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| Selling a Home: Does Your House Have Curb Appeal? |
| People often focus on how to decorate and improve the interior
of their homes to reflect their personal taste. They often
overlook the possibilities for improving the exterior of their
home - its curb appeal. By making simple cosmetic changes to the
overall visual appearance of your home's exterior and
landscaping, you can create a home that truly reflects your
style and that increases your enjoyment and satisfaction while
living there. Too often people put off these simple, relatively
inexpensive improvements until they are ready to sell and by
doing this they miss out on the opportunity to fully experience
living in a home that is an expression of themselves (not the
previous owner). They only see their house at its best when |
they
are ready to pass it on to the buyer. For those of you who are
planning on selling your home soon, making these changes will
create a "come on in" look for any prospective buyers. While the
interior might be in excellent condition, you only get once
chance to make a good first impression. Here are some tips for
increasing your home's curb appeal:
Patching cracks in an asphalt driveway will prevent water
seepage and further cracking. This can be done either
professionally or with a do-it-yourself application for a
hardware store. Power washing a cement driveway will remove oil,
rust and other stains. Inexpensive vinyl shutters will add more
dimension to the exterior windows. If the house exterior is
lacking color or |
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depth, adding window boxes with seasonal
flowers adds greater curb appeal. Planters and seasonal flowers
on a porch or a wide entry add both beauty and richness.
Frequent pruning and trimming of plants and shrubs provides a
well cared for look. Also, well manicured, cutter-free yards are
always appealing.
An assortment of flowers planted around the base of a tree on a
lawn is always a quality feature. Using mature plants rather
than planting younger ones that need time to grow should be
considered.
Homeowners should take a realistic look at their house, and
compare it to their neighbors'. If it appears rather faded by
comparison, a fresh coat of paint should be considered. Last,
but certainly not least, |
crystal clear windows are a strong
indicator that the house has been well cared for.
If you find this helpful or have ideas you would like to share,
please let me know. You can contact me at my website
http://www.jalone.com.
About the author:
Julie Jalone is an experienced professional Realtor serving the
needs of buyers and seller of residential real estate in the
Greater Sacramento, CA area, including Roseville, Rocklin,
Granite Bay, Lincoln and other communities in Sacramento,
Placer, El Dorado, Yolo and Yuba counties. For a complete bio,
additional information and other real estate resources see her
web site at http://www.jalone.com
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