Blog: Improving The Kerb Appeal Of Your Home

First impressions count. Whether it’s tackling an overgrown front garden, replacing a tatty front door or changing rotting windows, if you’re looking to improve the kerb appeal of your home, these quick wins will give your house instant impact.

Try to look at the front of your house with a critical eye. It’s easy not to notice things you live with every day.

Start from the top. Clear any moss from your roof tiles, clean the windows and re-paint your porch if you have one. Then go from the ground up by mowing and edging the lawn, dusting off the strimmer and weeding the borders. In particular, make sure the approach from the roadside to the front door is tip-top. Power hose any paving slabs, tidy the driveway, re-paint your railings, sweep the steps and clear any cobwebs from your outside lights. If you usually keep your bins at the front of the house, think about storing them discreetly around the back. If you’re lacking greenery, position a couple of attractive plants in pots around the front door to complete the look.

If you’re enhancing your home’s kerb appeal with a successful house sale in mind, you might want to make even further improvements. According to research, it takes potential home buyers less than eight seconds to decide whether or not they like a home. A house that looks well-kept from the outside will not only draw people to it but will also give the impression it has been maintained throughout to a good standard. If the brickwork needs re-painting or re-pointing or if your doors and windows need replacing, a potential buyer may be put off buying the house knowing it requires work. Alternatively, they’ll use those kinds of things as bargaining tools to drive down the price.

If you’ve got wooden doors and window frames, you might be able to get away with painting them but if you want to add real value to your property, newly installed windows and doors are a sure-fire way to give your home a makeover. New doors and windows really can transform the whole look of a house and give it a new lease of life.

Don’t forget the door furniture. The house number or nameplate, along with the door knocker and door handle will be the first points of contact a potential buyer will have with the house and if they look scruffy or feel cheap, then your ideal first impression will fall at the first hurdle.

If potential buyers like the look of your home, they’re much more likely to forgive other things about the house that might not work perfectly for them. So what are you waiting for? Give your home the makeover it deserves.