Curb appeal is an important component in effectively selling your home. You will catch the attention, and retain the attention, of potential buyers with the care you put into your home’s landscaping and exterior. Maintaining and improving curb appeal is very cost-effective. You never get a second chance to make a first impression and many of the first impression improvements described below come in well below the $200 mark. The simple act of painting your front door may increase your home’s value by over six thousand dollars. Here are some ways to improve curb appeal without breaking the bank.
Keep the green neat: You can work wonders with a well manicured lawn. The simple act of a comprehensive weekly landscaping maintenance routine will provide the perfect curbside presentation of your home. In addition to mowing, you will want to edge the walkways and flowerbeds, trim the bushes, and carefully prune your trees.
Bring in some color: Introducing a carefully selected fresh flat of flowers to your flowerbed will definitely bring a vibrant pop of color and catch the eye of potential buyers. Consider choosing an assortment of both perennial and annual flowers. Perennials have a shorter bloom time, but will return every year (it’s always good to provide for the future) while annuals are easy to grow, will grow quickly, and generally bloom much longer. You’ll get a lot of vibrant colors for a small investment with a beautiful selection of flowers.
Bring in some mulch: New mulch is a great way to highlight your new flowers in the flowerbeds and around your shrubs. You won’t break the bank when you choose to spread the wealth and let the landscapers spread the mulch: the national average for delivery and installation is less than $200.
Paint the front door: A gallon of paint is just around $40, and you won’t need an entire gallon to paint the front door. We have found that teal, red, brown, slate blue, and yellow are all excellent colors for your front door (while berry colored front doors are not). A freshly painted front door can give your home a whole new look, but color trends vary from market to market and neighborhood to neighborhood. It is important to follow the aesthetic of the neighborhood. You want potential buyers to see your home as part of the community. If smoky black front doors are part of your neighborhood aesthetic you will definitely want to cash in (Zillow recently discovered that front doors with charcoal gray, smoky black, or rich jet black doors sold for $6,271 more than expected).
Install new hardware: New hardware will cost on average $75-$150 per door. New hardware is a great way to complement that new coat of paint on your front door.
Paint the shutters and trim: A fresh coat of paint on the shutters and trim of your home will greatly improve your curbside appeal. The average two story 2,500 square foot home will take 3-5 gallons for the accent trim and approximately 2 gallons of paint for the shutters. Every home is different, so it’s best to do the math and estimate how much paint you will need. A gallon of paint covers 250-400 square feet per gallon. Again, remember to choose colors that follow the aesthetic of the neighborhood.
Install a new mailbox: A new mailbox and post will cost around $125 to purchase and install when you do it yourself, and around $285 when you hire the job out. Keep in mind there are postal regulations to follow when installing your new mailbox.
Install new house numbers: New 5” polished brass numbers will cost an average of $15 per numeral. It is a relatively simple DIY project, but you could delegate the job to a professional. A professional house number installation will cost just under $150 (depending on the type of numbers you choose).
The team at Pelletier Realty Group looks forward to helping you sell your home in Southern New Hampshire. Contact us today.