Augie 
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If you want to sell a house fast, you have to make it stand out. There’s plenty of competition and the typical buyer wants their home to make a statement. A key element of getting your house sold is Curb Appeal. That’s right, how inviting does your house look from the street. As my wife Audrey, an Accredited Staging Professional, likes to ask, “Does your house say, ‘Welcome’ or ‘Beware’.”
To maximize your Curb appeal we recommend prepping the outside:
Mow the lawn
Mow and edge once a week during the summer and every other week during the winter (depending on climate). Pretend this is your own home (or better).
Landscaping
Make sure hedges and trees are trimmed well, not cut back. Add potted plants to the yard if it looks too empty. Fill in any problem spots, and water them regularly. Trim shrubs and bushes from the top down and trees from the bottom up! For quick renovation projects where you don’t have time to plant and water new flowers, try silk flowers for that touch of color. They’re inexpensive and look great! Another cheap way to make the flower beds pop is to put down a thin layer of mulch. This is a quick, inexpensive fix.
Paint
Paint any major rough spots or peeling paint areas. Paint the front door, if it needs it, and any entrance way or landing. (Use a three color approach- a light neutral color for the majority of the house, a darker or lighter shade for the trim and a bold high gloss for the front door.) You can find excellent 3 color palettes at most major home improvement stores. If money is tight, just paint the front…remember its Curb Appeal we’re looking for. Note – consider the colors in the neighborhood and keep with the theme, a bright blue house in an earth tone neighborhood will be a tough sell…no matter how much you like the color! Your going for a clean, crisp look. There should be nothing exotic for the average house.
Front door tip – for about $20.00 you can make the front door pop by adding a brass-tone kick plate. New door hardware is usually a very good investment!
Throw Away Trash
Clutter is a major deal killer for the retail buyer so throw away any piles of old junk. Clean out the garage and paint the floor if it is stained. You’ll be amazed at the difference. Dark Grey is a good color.
Pressure Wash Drive Way
If driveway is very grease-stained, have it pressure cleaned. If it still looks shabby, paint it. Don’t go crazy with colors, there are some nice grey concrete paints and if you have an asphalt drive way you can get it resurfaced for a modest price.
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For more great advice on how to maximize the inside of your home, check out 5 Fend Shui Concepts to Help a Home Sell.
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great thanks for your help.
Dave-
Thank you for stopping by. These suggestions appear obvious, but you won’t believe how many people skip these basic, high-impact, activities.
[...] How to Sell a House Fast | Intellectual Capital Report [...]
Does the global crisis affect the house selling now? as many peoples just keep their money and don’t buy any luxury things.
but anyway, thank you for your tips
Bali Villas-
The global crisis does affect how you sell a home.
One thing to take note of is that there are so many great houses available, that when you sell a home, it should be staged and of model-home quality.
It’s very competitive.
[...] recent posting at the Intellectual Capital Report Real Estate Investing Guide emphasizes the importance of ‘curb appeal’ in the eyes of real estate investors when [...]
Hi Augie, yes, I can see 4 comments under ‘How to Sell a House Fast’. On my own site, I am poking around in pHpMyAdmin to see if I can see anything wrong with some of the cats or internal id’s. (There are a few anomaly cats).
Hi, Alex-
Did you congirm that it was the ‘-’ sign that was messing things up? I’m going to look into this. If you can let me know what you found, I’d like to try to recreate the same issue on my site so I can provide a fix.
OK. I live in rural America. Could you possibly give some tips in the future for selling homes in the country, even for investing purposes maybe? What happens when your neighboring homes aren’t as attentive to their homes and landscapes as you are? Doesn’t that essentially cut into your own curb appeal? Since the front half of my property cuts across the view of my neighbor’s from the road, I’ve thought of plating a stand of evergreens across the front to hide their place from the road. If we decide to sell in the near future, I want to have everything looking its best.
I agree with your assessment that neighbors properties have an impact on your curb appeal. Frequently when looking at investment properties,neighboring properties will kill the deal or cause me to drastically lower my offer. There have been times when I actually made an effort to purchase the neighboring properties first in order to protect and even improve my investment.
We used Douglas Fir and Colorado Blue Spruce trees to make an attractive privacy barrier in New York some years ago. We planted 6′ to 8′ footers about 10 years ago and now they provide an amazing level of privacy and they are attractive and maintenance free (no leaves to rake in the fall). Note – they should be staggered in a saw tooth pattern to allow for growth and spreading. We’ve also used white pines (much less expensive but messier doe to sap and needles). They grow very fast. I suggest you talk with a knowledge nurseryman in your area to find out what will work best with your climate and rainfall.
Lastly, when buying, consider fencing as another privacy option or you can talk with the derelict neighbors first because the poor condition of their property may be an indication they can no longer afford the upkeep. You just might find an excellent deal!
Good luck & happy investing.
The global crisis does affect how you sell a home.
One thing to take note of is that there are so many great houses available, that when you sell a home, it should be staged and of model-home quality.
It’s very competitive.
Purchasing neighboring properties? That seems quite a big step. I can imagine that there might be some area’s where you would have to buy the whole block just to make it look good, no just kidding. These are some good tips that people often forget about, thank you for sharing them with us.
I certainly agree with mowing the lawn!
Some tips I have heard for those still residing in the house:
Make it look line a new model home
Clean top to bottom, as if the in laws will be inspecting it.
Un-clutter or give away older furniture. blocking pathways.
Remove personal photos, etc. that distract buyers.
Empty book shelves, placing just a few decorative pieces.
Tidy your cupboards and closets, for those snoopy buyers.
Hi Jake, great tips! It is almost counter-intuitive but by de-cluttering and removing personal items houses occupied houses actually sell faster. As far as cleanliness, my wife who is an Accredited Staging Professional refers to it as q-tip clean. Good adice, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the tips – Do you know anything about the change in speed of selling a house now during the financial crisis ?.
Hiring a pro cleaning person is a good idea (a little self promotion never hurt).
By far the most concise and up to date information I found on this topic. Sure glad that I navigated to your page by accident. I’ll be subscribing to your feed so that I can get the latest updates. Appreciate all the information here
Does anyone think that doing significant internal improvements when trying to sell is worth it to make a house stand out? Part of me wonders if this could make the difference in areas where most houses look similar inside and people are wanting high-spec furnishing to make them more likely to purchase.
I agree regarding your point about landscaping. This is a particularly difficult part of keeping a house tidy and requires skill. It can also let one put across their personality and is a great way to distinguish a property when trying to sell.
Great point about getting rid of junk. That is such an easy thing to do but many people don’t do it! Its a very easy way to make a property look much better and give yourself a better chance of selling property. Trash can also make a house smell too so there are so many benefits which mean everyone has to do it.
Interest points on cleaning up your drive. I hadn’t really considered paining it fully if washing doesn’t clean it up properly. Does anyone have recommendations on a pressure wash product?
Get the house as Eco friendly as possible. This really helps when people are thinking about up-sizing as it will keep their costs down. Simple things like changing your light bulbs for more efficient ones like LED can help a lot – boiler, windows, etc.
Oh and bake some bread before they come around – this works wonders
I agree with baking bread before people come around to view. Its a lovely smell and makes people want to stay in that environment!
It is so very true in our part of the country that a little elbow grease and modest expense can get one’s curb appeal to be as good as or better than one’s neighbor’s. If you are selling and you don’t look better than your neighbor’s home, a potential buyer is already starting to question what they’ll see next…
We all know it’s bad out there…With the severe credit crisis and the declining housing market, Fox, CNN, MSNBC, and even the President remind us of our struggles daily. Home foreclosures are at an all time high, even in my neighborhood in Austin Texas with many more foreclosures predicted to come. Housing resale values are at all time lows with no end in sight. Even the banks are going bankrupt as many Americans no longer qualify for credit.
People will still need a place to live and when banks no longer lend, that’s where the investor community will help solve the housing crises.
Wow tips like painting the front door seem so simple, yet for just the small investment of a can of paint can add heaps of value to your house sale!
Hey Augie, great tips. Just to add, make sure you water the landscape with this heatwave we have going on, especially if you have already moved out. It may turn brown instead of green before you know it.
Teresa
Good tip Teresa, thanks!!
Augie