Increase Your Property Value By Fixing Up Your Homes' Exterior
Today, we're talking about getting your home ready for the Spring market. If you're thinking about selling in February, March, April, these tips may be useful to you! What Jill and I always recommend, before you put your house on the market, is you check on a number of things.
Today we're going to focus on exterior home issues, that if you don't take care of well, can come back to bite you big time and can take a lot of money off the price you can negotiate with the buyer. These things are so important to take care of before you list your home, it may even cause a potential buyer to walk away. You really want to make sure there are minimal maintenance issues outstanding, so that the buyer, as well as the home inspector, has a really hard time trying to nickel & dime you, push you down on the price, or walk away.
Today we're going to do a walk around the exterior of this older house and talk about a couple of maintenance issues that commonly pop up, but are easy to take care of. These are a couple of details to take care of before contacting your realtor about listing for a sale.
Quick Fixes To Take Care of
First and foremost are plants. As you can see, we're looking at a window flower box with dead and old plants from last summer. So, before you go to market, get rid of any dead plants. This also applies to your flower beds - make sure to tidy them up! Another thing to check for is damage to your lawn, where the grass is dead. If you have large spots, you might want to buy some grass seed to fix these areas.
When was the last time your gutters were cleaned? Dirty gutters are unsightly, but it's a very easy fix to clean them with a simple wipe-down. Also give them a clean out of leaf build-up on the inside! You should also take a look at the condition of your roof. If you have a lot of moss growing on it, like this, get the maintenance crew looking at your gutters to also take a look at the roof. Cleaning it off is usually a relatively easy task. Think about getting your paving stones and driveway power washed. It will make them look like new and considerably nicer and more expensive!
Take a look at your outside fixtures and vents. This dryer vent has certainly seen better days. Make sure they are clean and look in good repair. They're also an inexpensive fix or replacement. How are your downspouts? Check to make sure they're all intact, this is a very easy fix. Are all your outside lights working? Replace lightbulbs or fixtures as needed. Does your house have leaf debris or grime buildup? Think about getting it power washed, which will make it a lot less unsightly.
Some of these things are very small, but can make a huge difference to your selling price. These just a few, but great, suggestions for fixing up your house and increasing the listing price, all of which can be done at this time of year (for example, it's too damp and cold to paint the exterior of your home this early in the year). If you're looking to list between now and about March, the tips we've given you today will ensure a smoother process when you decide you want to sell your house. A good, cleaned-up exterior shows pride of ownership, and really does add to the house value at the end of the day.
Have any questions? Give us a call at any time. We're always happy to answer your real estate questions.
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