As we move into warmer spring months, the property market also tends to heat up. March, April and May are some of the busiest months in the housing market, so it pays to know how to increase kerb appeal and the saleability of your home, ensuring it stands out from the rest.
What is Kerb Appeal?
The term kerb appeal refers to the desirability and attractiveness of your home’s exterior. From an enticing front door and maintained front garden, clear driveway and considered exterior colour, enhanced kerb appeal can set the tone for what’s to come, which can be a welcoming prospect for visitors and homebuyers.
How Can Kerb Appeal Improve Saleability
Raising your property’s kerb appeal can increase the saleability of your home without breaking the budget with big home investments. According to Evolution Money, research reveals that most people (93%) pass judgement on a property based purely on how it looks from the outside. The exterior appearance of a home has the power to affect its value, too, with three in ten (30%) happy to pay an extra £5,000 or more for a home with a well-maintained exterior.
Here are five worthwhile projects to help you boost kerb appeal and increase the saleability of your home.
Front Door Design is Key
If you’re keen to update your home and potentially increase its value, then investing in a new front door is a great place to start.
Your property’s facade is an area pivotal in creating a great first impression and speaks volumes for what’s to come on the inside. In terms of designing a front door, the door must complement the style of the house and era it was built in. Our designers have years of research and experience behind them, which enables them to create a beautiful first impression while still maintaining the integrity of your home’s character.
A new front door can also significantly impact whether you feel safe and secure within your home. So, investing in the security of your property will not only give you peace of mind, it will further increase its appeal to potential buyers in the future.
Considered Colour
Peeling paint is never a good look, whether it’s weathered rendering, an old front door or blistered window sills. A little TLC can work wonders. If you have a period property, regular maintenance can preserve and protect door woodwork and features, potentially saving you from more expensive repairs in the future.
The right colour on a luxury front door can add thousands to the value of your home. SellHouseFast.uk explored what factors can contribute to a shift in market value. Their analysis of over 1000 properties listed on Zoopla in the UK found that blue front doors can add up to £4,000 to your home’s value, red can add £1800, black £1000 and green £500.
Whether you choose a timeless neutral, daring bright or classic black, we’ve created a colour palette that stays true to period styles and gives you scope to add your personal touch. Read our guide here if you’d like to learn more about choosing the right colour for your property.
Keep and Restore Original Features
Buyers tend to pay more for homes with period features. So, if something is broken or looking a little worse for wear, don’t live with it, get it fixed. It’s easy to ignore disrepair when it’s outside, but there’ll be plenty of people passing your home thinking you just don’t care. Bring out character in the property by sprucing up architraves, porches, sash windows and stained glass.
Fixing your doorbell, broken post boxes, or hardware presents a well-maintained exterior. If your home is missing door numbers or a nameplate, replace them, saving visitors and delivery people a lot of time if they’re trying to find your address. It’s the little things that can stand out to prospective buyers.
Spruce up Your Front Garden
Whether it’s sweeping away dead leaves, pulling up weeds or making sure your front lawn or pathway is free from rubbish, nothing says ‘I care’ more than a tidy, well-cared-for garden.
Give garden gates and fence panels a tidy up with a lick of paint or wood varnish. Protecting your boundaries in this way can prolong their lifespan and help save you money – as well as smartening up your outlook. If you have hedges, make sure they are well-trimmed and not overgrowing onto public pathways.
Plants play a vital role in adding a little extra life to the front of your home. However, remember they grow upwards and outwards, so consider window heights and borders before you commit to putting anything in the ground. Evergreens are perfect if you want to avoid work in the winter months. Another way to entice visitors to your front door is through thoughtful planting along borders. Daphnes or Lavender are perfect near doorways or along borders where you can enjoy their fragrant scent and beautiful blooms in the summer.
It’s easy for gardens to become overgrown quickly, so maintaining your front garden regularly will save you more time down the line.
Driveway Maintenance
Many households own a car, so you’ll have the edge on your neighbours if you can offer a parking space. Unused patches of the front garden can be transformed into parking spaces by removing the garden wall and dropping the kerb. While you may need permission from your local authority to do this, it is worth applying if parking spaces are at a premium in your area. Similarly, neat and tidy driveways free from oily patches and weeds can transform the look of a home’s exterior.
Even if you’re not thinking of selling your house in the immediate future, it’s also worth knowing how to add value to your home by investing in sustainable upgrades. Ensuring your home has a green energy efficiency rating (EPC) not only benefits you in the short term but will help to increase the saleability of your home in the future.
According to Knight Frank, buildings account for around 40% of global carbon emissions, so choosing to live sustainably and making our homes more energy-efficient – whether by upgrading outdated heating systems or investing in solar panels – is a major step forward.
These are just a few ideas to demonstrate how a little investment now can add real value to your home in the future. Request our free brochure today for more inspiration on adding kerb appeal to your home.
