“We buy ugly houses” is a sign often seen nailed to electric poles. Rehabbers look for ugly houses so that they can pay the least amount possible; homebuyers looking for a deal—not a “basement bargain”—do not want an unattractive home. Creating curb appeal is essential to attracting interest in your home. How your home looks from the road is so persuasive that a well-prepared house may catch the attention of buyers who did not find the written description particularly compelling. Likewise, a neglected house can cause a buyer previously excited by the description to cruise right on by. Try this. Go out into your street and look—I mean really look—at your home, and see if you can spot any imperfections. Is it appealing, pristine, and well-kept, or are there necessary repairs that you have been putting off? After you’ve lived in a home for a long period of time, you’re not likely to examine it objectively. Listening to suggestions from real estate experts, your friends and/or potential home buyers about how you can make your house show bette could be helpful. Then, take a drive around your neighborhood and the surrounding area and see which homes for sale appeal to you and note why. Well-tended houses with trimmed bushes, groomed lawns, attractive landscaping, and a “grand entrance” (discussed shortly) will be more impressive than homes with an unkept walkway, uncut grass, and a paint-peeling front door. The outside appearance of a property needs to be an invitation to come inside. Potential homebuyers are drawn to welcoming entries and uncluttered yards. They are unlikely to be attracted to a home with dead shrubbery and a weather-worn exterior this will make a buyer believe the home is neglected on the inside as well.
Look at your home as a prospect would. Drive up to the curb
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