Three Ways To Give Your Home Killer Curb Appeal

SELL THAT HOUSE

Psychologists will tell you you have about 3 seconds to make an impression, good or bad, when you meet someone for the first time. It may be unfortunate that we are innately so quick to judge, but alas, that's the nature of the beast. And guess what:When it comes to that house you're trying to sell, the very same rules apply.

So what can you do to make sure that prospective buyers are getting a good first impression when they come to see your home? That's a great question, and in this article, we'll take a look at 3 easy ways to give your home some killer curb appeal.

#1) Doctor Your Driveway

There is no doubt about it, the very first thoughts a prospective house-buyer is going to have about your home will run through their head as soon as they pull up to your property.

It's the fabled question of curb appeal: what can you do to make your home look as attractive as possible from the street?

Well, there first thing you can do is make sure your laneway is somewhat attractive.

I am always amazed by the number of homes I see with For Sale signs stuck in the ground beside a driveway that's cracking, heaving and sprouting weeds all over. 

Consider this: I used to run a painting company here in Ottawa and most of our exterior work came from door-to-door canvassing in the summer. And when I was making my rounds, I would often choose which houses to visit and which to skip based on certain criteria. The most common of these? The appearance of their driveway. I figured, 'If they can't be bothered to maintain their asphalt, they're not going to pay me to maintain the rest of their home either.'

In other words, if you want canvassers to skip your home when making their rounds, then leaving your driveway to rot can be a great strategy. But if you don't want the first impression people have your home to be 'I guess they're too cheap to maintain anything they own', then you might give that strategy a second thought.

Now, to be clear, I'm not saying you should drop three grand to rip out the existing driveway and repave it. Usually that isn't necessary (although if you've really let it go, that may be the only option...and it still may be worth it.)

But if you have some cracking along the lane and sinking up by the garage (the two most common types of asphalt damage), you can have a reputable contractor repair these with hot asphalt for around $400 (that's here in Ottawa, your mileage may vary elsewhere.)

For that price, they should build a ramp that comes out 2.5-3 feet and re-adheres the asphalt to the concrete of the garage, they should fill the cracks with black concrete and they should coat the drive with liquid asphalt.

Stay away from contractors who pitch acrylic seals - they are cheaper but they're bad for your asphalt (they trap moisture in and don't allow the masonry to breathe) and many prospective homeowners will be turned off by the shiny, unnatural appearance, too. Same goes for rubberized crack-fillers and Cold Patch ramps. They look bad and won't last.

Along the same lines, resist the temptation to do-it-yourself, because almost all the DIY products for driveways are non-asphalt based. As a rule of thumb, you should always use asphalt to repair asphalt (It makes sense when you think about it, right?)

Now, will your driveway look as good as new once you've had this procedure done? No.

But it will look naturally black (from the liquid asphalt) and properly maintained. It will also show prospective buyers right off the bat that you've been committed to maintaining the home. 

#2) Lush Up the Lawn

There is nothing that will turn off a first-time visitor to your home more than a lawn full of dandelions, overgrown grass, or no grass at all. My so-simple-it's-stupid first piece of advice on that point is this: mow and weed your lawn regularly, but be careful not to kill the good stuff.

To elaborate, the best ways to maintain a lush, green lawn are to avoid pesticides, take it easy on the fertilizer, set your mower to the highest setting, and water thoroughly but infrequently.

• Pesticides only kill the organisms that help aerate your lawn naturally, like earthworms, along with the bugs they're meant to eliminate.
• If you use too much fertilizer, the nitrogen will burn your grass.
• Setting your mower to the highest setting ensures that you don't accidentally kill your grass by removing too much of the blade at once.
• And finally, watering for an hour every week is better than a couple minutes every day, because the former practice soaks the plant down to its roots where it really needs the moisture.

Some more great tips for maintaining a healthy lawn of green grass can be found here, here and here.

I wouldn't recommend throwing a lot of money into landscaping the yard if you are planning to sell your home. Sure, expertly placed paving stones and beautiful gardens will impress the eye, but they might also turn off home buyers with children, who would rather have open expanses of lawn than interlock-woven paths and statuesque fountains.

If you've a green thumb and can add some colourful flowers to a garden in front, all the better. But aside from that, just focus on keeping your lawn looking healthy and, along with the newly doctored driveway, your front yard will truly beckon prospective home-buyers in.


3) Fix Up the Facade

Of course, while a luxurious lawn and smooth driveway will certainly make a good impression on your visitors, that will hardly matter if the outside of the house itself looks run-down!

With the trend towards platicizing home exteriors, this tip won't apply to many of you whose windows and siding are vinyl and whose door and shutters are metal. (ie: No paintable surfaces.)

But if you do have paintable surfaces on the exterior of your home (wooden windows, shutters, siding, garage doors, porches, etc.), you will find it well worth it to have them scraped down and re-coated before putting your home on the market.

And that's just from an appearance-of-maintenance perspective. Another thing to consider is whether the colours of your trim and doors are attractively neutral. 

You might think that your ruby red garage door and matching window trim is de rigeur... Some of your prospective buyers may not.

Window trim should be restored to white, and garage doors painted in a neutral shade that complements the colour of the siding. 

A word about front doors, though: Don't paint them unless you absolutely have to. Yes, I know I just insulted your ruby red motif, and if you've gone and painted your door to match, then by all means, paint it neutral too. But if your door has never been painted before, then don't mess with it.

The reason? Heavy metal doors like those are spray-painted in pristine factory conditions, then baked to set in an oven. No painter, no matter how careful, can re-create that look with a roller and brush (yourself included.) In my experience, homeowners were never quite pleased with the end result when they hired me to repaint metal doors, because the finish just never looked as smooth.


Working this front-yard trifecta of driveway, lawn and facade into shape will definitely help you ratchet up your curb appeal. Of course, the inside of your home will have to deliver on the promises the exterior has now made, but that's a topic for the next installment of Sell That House. 

Now the only thing you may be wondering is ... Why should you spend your hard-earned cash prettying up a home that you're just trying to get rid of anyway? Well, while I can appreciate your hesitation to do so, I can assure you (and so, too will any Real Estate Agent worth their salt) that improving the look of your home from the street is always a good investment. Just think of all the additional bids you will attract, just because people weren't turned off by your home's ruddy facade or weedy driveway. 

If you do nothing else to your home before selling, do these three things, because I am confident you will see a huge return on your investment when your house sells quickly and without a fuss.

Do you have any other questions that I didn't quite answer here? Don't be shy- let me know in the comments and I'll be happy to help. Or perhaps you have a suggestion for our readers on how to increase curb appeal- I'd be happy to hear it in the comments as well.