Ahh Spring! That beautiful time after a typical Saskatchewan winter, when we’re all excited to get outside into the sunshine (flip flops in the snow anyone) and spruce up our yards. It’s also the busiest time of the year for home sales. Whether you’re looking to sell your home or not, curb appeal is a big deal!
While there are plenty of things you can do to make the exterior of your house look like it belongs in HGTV Magazine, you may also be feeling like your piggy bank is looking awfully hungry this year. Fear not! There is nothing we like more at 2% Realty Platinum than helping people save money on their homes!
That’s why we’ve put together this list of 15 free and budget-friendly ways to improve your home’s curb appeal and increase its market value.
First Impressions Matter (A Lot)
We basically live in a time when our most important life decisions are determined by swiping left or right. Not to be dramatic, but it’s true! And the fact that it is true is why you need to understand the importance of curb appeal.
Real estate is like dating; first impressions matter a lot! And curb appeal is the profile picture on which a potential buyer decides which way to swipe. Not focusing on the curb appeal of your house would be the equivalent of using that awful photo from 8 years ago, with the awkward smile and a bad haircut (no? just us then) as your dating app profile picture.
Whoa, that suddenly feels like a lot of pressure for some grass and a couple of shrubs, doesn’t it?
In all seriousness, it really is that important. Especially when you want to sell. What we see all the time is that homeowners are so concerned (understandably) about the inside of their house, they forget to make the exterior a priority. We’re not going to let you make the same mistake!
Let’s Start with Free – Curb Appeal that Doesn’t Cost Extra
Love Your Lawn
If it looks like the grass is greener on the other side, it’s probably because they water theirs 😉 And you should too! Having green, freshly mowed grass without weeds offers an instant facelift to your property.
Trim Your Trees
Trees should be a feature of your curb appeal, but in order for this to be the case, they need to be nicely trimmed and shaped. Because they grow so slowly, it’s easy to miss the fact that they’ve gotten a little unruly. The same is true for hedges.
Clean Up the Edges
This is one of the simplest (albeit possibly most annoying) free tasks. But it makes a substantial difference giving it a high return on your investment.
Overgrowth around the edges of your lawn, porch steps, and in between bricks and paving stones gives the instant impression that a property is old and rundown. It’s subtle and most people wouldn’t be able to quite put their finger on what it is, but it gives off a vibe that we want to avoid.
Cleaning up the edges makes the yard look neat, clean, and polished.
Take Down Your Christmas Lights
Not all Christmas lights can be taken down, but it helps to improve your curb appeal if you can. Put away any other holiday decor that is out of season as well. Santa likes summer vacation too.
Clean the Gutters
Cleaning your gutters is not only good for your home to ensure water is able to flow away from your roof, it also helps keep your house looking clean and well maintained.
Budget-Friendly Ways to Improve Curb Appeal
Paint Your Front Door
Painting your front door is a very cost effective way to improve the look of the exterior of your home. You can even get creative here and go with a unique and modern colour, or stick to something more neutral. Either way, it will give your door a refreshed look.
Does your door have a lot of dents? If you’re a handy kind of person you can use a filler just like you would for drywall to repair the door instead of having the significant expense of replacing it. Your favorite local hardware store will have what you need.
Pressure Wash Your Siding
This could also be free if you have a hose with good water pressure or your own pressure washer. If not, it’s fairly inexpensive to rent a pressure washer from your local rental shop. Don’t forget to do your driveway too!
Pro Tip: Use a wide angle nozzle to wash your siding and driveway. It helps to avoid lines when the water dries and makes for a more even looking clean.
Add Seasonal and Low Maintenance Plants
Flower pots can be a more expensive addition depending on what you choose and where you get them from. They can also be extremely budget-friendly if you look for them at garage sales and second-hand stores. There’s also the option to cut in a garden if you prefer.
When filling pots or flower beds with seasonal flowers, be sure to ask at your garden centre which plants suit your space (sun or shade) and maintenance preferences. Deadheading petunias is the serious relationship you may not be looking for this summer!
Flowers are typically easier to find on sale at the beginning and end of the season. You’ll also have a lot more choice the earlier you get them. If you’re willing to do the work of bringing in your pots each night until there’s no risk of frost, you can make your budget go a long way.
Paint Your Garage Door
Just like painting your front door can have a huge impact on your curb appeal, so can painting your garage door! Depending on your door, you can often get away with as little as one gallon of paint for a 2-car garage door.
Include Seasonal Décor
Seasonal decor is a fun and easy way to bring personality and creativity to the exterior of your home. Try using a bird feeder, bistro set on a front porch, wreath, decorative lights, or door mat.
You’ll usually find the best sales for outdoor decor very early and late in the season.
Reseed Your Lawn
Reseeding your lawn is a great way to give it a refresh. If you’re not a big fan of mowing grass, or you have hard to grow areas, check out ground cover options like clover. They offer the same bright green colour, with way less maintenance and they don’t require nearly as much watering.
Gravel is another option that is becoming more popular as a replacement for grass. It’s extremely maintenance friendly, but the downside is that it’s rarely a budget-friendly option.
If you have a large space to fill with dirt, grass seed, mulch, gravel etc. buying in bulk and having it delivered can also be a way to reduce your costs. Places like Saskatoon Landscape & Garden Center are great for bulk orders.
Fence Around Garbage Bins and A/C Units
This can be done with wooden fencing or you can get creative with different shrubs or bushes. Just remember to leave access for maintenance and meter reads.
Freshen Up Gravel
Sometimes gravel just needs to be “fluffed up” with a rake and in that case, this task could be listed under our free section. Other times you’ll need to add another layer of new gravel to spruce it up.
Update Your Exterior Light Fixtures
We often forget about our exterior light fixtures, but just like our interior lights, after a while they start
to look dated. This can be an inexpensive upgrade, especially because most houses only have 2 or 3 exterior lights.
Don’t forget to watch for sales and check the clearance section at your nearby home centre.
Add or Update a Mailbox
Adding a mailbox can bring an element of charm to your curb appeal. You can also repaint the one you already have to give it a fresh look.
Believe it or not, Canada Post has mailbox rules for rural mailboxes. If that applies to you, you can check out the rural mailbox guidelines here.
Show Me the Money! Curb Appeal and Home Value
Now, you might be wondering how you can increase the monetary value of a property without spending money, and that’s a great question. Remember how we said curb appeal is to home sales what your profile picture is to a dating app? Let’s go back to that dating analogy for a minute.
When you’re perusing a dating app, looking at all of your potential matches, every time you see a new picture, you’re subconsciously making assumptions about the candidate.
Those subconscious assumptions are the only thing you have that convince you to take the next step with them. It’s how you decide to read the bio on their profile, send a message to chat, or perhaps even meet up for a date.
That person could literally be your soulmate (if you believe in that kind of thing), and their profile picture and the way you swipe, determine the fate of your relationship. For example, if the profile picture you’re looking at is of someone who has nice hair and is wearing expensive, brand-name clothing, it wouldn’t be difficult for you to assume they have a good-paying job and make a lot of money. Our assumptions might be shallow, stereotypical, and even entirely incorrect, but that’s not the point.
The point is that people assume things based on their impression of the outside. When a buyer sees the curb appeal of a property, their first impression is one on the spectrum of awful to amazing. And what is very important to understand is that they inevitably carry that assumption with them inside the house.
If your yard is immaculate people automatically assume the inside is the same. The assumption works the same way if the yard is a disaster. Perceived value and actual value come from things like how the home has been maintained, and the amount of work that will need to be done.
When nothing needs to be done, and people believe the house has been well cared for, the value increases. By improving your curb appeal you’ve put what we call ‘sweat equity’ into the home. You’ve done the work which subsequently increases the value.
At the end of the day curb appeal is really just about making sure your property has the best possible profile picture. With a little bit of time and effort, before you know it, potential buyers will be swiping to match with you and lining up to offer on your home!
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