The Importance of Curb Appeal

The term “curb” appeal came from real estate sales and home designs. Buyers for years have formed their first impressions of homes while standing in the street or sitting inside the car, just beyond the curb. Before text messaging and smartphones, a buyer would get a phone call or fax from their agent about a new listing. The initial drive-by would usually determine whether or not they would want to go for an actual showing.

Sellers would spend hours, even days, seeding new grass and planting flowers, painting their front door, mulching, weeding and cleaning up the yard to get they buyer in the door. If the home didn’t appeal from the curb, buyers would move on to the next house. Curb appeal was always the most important piece of the home sale puzzle.

Expanded Appeal

Today, curb appeal still matters, but in a different way. The majority of buyers form their first impression from a home’s online photos.

Buyers will scroll through pictures online of both the outside and the inside, before ever stepping foot inside or even driving to your home. Even more, they may never come to see the house if they don’t like what they see online.

The exterior of your home should be high on your priority list, but it is only most valuable when they buyer walks up or drives by. But they may not ever get that far.

Also, the interior needs to show your home in its best possible light, because Web appeal has become the new curb appeal. And if your house doesn’t photograph well — either because you didn’t have it professionally shot, didn’t post high-resolution photos, or you haven’t taken the time to prepare it — then curb appeal won’t even make a difference.

What Sellers Should Do

Sellers need to spend plenty of time properly preparing the inside of their home and getting great photos, so buyers will form the best possible impression.

The drawback for sellers is that they have to work so much harder than they did just 15 years ago. In today’s society, buyers make immediate judgements about a home within moments of clicking the new listing on their smartphone. Thus, sellers ultimately only have one chance to make a good impression. While the home still needs to look good from the curb, it needs to look great on the Web to get the buyers interested and there in person.

 

The sale of your home is likely one of your biggest financial transactions. Contact DBL Real Estate today to get an agent on your team early, and make a list of all the tasks you need to complete before listing this spring. Now is the time to start preparing for the sell. Smart planning and a good strategy will make sure you have a quick, painless and profitable home sale.