If your house is for sale the chances are good that your realtor discussed curb appeal with you when placing the listing. This basically means how a person reacts to your property when s/he is driving by your home. The driver will assess the curb appeal your home offers. This includes all of the aesthetic qualities. The driver might like the landscaping, the painting scheme, and the structural integrity. The curb appeal might be so great it will cause the driver to make an appointment to see the inside of the home.
If your lawn needs mowing or, if there are weeds spread throughout the lawn, growing wild in planters, along with bushes that have not been pruned for ages then these will all distract from the curb appeal. If the paint on your house is peeling in a number of places, if the screen on your window is hanging half on-half off, or if there are electrical wires dangling from the roof to the ground then chances are the curb appeal of your home is greatly diminished. A homeowner must assess these distractions and realize how cheaply and quickly these problems can be remedied. Once remedied the curb appeal on your own will increase a great deal.
The initial curb appeal starts the moment the buyer begins to look at your home. Usually the landscaping is the first thing to catch someones eye. This is why a regular mowing of the lawn should be done. The lawn should look green and healthy. Any bare spot or discolored area should be re-sodded. The edges should be trimmed. Weed control should be in place. If the homeowner is not interested in doing this work then s/he should hire a professional lawn care person to make certain the landscaping is always looking at its best.
Also, try to make certain you maintain a symmetrical look. This means the door and windows appear balanced. Two identical light fixtures should frame the front door. Shutters around the windows should seem even and well-maintained. If you have decorative pieces they should be tasteful and selective. The curb appeal your home offers can possibly get an offer on your home.
There are some home improvement projects you can do that will automatically increase the value of your home. If you are putting your home on the market within the immediate you will use a different strategy then if you plan to put it for sale in the future. For example, if you have a bedroom that is dull and showing wear and tare, you can inexpensively purchase some paint and change the color in a short period of time. The improvement will most likely impress any future buyer.
You might reconsider completely remodeling your kitchen, if you plan for an immediate listing, as this can be a very expensive project. It might be a project that you will not get a return for your money immediately. However, if you plan to keep your home for several years then the remodel will increase the value of your home and pay you rewards in the future.
One inexpensive way to improve the value of your home is by using wall paneling. You can panel most any room in your house. If you install quality, real wood paneling this will cause an immediate increased value of your home. Another home improvement is to add an indoor wall fountain. This adds to the rooms decor. The moment a future buyer walks into the room they will be impressed when their eyes focus on the fountain.
If you have a screen door at your point of entry that is showing signs of wear replacing it can be a great investment while also adding value. Instead of a prospective buyer first being discouraged by an ugly screen door they will be impressed with a new door. You should also check your front yard. You might want to add rock, a tree, some shrubs, all inexpensively, that will add some great curb appeal to your home. You should also remove any plant that is near death. This detracts from the landscape. Add some flowers around the front yard. You can put some inexpensive pots, full of bright, colorful plants, on your front porch. You might also consider adding some hanging plants. First impressions are very important when you want to sale your home.
Many people are considering making their next home more environmentally friendly; building green is bigger than ever, with the positive impact on the environment as well as the tax breaks you can get when you make your home more energy efficient. It can be an expensive undertaking, but well worth it in the long run. Read on to learn more about the many ways you can reduce the costs related to building green.
Prior to selecting a building site, be sure to consider the different aspects that you will need to use to make your building green; a site with good solar exposure will help you to harness the sun’s powers as a source of energy. Avoid any site that has large billboards obstructing the exposure. A site that has a steady wind can assist in such energy-saving options as passive heating or cooling through ventilation. It can also open up the possibility of building a wind turbine, which is also a power source. A site on a stream or a river can become a future micro-hydro power generator as well as a potential source for drinking water.
Building green also means considering such things as the orientation of the building; you should be sure that the windows will face north or south. In southern climates, it’s important to put larger windows on the northern side, to maximize the cooler light, and minimize southern windows and also shade that window from direct sunlight. Residents of northern climates should maximize the windows on the southern side of the house to maximize the solar gain during the cold winter months.
When the time comes to choose fixtures and appliances, be sure that you’ve chosen the fixtures that will help you conserve water. It doesn’t cost any more, and it’s a great way to save money as well as remain environmentally friendly. An open design to the layout cannot only reduce the costs of construction, but it can also increase the daylight and natural ventilation as well as minimize the use of materials. Green building can be expensive, but it is rewarding.
As the weather changes, it is a perfect time to do a little reorganizing around the house. There is nothing better than having a place for everything and everything in its place. Sometimes the only way to achieve this is to sort through everything you own and start getting rid of the things that you don’t use.
If you are really serious about putting your house in order, consider having a garage sale. You get rid of all your clutter and make a little money in the process. Why not get your friends involved and make it neighborhood event. By pooling your resources with your neighbors, you will attract many more people to your garage sale.
The first step in organizing a neighborhood cleanup day or garage sale is getting your neighbors on board and setting a date and time. Get out your calendar and go door to door to find out which of your neighbors want to join in the fun. This is also the time to discuss splitting the cost of advertisement. Some of your neighbors might not want to participate because they feel they don’t have enough to sell. Offer to let them set up a table at your house. When it comes to neighborhood garage sales, the more people that are involved, the bigger your sales and attendance will be.
Once you have set the date, make sure you are allowed to have a garage sale on that day. Some cities or neighborhood associations require a permit to host a garage sale.
Start advertising your neighborhood garage sale the week before it is scheduled. Take out an ad in the paper. Post an ad on Craig’s List. Put up notices on community bulletin boards in grocery stores, libraries, and even churches. Make sure to stress that this is a multi-family garage sale. Buyers love to be able to shop five garage sales at one stop.
The night before your sale, put up poster around the neighborhood. Make sure that you take them all down when the garage sale is over. Organizing a neighborhood cleanup day or garage sale is a fun way to bring people together, get rid of clutter, and make a little money.
