Prepare For The Real Estate Selling Season By Enhancing Curb Appeal


Preparing to sell your home in the Dallas / Fort Worth area?  Spring is the start of the selling season for real estate so NOW is the time to start planning for it.  Before you talk to an agent, here are some things you should consider doing to your house’s exterior to improve your houses’ curb appeal.
1.  Seriously clean all the blinds, drapes, window sills, and glass.  People are going to be peering into these windows so make sure they’re clean.

2.  Rent a power washer and power wash the exterior no matter what the siding is, brick, vinyl, wood, etc.  Just be careful to not use too powerful a tip or you may remove more than dirt.  Also any peeling paint will be sprayed off so expect to do a few touch-ups using color matched paint to blend in.  Add bleach to the washer if you see any signs of mold or mildew on the siding.

3.  Power wash all sidewalks, paths, driveways, the front porch concrete, etc.  Also wash any border stones around the flowerbeds too.  Bleaching and powerwashing a wood fence makes the fence look years younger if done correctly.  Done incorrectly a powerwasher could make a fence look like it’s been a hail storm.  Be careful to use the correct tip.  Too powerful a tip could gouge the material being sprayed.  Add bleach to the washer if needed.

4.  Clean the gutters and wash all leaves and debris off the roof while avoiding washing off the roof yourself.

5.  Repaint your front door and replace all hardware on the front door with new perfectly working locks and handles.  Everyone looking at your house will use this door so it has to look and function perfectly to make a good first impression.

6.  Are the street numbers easy to read from the street and spot in the dark?  If not, change it.  Also make sure the mailbox is in good condition.

7.  Go to the local garden store and buy some cheap but colorful flowering plants when planting season starts in late April or May.  Evenly space them in the flowerbeds so you can see lots of color from the street and when you look out the window into the back yard.  While you’re at it, throw a fresh layer of mulch over the bed.  The mulch makes the flowerbed look fresh and because the bed mulch is all the same color, flowering plants visually pop.

8.  It’s never too soon to start fertilizing the lawn.  Start an aggressive fertilizer and lawn watering campaign so you’ll have the greenest lawn on the block.

9.  If you have any bushes that have grown to the point that they’re hiding the house, pull them out and plant something smaller.  Beds filled with low growth plants (under 3 feet high) make the house look taller.

10.  Hire a tree trimmer to shape all of the trees, large bushes, etc. on your property and have them lift all of the tree canopies.  Cutting off the lower limbs of a tree raises the canopy and makes the whole yard look more groomed.  It also allows more sunlight in and that helps the grass grow.

11.  When everything is done, then allow the Realtor to come in and take pictures of your house and plant the for sale sign.

12.  Be sure to mow and trim weekly and aggressively water and fertilize your lawn to maintain it’s curb appeal.  Also ask the Realtor for extra fliers and be sure to make sure the info box is fully stocked with fliers every night.

13.  Avoid parking lots of cars in the driveway and on the street.  Clean out the garage and use it to park your car, not for storage.  Rent a storage lot for your stuff.

14.  Remove the baby toys from the front yard and porch.  Actually, remove everything from the front porch that doesn’t belong there.

15.  Find a top producing agent good enough to earn a position in the AgentHarvest Elite.

Best of luck selling your house.

If you are buying or selling a house and are looking to hire a successful real estate agent to help you through the process, take a look at AgentHarvest's list of top-ranking local Realtors in your area. We found these agents by examining their sales track records, awards, rankings, client testimonials and by conducting personal interviews.



4 thoughts on “Prepare For The Real Estate Selling Season By Enhancing Curb Appeal

  1. These are great tips even if you are not selling your house. We had our house pressure washed and it made the house look great, almost new. Also took your advice on the sidewalks. Who knew it would make so much of a difference. Trimmed back the bushes and even planted a few. also a little bit of painting. But I also have to give credit to my son who was a big help!

    • Joeseph:
      If you have a stone border along your flowerbeds, give those a squirt too. Also a power washer is great for getting rid of dead leaves on your shrubs. I think the power washer may someday surpass duck tape in usefulness. I’ve even used it successfully as a means of self-defense when I unexpectedly encounter a wasp nest. Not recommended though. But at that point, it was either them or me. After that, it was just me!!!

  2. Great advice on enhancing curb appeal. We have had many homeowners come to us looking to sell their home in the near future but decided to make some improvements before they do.

    • It’s pretty common. You might want to offer pre-sale improvements as a service. You could walk their home and offer affordable advice based on what they could spend to make the house more attractive without overspending as compared to the market.

      I’d also suggest partnering up with an agent to help determine what their competitors have. Agents would do it for free for the opportunity to get in front of a potential homeseller, especially one with a move-in ready home. This relationship could also probably earn you referrals from those agents too. Form relationships with as many agents as you can find. Best of luck and let me know if the idea has merit.

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