If you are like many homeowners in Vancouver, Washington who are selling their homes this spring or summer, you are looking for projects that will increase your home’s value. Luckily, you don’t need to look much further than your front yard to find a few projects that are easy to complete and will drastically increase your home’s value.
Updated beautiful curb appeal adds so much value to your home that it is recommended by 96% of real estate agents as a project to complete before selling your home. Regardless of the size of your yard or the age and style of your house, you can create curb appeal that will make your home more marketable and will increase the value of your home.
Do a Deep Clean
Cleaning is not the most exciting curb appeal project, but it is the one you should begin with. No matter how many flowers you plant your home will never truly shine if it is covered in dirt or grime. Begin your exterior deep clean with a basic yard and landscape area pickup. Remove debris, tree limbs, leaves, and dead or dried flowers from last summer’s garden from your yard. Once you’ve cleared all the leftover debris it’s time to move onto the house. Your home’s exterior needs to be cleaned just as much as the interior. Siding collects dirt, mold, mildew, algae, and moss. Power washing your siding will remove these stains. Be careful around your windows, doors, and decorative moldings since the power washer has a strong current of water and could damage some areas. If you are concerned about your home’s trim or window shutters you can use warm soapy water and a rag to clean around window sills, hand railings, and doorframes.
Green Up Your Grass
Aside from having a sparkling clean house a well-manicured freshly cut lawn will be one of the biggest value creators for your home. Basic yard care services such as fertilizing and cutting the grass is recommended by over 90% of real estate agents. Beginning your journey to greener grass by evaluating your yard. If you have areas where the grass is thinning or bare, put grass seed down and lightly water the area to keep the soil moist. You should also fertilize your entire yard with an organic slow release fertilizer. Finally, if you have an abundance of white clover, dandelions, or crabgrass, use a weed specific fertilizer to kill them. When you have applied your yard products and allowed them ample days to work you can trim your lawn making sure to keep the blades of grass at a height of three inches.
Trim Trees and Shrubs
If your home has large trees or overgrown shrubs it will look unkempt to homebuyers which could lower your home’s sale price. Before listing your home you should trim back unruly branches from your trees. You should also remove dead or dying limbs. Bushes, whether large or small, should be trimmed and shaped. You can have these projects done by a professional or you can attempt them yourself if they are not difficult or dangerous. Trimming trees and shrubs is a project that is recommended by over 85% of real estate agents.
Add Colorful Low Maintenance Flowers
If you have an area that is already landscaped you should add a few fresh flowers before selling your home. Fresh, easy to care for flowers such as marigolds and daisies are drought, disease tolerant, and easy to care for. Planting flowers not only adds a pop of color to your home’s exterior, it also increases your home’s value. Over 67% of real estate agents recommend planting colorful flowers before selling your house.
Add Fresh Mulch
Adding fresh mulch to a landscaped area is a very easy exterior project for all homeowners to undertake before listing their house. Mulch acts as a weed barrier and maintains soil moisture. It also adds approximately $1,749 to a home’s value and is considered one of the most effective curb appeal projects by 84% of real estate agents. Add fresh mulch around your landscaped areas making sure there is a depth of approximately two inches of mulch. The popular mulch colors are brown and black so choose whichever color coordinates well with your home’s exterior.
Upgrade Your Front Door
Your front door is one of the first things a homebuyer will see when they arrive at your home. Make a good first impression by installing a new front door or painting your existing one. If your front door is dented or extremely out of date you might consider replacing it. However, if your door simply needs a touch up, you can easily paint it using an exterior paint. Popular door colors are yellow, red, teal, and black, which is the most popular color among homebuyers. Other colors to consider are navy blue and dark green. Whatever color you choose, it should match with the style and color of your home.
Fresh Up Your Front Porch
Front porches have come back into style and bring with them an additional area to add to your home’s value. Real estate agents agree that over the past two years the value of a front porch has increased by 61%. You can make your front porch stand out by using exterior furniture to stage the area and adding décor and planters. Common front porch furniture is rocking chairs and Adirondack chairs. These can be accented with exterior pillows and cushions. Add tall planters with shade tolerant ferns and ivy for easy to care for greenery. As a final touch add a solar powered hanging lantern or handrail solar lights for added warmth. Small easy to complete projects can have a dramatic effect on your home’s sale price. Nationally, real estate agents estimate that homebuyers are willing to pay 7% more for a home with great curb appeal. Whether you choose to complete one or a few of the exterior curb appeal projects, you will increase your home’s marketability and increase your home’s sale price.
Post written by Andrea Keeney of HomeLight