5 Tips for Increasing Curb Appeal to Encourage Selling a Home

When it comes to selling a home, there are some tips and tricks people use to try to make it look as appealing as possible. Thinking about what the inside looks like is just as important as the outside. Though people will be likely making their decisions to buy or not to buy based on the interior of the home, if the exterior doesn't look good, potential buyers might not even make it past the front door.

Selling a home? Trying to, at least? Take a look at the curb appeal tips below to enhance the outside appearance of your home.

Clean Up Your Yard. Cleaning up the yard can make a huge difference in a home's appearance. Cover patchy lawns with new grass seed. Edge the driveway for a manicured look. Prune overgrown plants and trees.

Add Landscaping. Beyond cleaning up what you have, you can enhance your yard with landscaping. Maybe those patchy areas have problems that keep them bare: A berm or raingarden could be an appropriate and attractive alternative. When planting shrubs around the house, choose varieties that won’t grow taller than three or four feet; plant taller bushes and trees at the edge of the house to frame it. Flowers add a great splash of color, especially for a home with a white or beige exterior.

Integrate Window Boxes. Window boxes are also a great way to incorporate color and enhance or even change the look of a home. While it's a pricey endeavor to paint or replace siding, adding window boxes can increase the appeal of a home’s façade inexpensively by comparison. Wood boxes can be customized with paint or stain and synthetic boxes require no maintenance. Plant flowers with colors that contrast or complement the home's appearance.

Paint the Front Door. Again, painting or residing a whole house is expensive, but sprucing up the door is relatively cheap. For less than a gallon of paint and some new hardware, one can give the curb appeal of a home a quick lift. Some compelling colors that may work could be high-gloss red, forest green, or black. A classically stained door can also look great. Don't forget to update the door knobs, locks and knockers.

Update Outdoor Lighting. All of the tips shared thus far were great for enhancing a home's curb appeal during the day, but what sometimes people will be viewing your home for sale at night. The answer is exterior lighting. A light for the front door is a must for safety, but the right lighting can give a home a welcoming appearance, even in the dark. Trail solar lights along the sidewalk or driveway to invite people to your front door. Be sure to choose lights that are energy efficient and that don't require a lot of maintenance.

Follow these tips for improve curb appeal and increase the likelihood that people will find your home to be attractive. Check out the archives of our blog to find more tips for selling a home or increasing curb appeal.