What It Takes To Get Your House Sold- Part 2: The Outside
By Diane Dalton-The Andersen Team Marketing & Transaction Manager
 
When it comes to selling their homes, many people give little thought to the appearance of the outside- and this is especially true for the landscaping.
 
It is true that perspective buyers can easily be turned off by an “ugly” home exterior. It doesn’t matter if the inside of the home is immaculate and has top notch features that any buyer would love.   If buyers drive up to a house for sale, and are turned off by the outside of the house, it is hard to get them to take the next step and view the inside. This is especially true of an Open House, where there is no real estate agent in the car to encourage the buyers to actually go inside the home. Buyers assume that if the gutters are falling off the home, the shutters are chipped and in need of painting, and they are not really sure where the front door is for all the bushes, that the inside will look equally unappealing.
 
The first step to getting your house sold when looking at the outside is to walk around the house and make note of anything on the house itself – and the garage if there is one- that needs repair or painting (or both). Like the inside, either do this work yourself or hire someone to do it for you. Drive around the neighborhood and look at the other houses in the area. Does the color of your home fit in with those around it? Is it appealing to a wide range of perspective buyers? When my daughter was 4, we asked her what she wanted in a new home. Her answer was that she wanted to live in a “pink house”. (Thankfully, she was appeased by a pink bedroom!) There are not too many buyers who want to live in a bright, pink house. Most buyers are turned off by bright exterior colors (and this can be especially tricky with the color yellow), or very dark (black, brown) colors on the body of a house. These are fine on the trim or shutters, but really make the house look kind of dreary when the whole house is painted these colors.
 
Next examine the walkways and patios around the home. If they are falling apart or crumbling, in addition to be unattractive, they can be dangerous. If someone trips on the walkway going up to the house, they are not going to have a favorable first impression. Finally, look at the landscaping around your home. Is it so overgrown that you can hardly see the house? Overgrown bushes can also make the inside of a home dark- a turn off to prospective buyers. Or is the reverse true- there is little or no landscaping and you can see the foundation of the house and things just look drab from the street? Is the lawn cut and weed free? It is important to make sure that the lawn is cut and the dandelions are gone all throughout the house selling process.
 
The following articles contain useful landscaping information on what to do to spruce up your home on the outside. There are also some interesting points on what buyers are looking for in a yard today. Did you know that landscaping- like interior decorating- can go out of style? This was news to me but makes sense considering you don’t see many “old style” bushes anymore in front of new construction or if a home has new landscaping. It is interesting to note that you can do too much when it comes to landscaping- which can also scare buyers away. Even though extensive gardens are beautiful to look at, a prospective buyer not only sees the beauty, but also all the time and/ or money it will take to keep such gardens looking good.  
 
So don’t forget the outside of your home before putting your home on the market. It can make or break a deal just as quickly as the inside of your home!
 
 
Don’t Let Your Yard Sabotage Your Home Sale
 
Selling Houses: Psychological Effects of Landscaping