The Definition Of Curb Appeal
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”
Will Rogers
The impression a visitor gets upon first seeing the façade, landscape and entrance to your home sets an important tone. In my own experience when doing landscaping consults for clients a positive impression when entering the home can compensate for minor interior issues such as smaller rooms or dated fixtures. Similarly, the negative impression of poor curb appeal can negate the value and impact of an updated bathroom or kitchen.
Charlie Nardozzi, senior horticulturist with the National Gardening Association says “having a beautiful front yard landscape could make the difference between breaking even on your home and making some money at the time of sale.”
Curb Appeal Can Increase The Value Of Your Home
Greater Toronto Area real estate trends have moderated from the previous boom market. In a buyer’s market the right first impression may be the difference in whether you sell your home at all. Here are the most important changes you can make to increase the curb appeal of your property.
–Consistency
This is the overriding principle that will inform all of the following suggestions to improve the curb appeal of the home. Every change must be in keeping with both the style and scale of the home.
A Japanese Zen garden is the wrong choice for the front yard landscape of a Victorian era home but may be the right choice for a modern bungalow.
–Repair Obvious Defects
Water damage, foundation cracks, broken hardware or a rotting front porch rail must be attended to. Any improvement to the overall curb appeal will be immediately overshadowed by an obvious deficiency such as a roof in need of new shingles.
–Landscape
Landscaping is a proven way to increase your home’s value immediately and in the future. People should reconsider when they neglect their yards to focus on renovating kitchens and bathrooms. A Clemson University study found that homeowners get a 100 percent return or more on the money they put into landscaping. Landscaping alone can increase the value of your home by up to 12%.
Choose a style and make plant choices that are in keeping with the architecture of the home. As mentioned, a neat, controlled and orderly landscape with a simple colour scheme works best with a contemporary home.
Walkways should be clean lined and geometric to mimic the lines of the home. On the opposite end of the spectrum a very traditional Victorian home may best be complimented by an English style garden.
Colorful and varied blooms bordering a curved random flagstone walkway correspond to gingerbread cornices or turned colonial porch posts. The degree of order and amount of colour in the landscape will vary with the unique characteristics of the home.
Homeowners with bare lots should start landscaping immediately because it usually takes 5 to 7 years for plants to mature. Also, begin regular fertilizer treatments on your lawn; you want potential buyers to see a lush carpet, not a patchwork quilt.
Plant one or two large trees depending on the size of the property. Large trees lend a stately effect to a property. Neighbourhoods with mature tree-lined streets command higher home values.
Several recent nationwide surveys by the University of Washington and the National Gardening Association show that mature trees in a well-landscaped yard can increase the value of a house by 7 to 19 percent.
Choose the right tree. Evergreens are often the wrong choice because, when mature, they effectively hide the home completely from view and block natural light from the house.
Although any large tree will create shade, choosing a thin leafed open branched species is my preference for a mature front yard tree. For example, a honey locust allows a view of the house through the open branch structure and smaller wispy leaves while still providing shade and a sense of seclusion.
One of the challenges that larger trees present is maintaining lawn under the tree’s canopy. One way to deal with these shade areas is to install a surround of river stone or mulch at the base of the tree; a more attractive option is a shade plant garden.
Curb Appeal Ideas
Curb appeal ideas can improve the appearance of your home while adding substantial value to the sale price.
–Lighting
Add soffit lighting. The evening appearance of the home itself is often neglected. The warm wash of recessed soffit lighting on the façade of the home always has a pleasing effect.
Update wall fixtures. Again, follow the principle of consistency. If your home is contemporary don’t choose coach lights.
Add landscape lighting. Landscape lighting will highlight the attractive features of your landscape and house, which increases the appeal of your property. Path lighting along walkways and in gardens as well as up and down lighting on larger trees and shrubs creates a warm and inviting ambience.
The illuminated larger trees and the shadows they cast from directional lighting all serve to enhance from the street the evening visual appeal of the home. The visual impact of a well-appointed and maintained landscape garden is thus extended beyond daytime hours.
–Paint
Probably the most cost effective expenditure. A fresh coat of paint to the exterior of the home is relatively inexpensive and has an immediate and very positive impact on the curb appeal of the home. Paint colors should be monochrome and soft to accentuate the design of the home.
–Clean And Pressure Wash
Power wash the driveway and walkways to freshen the stone and remove weeds from joints. Similarly a wash of the windows and siding results in a fresh, bright look.
–Get Professional Help
Homeowners who decide to take on the outdoor work themselves should at the very least seek some professional advice. In the case of landscaping, planting the wrong plant in the wrong location can result in growth that covers windows of the home or trees with surface riding roots that buckle a driveway.
Do-it-yourself television programs also convince many that any major repair is within one’s capability. Although the work you do may be adequate it will likely not have the clean, ‘finished’ appearance that only a professional can consistently provide. Whatever money you save may be negated by an inferior presentation.
