Hey guys, welcome to Ask a Realtor, episode six. Phil, what do we have planned today?
Phil:
So we’re getting a lot of questions on what sellers can do to their property, specifically, the curb appeal, without breaking the bank.
Nick:
Stick around and find out. So Phil, we always get these questions, “Hey guys, how do I spruce up my curb appeal?” Because it’s the first thing people see, right? When they come over, they’re coming over for weekend barbecues or holidays, things like that. And you only have one chance to make a good first impression, right? So why is curb appeal such an important factor?
Phil:
Well, one of the biggest reasons why over the last 14 years we’ve sold thousands of homes, but we’ve realized one thing, if the potential buyers can’t get past the curb appeal, they’re never going to focus on the inside of the home, meaning all the updates that you’ve done, the uniqueness of it, because they’re so focused on the curb appeal.
Nick:
Yeah, and a lot of times a home buyer, as they’re pulling up to your property, will make a split second decision on whether that feels like home or not, because they’re feeling what their friends would feel driving up to their home for the first time or them coming home with groceries or after work every single day. So for us, we always start with curb appeal. If you’re thinking about sprucing up your home to sell it, or just want to spruce up your home, maybe for an upcoming holiday or different changing in the seasons, curb appeal is the very first place you should start. So we’re going to break down three important things, and quick and easy things you should do right now to spruce up your curb appeal, let’s go.
All right, so the first tip, sprucing up your home, curb appeal, what’s the very first place somebody should start? Phil:
So start in the front yard, and one of the things that we always go by, it’s a simple rule of thumb, is less, is better, right?
Nick:
So in this home this is actually a home Phil and I remodeled together. And when we came out to them for the first time was the entire front of the home just had overgrown shrubs, half were dead, it just didn’t look good. It didn’t look clean, it didn’t look crisp. So the very first thing that we did was we had a landscaper out here to help us with it, and he actually removed all the bushes along the base of the home. Again, back to Phil’s advice, because we actually practice what we preach. This is something that we believe in was that minimalist clean look. So we removed all the overgrown shrubs. Another tip on this too, is to have a landscaper out to help you trim your trees and trim any other bushes. And Phil, how much is a landscaper going to cost for a tree trimming.
Phil:
We have ones between 50 to 150, depending on how much the work is.
Nick:
Yeah, fairly inexpensive, but you’d be shocked what just trimming up some things, like getting a haircut, how much that can do very first place on your curb appeal.
So tip number two to spruce up your curb appeal, and this is actually my personal favorite tip, is to add seasonal flowers to your home. We did this in this property, I just did this at my house as well. I got seasonal flowers at Home Depot or any little home improvement store, they’re like four to $5. We barely spent 100 bucks total on these flowers, but they come in, you can already buy them in bloom, but most importantly, it’s going to add a little bit of color and it’s going to make a pop to your home. So when you’re coming home or friends and family are coming over, they’re going to see these colors. So guys tip number two, has got to be flowers. Phil:
Did someone mentioned a flower.
Nick:
Oh, dude, you’re a sweetheart. Thank you. Give me a kiss, give me a kiss. All right, Philly, we got two tips down, one to go. What do we have for them on tip number three to spruce up their curb appeal,
Phil:
Repaint your door. So for $20 for a can of paint, it’ll make the curb appeal look a lot better, but also make the property pop a little bit.
Nick:
Yeah, I mean here’s why, a lot of bases of homes are a neutral color, browns and tans. Like our home, this one’s white with a tan accent. So when you add a little bit of color to your door, it just pops and really makes it stand out. But if you are going to paint your door, just a quick tip on that, make sure and change out the hardware, put on a new handle. Guys, a beautiful handle, a nice handle’s 40 to 50 bucks. And you can get those at any home improvement store, so we highly recommend that. And then a small tip to that, if you are going to do it, change out your doorbell as well. You’d be shocked what a nice doorbell that matches the handle will do. And that’s what, again, your family friends are going to hit when they come over to see you.
Phil:
Nice. And then, hey, last but not least, quick fun tip time?
Nick:
Yeah, of course, because you guys are our viewers, we’ve got a fun fact for you. Do you guys know what a red door represents in Scotland?
Phil:
I don’t.
Nick:
Kind of a cool Scottish tradition, a red door represents that you have paid off your home. And so it’s a way of showing the community that you worked and you paid off your mortgage, and then they able to paint their door red. So I thought that was kind of a fun fact for you. [inaudible 00:04:34] talk about painting your guys’s doors.
Phil:
Nice.
Nick:
Guys, we really hope you’re enjoying these tips and strategies we’re sharing with you. And if you do like them, do us a huge favor, hit that like button below or love it or give us a comment. We’re really enjoying doing this, we’ve got a lot of great feedback and a lot of questions and thoughts from clients, so if you have any questions or feedback, just leave it in the comments below. But before you go, we’ll bring you guys one last bonus tip to spruce up your curb appeal, and Phil, what would that be?
Phil:
Fixtures. So if you go to Lowe’s, you go to Home Depot, fixtures can be as low as $10, maybe 20 to 30, but it makes such a big difference in the curb appeal.
Nick:
Yeah, you’d be shocked just what a lighting fixture and a brand new light bulb can do. And clean out your ones with cobwebs and stuff like that, you get the bugs in there and the critters there. It’s a great tip guys, but it really makes such a dramatic difference on that as well. A side little tip too, there’s some light bulbs out there that are actually, they can come on or turn off with the dawn and the dust, which is kind of a cool little tip. So for exterior features, a lot of times we recommend to our clients to work in those light bulbs. And they’re like 10, 15 bucks as well, and you don’t even have to worry about turning on your lights again ever again.
Well Phil, that about does it for episode six, three and a half tips there to spruce up your home. Any final thoughts for our viewers before we go? Phil:
A couple of things, if you’re thinking about selling and you need some advice on what should and shouldn’t do to the curb appeal, feel free to reach out to us. And then number two is whatever you do when you do the curb appeal or you’re making the improvements to the front yard, don’t break the bank.
Nick:
Yeah, and guys for us, curb appeal is the very first place to start. So whenever somebody calls us up, “Nick, I’m thinking about selling my home.” Or, “Nick, I don’t want to sell, I just want to spruce up my home so it looks really, really good.” Always start with the curb appeal. So we really tried to provide you guys as much value as we could in today’s episode, hopefully for you it was beneficial. If you guys, like Phil said, if you have any questions let us know. But stay tuned for the next episode, and we look forward to seeing you then. Bye-bye.
