Exteriors

How to Give Your Home “Curb Appeal”

If you’ve been worried about how your home looks on the outside, you’re in the right place. While many people spend lots of time and money getting their interior looking great, they often neglect the outside. While this can make sense—after all, you spend most of your time inside—you might still want to make things more appealing externally.

If you’re looking to wow visitors from the moment they step out of their vehicle, you’re going to want to look at a few simple, easy and cost-effective ways to improve your home exterior. Some of these might impress your guests, while others might simply make your home more secure (some can do both). They could also add some value to your property as it has more features to appeal to different buyers.

  1. Re-clad the exterior

If you’re exterior is looking worn, you might want to consider re-cladding it. There are tons of different materials that could give your home a new lease on life. Just make sure you’ve got permission to alter the exterior of your property, if you’re involved with a homeowners’ association.

  1. Get a new paint job

If you don’t like the idea of cladding, a new paint job can do just the trick. Even if you’re sticking to the same colour, a fresh lick of paint can really make your house seem more appealing. Or you could try something new!

Again, make sure you’re allowed to paint your house the colour you’re thinking of. Some HOAs have strict rules about what you are or aren’t allowed to do, as they might want every home to share the same theme.

The best house painters can really make a difference for the exterior of your property.

  1. Consider re-laying your drive

Re-laying your drive can be a great way to make your property seem nicer when guests arrive. If you lay a stone drive, you can also enjoy the increased lifespan and the security of being able to hear people approaching.

A good quality drive might be expensive, but it could last years and may also add value to your home. Make sure you take care when choosing a firm to re-lay your drive. Choose someone who is known in the local area and you’ve seen doing work for other happy homeowners.

  1. Get exterior lighting

One way to really wow visitors and bring your home into the 21st century is with exterior lighting. This can help turn an old and tired property into a modern one. Not only that, but good exterior lighting can add value to your home AND serve as a high-tech security feature.

If you want to wow people as they approach your property in the evening, nothing beats the right exterior lighting. Depending on the tastes of the buyer, it might also add value to your home.

Proper outdoor lighting is one factor that can lead to discounted home insurance. This is both because of the decreased risk of burglary and the lower chance of personal injury because of adequate lighting. That means than an expensive exterior lighting upgrade could almost pay for itself.

  1. Fix or improve your fencing around the entire perimeter

Many people neglect the integrity of their fences, especially if they’ve got a lot of land. Don’t do that. New fences can make your land look great, and also much more secure. People with large amounts of acreage often forget to keep all of their property fully secure and leave areas that have gaps in fences or other openings that are easy to breach. So, don’t make that mistake.

  1. Get a gardener

Keeping your front lawn in good condition can take time and effort, unless you hire your own gardener. It shouldn’t be too expensive. Just someone to trim the lawn and plant a few flowers should be fine.

  1. Get new windows

New windows don’t only make your house look great from the outside, certain glass features also add value to your home. With new glass, you could choose insulated glass and make your home more energy-efficient and cut out more external noise.

If you keep finding that you’re spending more and more on gas and electricity bills (especially as the cost of energy has gone up), then new windows could be what your home needs. A more energy-efficient home will cost less in monthly bills each month, and than can be more valuable to potential buyers.

Hopefully, these tips are all you need to get started. If you really want to wow your visitors from the outside, you might need to spend a bit of cash. But the good thing about most of these tips is that they could actually ADD value to your home. They pay for themselves in the long run.

If you have any questions, please ask below!