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?
In addition to the tips in the blog, I would say selling a house fast is dependant on the marketing you do too. For example, in any ads it is vital to mention great features of the property such as its location in relation to public transport.
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!
Really seems a good way to sell out the home fast. All this are the basic requirement to be considered beforehand to get the house being sold soon.
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
Great Information, thanks for the great Post. I will come back later. Also great place for real estate owners.
Good news brother
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.
I agree, keep it simple especially with concrete paint. Greys or earthtones make for the best results I’ve seen.
To your success…
Augie Byllott
Thanks for the kind words…
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I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Your blog keeps getting better and better!
Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
I’m glad you like the blog, if you have any particular areas of interest, just let me know.
To your success…
Augie
Thanks for visiting…if there are any specific real estate investing topics you’re interested in, please let me know! We’re here to help both new and experiences investors.
To your success…
Augie
I keep learning and I make an effort to give my best. Thanks for recognizing and taking time to comment on the progress…
What type of investing are you doing?
To your success…
Augie
I’ve been looking for good instructions on topic, I wish I had found this site before. I learned the hard way.
I’ve been looking for good instructions on topic,
I wish I had found this site before. I learned the hard way.
I’ve been working in the home repair business in Houston for 35 years. I started out working with realtor’s getting homes ready to put on the market and have continued getting homes ready to sell. Yes, I agree curb appeal is the most important since it’s the first thing a buyer see’s. However, many seller’s don’t spend the money to paint the walls and trim inside. We once had a customer/seller who had their house on the market for over a year with no offers at all. The paint was not in bad condition but, the walls and the trim were all white. So the owner had been told that some of the people looking were not happy with the interior paint colors and that they didn’t want to buy a house and then have to paint. So they hired me to paint everything including the ceilings. We always move very fast when painting so it didn’t take long (8 days) and we had the house (2400 square foot) painted and the seller had 5 offers and sold the house before we were though. The customer gave us a $1000.00 bonus after closing. The colors we used on the walls was Sand Stone in flat and the Trim was and off white in high gloss and the ceiling were the same as the walls from Sherwin Williams. We used the same trim paint on the inside and outside of all the cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms. Rule# 1 – If there’s lots of trim then paint a darker (nutural) color on walls and a white to off white on all the trim (don’t get cute with trim colors). Make sure to caulk as needed and consider having it professional done. Nothing worst than a bad caulk and or paint job. One last tip, make sure before painting that the drywall texture matchs thoughout the house. If there’s small and or large spot where the texture does not match then you should have it fixed before painting. Drywall repair can be done very fast and cheap by someone who does that kind of work. Anyway, good luck selling you home.
By the way, we charged $3,600 for the paint job which, included the cost of the paint. My understanding is that the house sold for the listed price.
It’s amazing how just a few short years ago, it was easy to sell your home. Houses went on the market and weeks (sometimes days) the house was scooped up by overzealous buyers.
Now, there are just way too many houses in the supply and way too many in the foreclosure market. If you are selling at what is consider the “going price” you are up against comparables that are deflated due to foreclosures.
So, the advice in this post it quite useful and should be followed if you are selling. It offers no guarantee unfortunately. My personal feeling is if the government stayed out of the way prices would have dropped to their lowest levels and people we be buying now. Instead, they are artificially propping up the market which leaves buyers and sellers in limbo.
Just my two cents for whatever it’s worth (with a debasing dollar it’ll be worth less next week LOL)
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