How important is curb appeal?

If a house has an attractive exterior, it means that it is attractive to the eye and inspires confidence. Great curb appeal helps you sell a home faster and for more money because of the positive effect it has on buyers. Unfortunately, many homeowners overlook the curb appeal of their home when they put it on the market. The exterior appearance of a property affects the degree to which it attracts a prospective buyer.

Painting the exterior, painting or replacing doors and landscaping gardens are essential to improving the external appeal of a property. These photos show a property before and after improvements were made to improve the exterior appearance of the property. What counts is what's inside, right? That's true, but when it comes to your home, the outside also matters more than you think. Not only does a home's curb appeal make a first impression on potential buyers, it also plays an important role in determining its value.

Whether selling your home is on the horizon or you're planning to stay there for many years, we explain why maintaining its curb appeal is in your best interest, along with some tips on how to improve it. Unfortunately, a poor curb appeal could lead some buyers to avoid seeing a property that is for sale. And while it's still called “outer attractiveness”, today that first glimpse often occurs on the screen of a computer, tablet or smartphone, and that makes it all the more important. Exterior appeal describes how a potential buyer feels about a home when they approach it, depending on how it looks from the outside.

When trying to sell a house or property, many real estate agents emphasize the importance of maximizing external attractiveness, especially since many aspects of curb appeal can be improved cost-effectively. In some cases, even outsourcing aspects to improve curb appeal, such as hiring a landscaping company or hiring a contractor to replace a house's siding, may be financially wise if the final sale price of the property increases at closing. For example, there are several things that can increase the curb appeal of a property that are relatively inexpensive, such as a new paint job, cleaning up the outdoor landscape, or replacing small things, outdated lamps, or old numbers in a mailbox. Exterior appeal is a term used to describe the overall appeal of a house or other property from the sidewalk to a prospective buyer.

Increasing curb appeal doesn't have to go a little ruined: landscaping and cleaning can go a long way in including a home on buyers' must-see lists. CRS can further help sellers address curb appeal by providing them with a list of landscapers, handymen, and painters who know they are good and reasonably priced. Although not as easy to measure as something like square feet, curb appeal plays an important role in valuing properties. Many real estate agents, when advertising a house or property, can offer suggestions to sellers to increase external appeal, based on their own experience of what attracts buyers in that market.

Robert Johnson, founder of Sawinery, says that “external appeal is an essential part of creating value in a home. It is an advantage for the seller to follow any suggestions made by a real estate property when advertising a property or a house to increase external attractiveness, as this will help increase profits for both parties. Homes are generally valued based on the condition and characteristics of the home's interior, making it difficult for financial institutions to measure exactly how much external appeal adds to the value of the property. .

Suzanne Richards
Suzanne Richards

Infuriatingly humble sushi aficionado. Unapologetic music expert. Professional analyst. General zombie ninja. Hardcore bacon advocate. Subtly charming internet guru.