When it comes to selling a home, first impressions matter. You want to get potential buyers in the door to your open house. Agents need to have buyer's agents calling to schedule a showing. In order for a listing to sell quickly and at top dollar, there needs to be a healthy amount of interest in the property. Heighten your chances of making your sellers day by working with them on curb appeal.
Create a Welcoming and Aesthetic Entry
Now, if your listing is advertised as a fixer-upper and the yard is in shambles, it might be worth clearly marketing those facts to investment buyers and moving on. However, when it comes to a "typical" listing, agents need everyday buyers off sites like Zillow and Redfin to want to see their listing.
In order to do this, create a welcoming and aesthetic exterior and entry of the home. We know that new paint and all new landscaping might be out of the cards. That's a-okay - work with what you've got. Advise your sellers to do the following quick fixes to significantly up curb appeal:
- Pick up some potted plants for the entryway
- Power wash the drive way and other exterior hardscaping
- Weed the landscaping
- Rearrange any movable items in a more aesthetically pleasing or trendy way
- Some staging companies offer exterior staging
Of course, most everything above costs money. It can come as a surprise to first time sellers that selling a house does often cost them a pretty penny, too. (Though not nearly as much as they'll make upon selling). If sellers are balking at prices or strapped for cash - do what you can with what exists at the listing. But, it's your job as an agent to educate your clients and making some minor investments ahead of time might get them above asking price on their home!
Focus on the Photos
Two factors are at play when we're talking about curb appeal. The literal meaning, when someone drives by a listing, sees a "for sale" or "for rent" sign, notices how nice the home looks from the outside and makes the next move to inquire about the listing. Many would be surprised at how often this does actually happen. While so much of real estate is online and through apps now, there is still just the traditional drive by that brings in business.
For those more inclined to apps, the internet, or looking outside of where they currently live - focus on the photos. With the right lighting, some minor adjustments, and a great camera - curb appeal can be easily accomplished in photos. As an agent looking to sell a property, you need to make sure photos are of high quality.
Focusing on the photos and beautify-ing what you can will ensure that a listing has proper interest and sells as quickly as possible. Pair that with a properly priced listing and you're sure to sell a home and meet all your clients expectations!
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