If you’re preparing your home for sale, the first thing you’ll notice is that there are dozens of different things you may do to make it appear more appealing to the eye. From simple things like painting and cleaning to more involved jobs like landscaping and adding new features, there are a lot of ways you can create curb appeal.
Curb appeal is a way of auctioning off your home to bidders vicariously. It is essential to take the proper amount of time when prepping the exterior and interior of your home when you are looking to sell. If you are on a budget, do not fret, there are ways to succeed with your curb appeal if you want to save some cash for your next home design adventure. We come up with inexpensive ways to prepare your home for sale in order to make the most favourable impression on prospective purchasers.
Creating Curb Appeal On A Budget
Here’s what many Real Estate Agents will tell you!
- Most real estate agents will agree that the easiest way to add value to your house before selling is to declutter your house, and clean it up.
- Now, what’s the fastest, cost-efficient way to clean and freshen up your house and adds curb appeal? Without a doubt, house painting is the quickest way to add a huge bang for your buck.
- Furthermore, by home painting, you will be forced to declutter and throw out the junk that you have been accumulating over the years as well.
- Hence, you are accomplishing both tasks that the real estate agents will ask you to do prior to putting your home for sale on the market.
In as little as a few days you can brighten up your house with a new coat of paint. It is the most cost-effective way to update your house and make it presentable to buyers. When the house is clean and the walls are freshly painted, your home buyers will immediately feel the house is ready to be moved into.
How Can I Make the Outside of My House Look Better?
The outside of your house is one of the most important factors for curb appeal. If you are on a budget, there are everyday tasks that seem like a drag but I promise, if you do these chores not only will your significant other be happy, but if your house was an animate object, it would cry tears of joy.
- Mow your lawn. You said you would do it last week but there is no better time than the present. You don’t want potential buyers to feel as though they are trudging through the amazon forest.
- Add some greenery. Potted plants are an affordable accessory that will make the outside of your house look more scenic and fresh.
- Wash your windows! The windows are the eyes to your exterior’s soul, get that old bottle of Windex from your laundry room and start spraying.
- Add some landscape lighting. Not only will this help you from tripping over something during the night, but it allows potential buyers to see your exterior at night in a different light ( no pun intended).
- Buy a front door rug. These accessories can be very cheap depending on where you buy them from and makes your home feel more wholesome and inviting to visitors.
- Get a front door wreath. No matter the season, these wreaths will always be in style. These can be seen as trendy sunglasses for our faces, our front doors require the same protection while looking cool at the same time.
- Remove any residue from the gutters. This often gets overlooked but gutters play a huge role in curb appeal. You don’t want any dirty leaves falling on potential buyers’ heads now, do we?
- Bring out your inner Picasso and add some outdoor art. One or two pieces should do the trick, you do not want the outside of your home to look like the Royal Ontario Museum.
How Do You Create A Budget Curb Appeal?
It is important to note that nothing in life worth it comes free. Budgeting for curb appeal is necessary for a lot of homeowners but you will have to spend money in order to make money in this scenario. Here a few ways to create a budgeted curb appeal that will stop you from breaking your childhood piggy bank.
- Buy new house numbers. Your home address is your house’s identity, this will also need to be refined. The good news for you is that replacing house numbers can be extremely inexpensive. These numbers can start from as low as $2-3 per number.
- Add some outdoor furniture to your front porch. If you have any old pieces of furniture tucked away in your garage, bring them out! The old furniture is better than none. If you do not have any, look at second-hand sellers online to find great deals.
- Paint your front door. I know I already mentioned this but seriously, this is one of the most crucial features of your home’s curb appeal and it is extremely cheap! Exterior paint can start as low as $30. This is a must-do for curb appeal, budgeting or not.
Here Are Some Tips On How to Paint Your House and Improve Your Curb Appeal
- #Tip 1
You should avoid dark walls since they rob your room of light. They also make your room appear smaller. Having it look bright and open are the keys elements appealing to a new buyer and really improves your house curb appeal.
- #Tip 2
Parents sometimes get very creative with their choice of paint colours and borders for the children’s rooms. These rooms can be intrusive and sometimes even offensive to some soon-to-be buyers. In fact, the more specific you are, make things worse are. Try to keep things as neutral and generic as possible.
- #Tip 3
As much as wallpaper may have seemed appealing to you at one time, it’s seen as a big turn-off to most home buyers. Wallpaper is perceived as old, specific and sometimes even dirty. Besides a bad first impression, buyers see it as extra work they will have to do to take it down.
- #Tip 4
If you have smokers in the house or a lot of strong odours from smoke, pets, or cooking, then paint your ceilings. If your house is old and has never been painted in a while, or if you have a heavy smoker in the house, chances are that the ceilings are yellowed. To test this, take a piece of white paper and put it against the ceiling. The colour contrast may actually disgust you! Painting the ceilings will make things more bright, open, and clean to buyers.
Color Your Home For Curb Appeal
- For colour selection, it’s a good idea to paint your halls, living room, dining room, and family room the same colour. It will flow better and makes your house seem larger. Pick a warm tone such as cream, or beige with some mild earth tones on it.
- A common colour I’ve used from Benjamin Moore is CC110 Muslin for the walls and CC40 Cloud White for the trim and doors. These colours will go well with most furniture. This is your primary colour for the main areas.
- Other colours variations are okay but try to pick different shades from those neutral colours you used in the main areas. And again, be careful to not pick a colour that’s too dark as it will close in the room and make it look like a dungeon and will hurt your home curb appeal.
- No budget to paint the entire house? No problem, think about inexpensive curb appeal projects, but first impressions count. So start with painting the hallways first. Then in order, paint the kitchen, bathrooms, family, living, and dining next. The last priority, is the bedrooms, laundry room, basement, and closets.
- Paint your ceiling white. This will brighten any room. You can rent a power paint sprayer from a tool rental shop. It’s much quicker than a roller and it paints your ceiling more consistently.
Summary of Creating Curb Appeal On A Budget
I hope my tips on creating a curb appeal for selling a house have helped you stage your house for selling. If you aren’t a house painting expert, don’t hesitate to email us at Brian@HomePaintersToronto.com for a free curb appeal improvement consultation, curb appeal ideas and house painting quote. Your house will look great and you should be able to sell it for more money, thus easily recouping the added expense.
At Home Painters Toronto we won’t just paint your house. We will also fix any wall damages, patch any major holes, drywall repair or replace where needed. We are a full-service painting contractor in Toronto and GTA and will be happy to help you, improve your house’s curb appeal and stage your house ready to be sold for future home buyers.
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