enhance Your Front Door
The front door is the focal point of your home. It draws the eye, and people can’t help but focus on it as they walk up to your house.
If your door is dirty, broken, or old, it is going to give a bad first impression to visitors. Buying a new front door or updating your current one helps maximize curb appeal and can even boost the value of your property.
“A well-designed and maintained front door can make a statement and set the tone for the rest of your home’s exterior. It can also increase your home’s overall value by improving its visual appeal and making it more inviting to potential buyers. Whether you choose to paint your front door a bold color, add new hardware, or upgrade the entryway, investing in your front door is an easy and effective way to boost your home’s curb value.” says Izzy of Just Value Doors.
Add Outdoor Lighting
Subtle lighting fixtures will instantly modernize your home’s exterior and make it look elevated. If you don’t have any outdoor lighting, there are a few options you could think about adding:
- Add a porch light to welcome guests as they walk up to your front door.
- Install lights up the path to illuminate the walkway.
- Add solar lights to flowerbeds to add mood lighting.
- Install a security light to boost your home’s safety.
- Include small lights to large planters to illuminate trees and shrubs from below for a modern feel.
If you don’t want to channel walls to add mains electricity, solar lights are a great alternative. Although they’re not always as bright, they are more affordable and easy to install.
Upgrade Your House Numbers
It’s easy to add some personality to your home’s exterior with updated house numbers. Whether you go for a rustic wood sign with iron numbers or a modern glass backing with metallic numbers is up to you.
But updating the house numbers in any style is a quick and easy way to boost your home’s curb appeal and make it much easier for guests to find you.
Paint Your Exterior
This one might take some more time and effort, but it can make a drastic difference. If your exterior paint is worn, chipped, or dirty, a fresh coat of paint will make your home look brand-new.
Take some time to think about the color before you dive in and start painting.
- White is a fresh, modern option, but it can look dirty quickly, especially if you live on a busy road.
- Anthracite or dark grey is a modern, trending option, but it might not work with your window frames.
- You could decide to go for a pop of color, but it’s important to check with your local authority – there are sometimes restrictions on bright house colors.
The quality of the pain is equally as important as the color. Invest in high-quality exterior paint to make sure the new paint job lasts the test of time.
Add Window Boxes
Window boxes give a wonderful cottage-core feel and add a pop of color to an otherwise plain exterior. If it’s springtime, these can be filled with bright, trailing flowers to make your home come to life.
Paint the boxes in a bright color for contrast or match them to your home’s exterior color to put all the focus on the flowers.
Don’t forget to ensure they are screwed in securely to stay in place during harsh weather.
Upgrade Your Mailbox
We don’t advise splurging on an expensive, modern mailbox since there is a risk of them getting damaged or destroyed.
However, you can boost your mailbox’s curb appeal by updating it to match your home’s style. A wooden mailbox painted with a pop of color looks beautiful outside a cottage-style house, whereas a modern, metal box is more at home outside a sleek, minimalist home.
If you don’t want to change your mailbox, you could also plant a mini garden around it to give it its own boost in curb appeal.
Pressure Wash Your Home Exterior
If you have a pressure washer, you can make quick work of cleaning the front of your home. Pressure washers are built for hard exterior jobs, and they’re the quickest way to remove all the dirt and algae build-up from a home’s exterior.
Do a patch test with a pressure washer in a small, inconspicuous area to ensure it’s not going to damage the paint or finish of your home. And if you don’t have a pressure washer, you can hire local pros to do this job for you.
How Will You Boost Your Home’s Curb Appeal?
When we think about updating our homes, we often focus on internal paint colors, furnishings, and our interior style. But the exterior of the home is just as important.
Whether you’re planning on selling your home or just want to give the exterior some TLC ready for the warmer weather, these quick and easy tips will help you boost your home’s curb appeal.
