Note to Sellers: Maximize Your Curb Appeal

With worries over property values falling, and buyers more cautious than ever in light of shockingly high mortgage costs, greater attention might now be focused on a certain overlooked aspect of selling a home:

Curb appeal.

Most homeowners lavish attention on the interior, thinking that prospective home buyers will warm instantly to their neutral colors, updated appliances, immaculate closets and floors.

But if the outside looks so-so, buyers and their real estate agents may turn up their noses and move on to the next property - especially in this real estate market. Well cared for and tasteful interiors are a moot point if no one likes the look of it.

“If we lose them at the curb, they’ll [buyers] never come inside,” agent David Montz said. “If the buyer already has a negative feeling, it will  affect how they feel about the house.”

And in many cities where time-on-market can drag on for more than 90 days - a fact of life in the California housing market and other parts of the U.S. for about a year now - homeowners can actually gain an advantage by paying close attention to the external factors buyers may find pleasing.

Depending on the condition of your home, you may spend from a few hundred dollars to several thousands to bring your exterior up to date. Which may seem like a lot, but to the discerning mortgage loan applicant, it can be the difference between a buyer walking in or driving right on by.

Routine improvements you can perform quickly and cheaply include a fresh coat of paint to siding and doors, power washing the exterior or filling the cracks in the driveway and walks. You can continue your “outdoor” home staging by refreshing the landscape as well.

Some homes might need significant investment to overcome visual eyesores that could give buyers cold feet. New windows, siding, and tuck pointing to brickwork can be costly but effective. Such repairs may require a home improvement loan, but if you get the home sold, that’s money well spent.

Don’t overlook your roof, either. The roof accounts for 40-60 percent of the exterior view of your home, and buckled, warped, cracked or otherwise damaged shingles are immediate turnoffs for buyers.

“Buyers will perceive there’s something different about the house,” said Whatley Bush of MonierLifetile, an Atlanta maker of faux wood shingles, slate and tiles made of concrete.

Fixing your roof is costly. But those costs are recoverable.

According to the Value of Housing Characteristics study conducted by the National Association of Realtors, the appealing look of a slate or cedar shake roof can add more than 25 percent to the selling price of a home.

After years of giving short shrift to exteriors, home sellers in the super-competitive sales market in suburban Chicago have been jolted to the fact the outside of a home is important.

Home improvement contractor Robert McDowell of McDowell Exterior Builders in St. Charles, Ill., says that in order to lure Illinois mortgage applicants, home sellers need to “freshen up” the exterior and make it “current with today’s styles.”

“My guess is the majority puts more energy into the interior. But people have to have both a marketable interior and a exterior in today’s selling environment. You can’t get someone through the front door if they don’t like the outside of your house,” McDowell said.

SOURCE: Orlando Sentinel