The exterior of your property has a big impact on the value of your property when it comes time to sell.
In fact, the exterior of your property can influence the price of other peoples’ homes, and the better looking the front of your row of properties, the higher the price you can attract on the market.
The front of the property is the first thing that a potential buyer sees when driving up to view, while the side and rear of the property show off a potentially appealing new life for viewers.
1. Tidy Away Bins
Before you consider repairing brickwork, replacing doors, or making any other major changes, the first thing you should do is tidy up and clean up.
Try to make sure everything has its place. It’s fine leaving kids toy sets and furniture out in the garden, but if you leave lawnmowers out, it will look like you don’t have adequate external storage.
Bins are a bone of contention. We all have them, we all need them, but we don’t really want to look at them.
Consider building or buying a bin store – they’re easy, convenient, and they hide a lot of sins; you can even buy a larger bin store than you need, and store extra items, like tools and garden appliances, too.
2. Replace Or Repaint The Garage Door
If you are looking to sell your home, then you are unlikely to want to invest large sums of money in making repairs or buying replacements even for important areas of the property. However, it might not be necessary.
If the garage door still works as intended, but is looking untidy, clean it up and repaint it.
You can either paint the door to match the front door and window frames, or you can paint it to match the colour of the garage and house itself to help ensure that it blends in.
A replacement garage door may be necessary if the existing door is hanging off its hinges or a poor-quality door has completely rusted through.
A separate garage is a convenient place to safely store the car, and many garages will also store items like garden tools and more, so is appealing to buyers – make it look as good as possible to help aid a sale and improve resale value.
3. Get A New Front Door
Similarly, the front door of the property is one of the first things that people will see and is where the eyes are naturally drawn to, but it is one of the areas that a lot of people overlook when refreshing the front of a property.
They will pay to have the walls pointed and cleaned but ignore the door.
If your door is badly damaged, worn, or old, consider having it replaced with something newer.
You don’t have to opt for plain white uPVC either.
Adding colour to the front door is a great way of adding character to any property, regardless of age or style.
4. Replace The Driveway
Buyers love driveways.
Not only do they potentially provide off-street parking, but they also provide a buffer between the street and the property.
If you already have a driveway, neaten it up, remove weeds, and make sure it is tidy.
If there are big holes, you can consider repairing these areas. Use reclaimed bricks to create a border along the edges of the driveway or to replace any bricks that have become damaged or broken.
It is possible to buy any of a large selection of colours, styles, and types of reclaimed brick and stone that enable you to achieve the look you really want.
5. Add Outdoor Lighting
Outdoor lighting not only improves the look of a property, especially by highlighting some of its best features, but it also increases the sense and feeling of security around the property.
Dark properties are foreboding and threatening, whereas a well-lit property is inviting for all the right reasons.
Consider adding lighting along the footpath, as well as additional lights to gently illuminate the property number or name sign.
6. Rebuild Broken Walls
Broken walls are an eyesore, and if left, the damage can become worse until it becomes irreparable.
They can also be seen as a security hazard because a damaged wall is easier to get into than a pristine one.
Recover as many of the bricks as possible that come from the wall.
Clean them up, add mortar to the damaged but cleaned area, and consider buying additional reclaimed bricks to match the style and look of the bricks.
While rebuilding a damaged wall, you can consider extending the wall, although this will obviously take more effort and require additional work.
You can even create new walls, where they don’t already exist.
You will need to clear the area, prepare it and flatten the ground, and choose bricks that complement existing buildings and any other walls in the garden.
7. Clean The Property Exterior
Panting the property exterior enables you to give your house a fresh new look.
The simplest option is to paint with a neutral colour, but it may not even be necessary to paint your house in order to restore it to its previous best.
Cleaning the brickwork, cladding, rendering, and other external surfaces.
You can use a sweeping brush to get rid of large bits of debris and other items and clean up the finer debris with a cloth.
You can buy specialist cleaning solution for this type of work, but you should exercise caution when using power washers, especially if there are any damaged areas.
8. Add Planters
Not everybody has the luxury of a large garden, and if you are looking to move out it is unlikely that you will want to replace the convenient and maintenance free gravel or driveway with grass and soil.
New plants will also take years to establish, but if you incorporate outdoor planters into your garden design, you can add bushes, shrubs, trees and other plants more easily.
Buy readymade planters or create your own using wood or reclaimed bricks for a beautiful and natural looking finish.
Planters are easy to care for, they can take established plants, and they can be used for a wide range of different plants and planting.
Conclusions
As you can see, it’s not difficult or expensive to improve the kerb appeal of your home to prospective buyers.
By making it visually attractive and pleasing on the eye, you are far more likely to get a sale and be able to call your local removals company to book that all important moving date into your new property.
Give some of the 8 ideas above and try and you should instantly see the difference.