In the real estate industry, the first impression always counts and the overall outside aspects of your house can either attract more buyers or drive them away. As a general rule for selling a property, more people that want to come inside will increase your chances of selling, which means that your final price can rise.

Is your house attracting more buyers or is it driving them away? If you want to answer this question you can do a simple test by walking across the street from your house and taking a good look at the overall aspect of your property. In order to make sure that you get a more objective opinion, ask someone else to take a look and get them to tell you their feedback.

In real estate, there is always room for improvement, and attracting buyers does not have to burn a hole through your budget.

Here are some useful recommendations which can improve your property appear more attractive to potential buyers without too much effort and with minimal costs. Additionally, when selling your property, you should also make sure that you avoid making these common mistakes that people make when selling a house.

More often than not, for buyers, the first impression will also be the last one, and a bad or mediocre first impression usually means that there will not be a second visit. If the first things a buyer sees when arriving at an open house is an unattractive façade, chipped paint, missing tiles or bricks, rotten wood, broken gutters, or broken furniture,they may already be thinking about leaving. In most cases, buyers are generally looking to spend as little as possible when moving into a new home. 

Dedicating a few days to tidying, cleaning, and refreshing your home, can go a long way according to increasing the value of your property.

If you want to increase your chances of selling the house quickly and for a good price make sure you take care of the following problems:

• Remove any garbage or trash;
• Clean the windows;
• Wash the steps and the porch;
• Remove any visible mold;
• Clean the garage door;
• Clean the driveway and the walkway;
• Repaint the walls and the fence if needed.
• Tend to your garden and remove the weeds and the dead plants.
• Remove any clutter;
• Make sure your gutters are fixed;
• If you own a pool, clean it and make it look functional.
• Assess your roof and check if it needs any repairs.

2. Create a warm and welcoming outdoors environment

When potential buyers are visiting a house they want to envision themselves living in it. Creating an atmosphere and environement that evokes positive feelings, will help spark interest for buyers.

One of the first aspects of your home that a buyer will notice will be the outdoors areas, be it a garden, a yard, a pool, or a barbeque area.

Ensure you make minor adjustments such as cleaning of furniture, making it more comfortable by adding nice decor and styling in order to make it appear more welcoming. It's important to take care of unpleasant things that can turn buyers off your home.

Here are some inexpensive additions that can have a powerful impact and help tip the scales in your favour:

• Add colourful pillows and blankets
• Put clean and beautiful tablecloths on all outdoors tables
• Remove any broken furniture
• Plant flowers or buy some outdoors plants that are easy to tend to
• Make sure that your lawn is mowed, that your trees are pruned, and that the weeds are removed
• Replace the old welcoming mat with a new one
• Remember to clean up and remove pets before an open house inspections
• Ensure walk ways leading to your house are well-lit and access is not restricted by anything
• Leave freshly baked goods and refreshments for open house inspections

2. Consider home staging or hiring a professional home stager

Although some people might argue that home staging is similar to creating an illusion, that hasn’t stopped this practice from becoming more and more popular. It can be difficult to make a better impression than your competitors as long as they are hiring experienced home stagers, and that is why it is an option to consider.

Hiring a professional can be quite expensive and might be financially overwhelming, especially when you are on a budget. So, instead of hiring someone, why not learn the ropes of home staging yourself. A little research and reading on the subject can go a long way, as staging your home can have quite a few advantages if done right.

Let’s assume that you have already taken care of all of the major issues and done all the necessary repairs. Now you are ready to take one more step towards having a successful house sale by adjusting some small details.

First, you must think like a professional home stager, and in order to do that, it is quite important to know exactly what one does. 

Here are some of the most common tricks that home stagers do in the pre-sale stages:

• Rearrange the furniture, or if the vendor has too much of it, they remove some in order for the rooms to look more spacious.
• Take into consideration the current season. Add decorations that are appropriate for certain holidays or for the current weather. If you are selling your home in the spring for example, using colour palettes throughout the house to reflect the season can add value and evoke emotion for buyers.
• Display textiles that have a rich aspect such as silk, velvet, wool, or satin, depending on the style of the house.
• Add uncommon and aesthetic elements on shelves or in certain places in order to direct the buyer's’ attention to that area.
• Bring in different items and objects that improve the overall aesthetic of your home such as mirrors, paintings, sculptures, flowers, lamps, carpets, rugs, ottomans, pillows, baskets, etc.

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