8 ways to improve your home’s street appeal

When preparing to sell a home one of the best ways to draw in potential buyers is to enhance the way your home looks from the street.

With the advent of new technology allowing people to search for real estate online anytime anywhere, creating street appeal and a house that photographs well has never been more important in selling property. Online listings typically show a single thumbnail picture (usually a shot taken from the front) so if your street appeal isn’t up to scratch people won’t bother clicking on your listing and keep searching elsewhere.

It also turns out the old saying ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ doesn’t apply when it comes to potential buyers inspecting a property. When viewing a place most homebuyers have already made up their minds before reaching the front door, on average deciding if they’re interested within the first 30 to 60 seconds of seeing the home.

Making a great first impression both online and in person is vital when selling your house. Here are eight tips to help enhance your street appeal.

How can I maximise my house’s street appeal?

1. A welcoming front door

Aim to make the entry to your home both inviting and visually appealing to buyers. People remember well-maintained and distinctive front doors. Your front door should reflect the type of house you have waiting beyond and beckon buyers in.

Adding charming features like a glossy and cheerful coloured coat of paint, a shiny new doorknob or knocker can make the plainest of front doors sing.

Hint: Buyers hate see-through glass front doors, so if you have one consider adding frosting or replacing it with a door with interesting or unusual details to instantly add character to your façade.

56 Westgarth Street, Fitzroy, VIC

2. Bold signage

For practical and visually appealing reasons your house should clearly display your street number in a big and bold way. Use the font and presentation of the number to highlight the design and style of your house. For instance, a large modern font would be suitable for a contemporary and sleek home while aged copper numbers would suit a more edgy rustic-style home.

3. Accessorise

Nice additions to showcase a front yard and entry include a fresh outdoor table setting with colourful cushions on the front veranda (if there is space), shiny porch light fittings, potted plants to frame the entrance, a plush doormat, outdoor art, fountains, sculptures and a distinctive mailbox.

3 Burr Hill Court, Berwick, VIC

4. Attractive pathways

If your driveway or path are looking a bit shabby cleaning, repairing and replacing any dirty or damaged areas is a great way to enhance street appeal.

Check your driveway for weeds, potholes, cracks and do everything you can to make it appear brand new. A fast and effective way to refresh tired concrete or dirty pavers is to hire a pressure cleaner from your local hardware store.

5. Greenery

Never underestimate the appeal of a tidy and well-maintained front garden. Upkeep of the front yard indicates to buyers whether or not the owners take pride in their house and shows if the property has been well taken care of.

Pruning shrubs, mowing the lawn and nature strip, raking up fallen leaves, removing broken branches and dead plants, weeding, planting seasonal blooming flowers and mulching flower beds can work wonders in making your front yard attractive to passers by and potential buyers.

If you don’t have a particularly green thumb an easy and cheap way to add some greenery to the front yard is to get low maintenance plants in pre-planted containers, hanging plants or window boxes from a nursery.

Address avail. on request, Ascot, QLD

6. Fancy fencing

Privacy and security is a key criterion for buyers. Make sure you paint or fix your front fence if necessary to add a clear boundary between the street and the home. Adding a low fence around the property also has the advantage of making the front yard seem longer than it is.

7. A fresh coat of paint

Painting the exterior of your home, including window frames, shutters and the garage door is one of the most inexpensive ways to add value to your property and enhance your street appeal significantly.

If you are unsure of what colour palette to go with check out any new builds happening in your area to see what colours are in vogue and suit your neighbourhood. Before painting the whole house make sure the colours complement other shades featured inside your home and in your landscaping.

You usually can’t go wrong with traditional and neutral colour schemes, like creamy-off white, light blue or blue-grey and classic white.

14 George Street, Cottesloe, WA

8. Clean up

Make sure your home’s exterior looks fresh and clean by washing off and cleaning out dust, cobwebs and grime from your roof, gutters, windows, fencing, garage door and front steps using a pressure cleaner.

Remove any clutter laying around in your front yard, such as your kid’s toys, bikes, dead plants and gardening equipment, as these items can be an eyesore and turn buyers off from wanting to take a look inside.

Hopefully these tips will up your home’s street appeal and help make a stellar first impression on homebuyers.

If you’re stuck for ideas on how to enhance your street appeal head over to Homely’s Stellar Street Appeal Pinterest board for more inspiration or first impressions matter: how to stage an entryway.

What can be a deal breaker for you when viewing a property from the street? Please share your thoughts below.

Happy house hunting!

From the Homely team