We have talked recently in our blog about how important it is to have your home ready as a seller if you are seriously trying to get your home sold.  It is much more than cleaning your house and putting a sign in the yard.  Today's buyer not only has much more to pick from (Harrisonburg Rockingham now has over 1000 properties listed for sale-a record!) but is more demanding in the condition of the property and overall expectations.

Today I wanted to talk about picking your battles, what should your priorities be in getting your home ready to sell.  If I were to pick the top priority, the first would have to be curb appeal.

Curb appeal is the favorable impression that your property leaves with a buyer at the first point of contact.  That might be when buyers are driving through your neighborhood looking for homes that might be for sale.  It might be from the pictures that they see on a real estate website once your home is listed.  It might be from the first visit with their agent when they have picked your home as one of the properties they are interested in looking at.

So what does curb appeal include?  It includes how well the yard and landscaping are maintained.  A well maintained yard is where the grass is consistently cut, weeds are kept out of landscaping borders, shrubbery is trimmed or removed if overgrown, and the driveway is in a good state of repair.  A poorly maintained yard is an indication that the new owner would also not be able to keep up with the yard if you can't either.  Overgrown shrubbery indicates that the house is older looking than they hoped.  A poorly maintained driveway is an additional expense that the buyer would rather not incur.

Curb appeal is also how the house presents itself from a first impression.  Bad paint condition or outdated colors of front doors, shutters or siding immediately put a sour taste in a buyer's mouth.  I believe a house can look outdated in as little as ten years time as new colors and new materials come on the market. 

Windows in poor condition, mildew on roof shingles, broken vinyl, decks that need restained or walkways that are mildewed all point to overdue maintenance that a buyer wants to avoid having land in their lap.  These items are things that you should be taking care of annually as an owner, and the thought that "I will leave that for the next owner" are for lack of a better word-silly.  That buyer does not want your overdue maintenance.  If you are a serious seller, you must give your home curb appeal. 

This business is no different than any other retail business, where the merchants are trying to find a way to make the merchandise look great.  You must do the same.

We offer our seller clients a free Home Staging Analysis that gives them a room by room item by item analysis of what they need to do to get their home sold.  Let us know if you would like to experience the difference we offer.

Next week, "The First 60 seconds".