How visitors or potential buyers first view your property is called street appeal or in the case of a house that looks bad, lack of street appeal.

One of the top improvements I recommend to clients when they are preparing their property for sale is to upgrade the interior lights because light, bright spaces sell!  Using outdoor lighting to enhance the outdoor areas is another great way to create a dramatic look.  I always recommend that homeowners and real estate agents request that the photographer who is taking the photos that are going to be used for the Internet marketing campaign, take some photos at twilight with the front of the house all lit up.  It certainly makes the house look like magic and increases that important first impression by bucket loads.

I love using feature outdoor lighting that creates a great atmosphere and lights up key focal points in the garden.  My favourite type of lighting that is simple to install is solar lighting.  Solar lighting has come a long way and provides a low cost eco friendly solution to your outdoor environment.

Solar lights are a great way to increase the value of your home and the best outcome is it allows you to light up your outdoors for free, using sunlight for power.  Outdoor solar lights can be installed yourself so you can save the money a contractor would have cost and invest in some extra lights! As longs as you install the lights where they receive adequate sunlight to recharge the batteries throughout the day then the solar lights can operate for hours on a single charge. In these days of rapidly increasing power bills this is an added bonus and one that potential buyers will be impressed by.

So Many Styles to Choose From

There are so many solar light choices to make your yard or patio light up at night.

• Solar patio lights
• Solar yard lights
• Solar walkway lights
• Solar house number lights
• Solar floodlights

Solar garden lights are stocked at all hardware stores but if you like to really SAVE money by shopping online check out dealsdirect for their amazing range of low cost lights that will surely inspire you to light up your house.

Charyn Youngson

Property Renovator | Professional Home Stager | Author

Waiting for your house or any piece of investment property to sell can cause a fair amount of stress and headache on your part. And not getting decent offers despite your property being listed in the marketplace for months can be a terrible ordeal, right? Well, I believe so, too.

Good thing you don’t have to go through all these – if you plan on having your house or investment property staged, that is.

Why go for home staging when you can sell your house as it is? Well, the answer is really quite simple. Staging homes can make your home sell fast and for a far better value.

As with a lot of things, in selling real estate properties, first impressions count – a lot! Research proves that most buyers usually make up their mind whether or not they are going to buy your house within 15 seconds of walking up your front door. So, it’s up to you on how you can make the most of it, or lose it. It’s your choice.

Now, if you’re ready to take the first step to working that magic called home staging, here are some tips that can help you snag that sale even before your buyers walk through your front door. Start by creating an irresistible curb appeal that your buyers will love! Here’s how you can do it in 4 easy steps.

1. Clean up and de-clutter. Don’t hide your property’s full potentials. Trim overgrown bushes and mow the lawn. Scrub mildew and molds off the sidewalks and that nasty oil spill in the driveway. Get rid of all clutter and unnecessary items, too.
2. Paint it. If you can afford it, why not apply a fresh coat of paint? It can make your house look more appealing to buyers. However, you may want to stay on the conservative side and avoid using very strong colors. Remember, you want your house to appeal to the most number of buyers and strong colors may only turn some people off.
3. Consider landscaping it. Now, if your budget can still accommodate it, you can consider adding fresh sod or some live plants and other interesting focal points to your home’s exterior. Or alternatively, you can remove some elements to improve the looks of your property. Are there any trees or shrubs that are overshadowing some attractive features of your house? Take them off and see how it improves your property.
4. Prettify your front door. Ultimately, all attention leads to your front door. So, why not further improve your chances of closing a great deal for all your efforts? Prettify your front door! You can consider installing a new custom-made door, if your budget allows it. Otherwise, you can consider using what you have and improving on it. You can repaint your existing front door, or flank it with an interesting molding. Or you can simply polish your door fixtures or install coordinated light fixtures and accents to do the trick. Try to be creative and explore all the possibilities!

Staging homes effectively can help you sell your house fast and for far better value than leaving it as it is. Home staging does not need to be expensive or extremely time consuming, as these tips on improving your property’s curb appeal show. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Now, are you ready to get your house staged?

Here’s a video that talks about creating great curb appeal and how it can help sell your house.

Video. Home Decorating and Staging Tips - Curb Appeal

I was watching a recent episode of Better Homes and Gardens and Jason did a story about picket fencing that caught my eye.
Being an avid DIY person, I was amazed to discover that there is a picket fence made from sun tough vinyl that:

– Never rusts, rots or peels
– Never needs painting
– Can’t be eaten by termites
– Doesn’t need maintenance
– Is put together without a hammers or nails
– And it is easy on the pocket

If you are looking at simple cost effective ways to create great street appeal for your home then this is type of easy to install picket fencing will make a great addition. If you want to find out more about this picket fencing click here.

Imagine 80 per cent of potential buyers make a call on your house based on their first view of it. What sort of impression do you need to make to encourage them to come inside for a closer inspection rather than driving off after a quick street view?

Whether we like it or not, first impressions do matter. Whether or not first impressions are cruel and can mislead the viewer is irrelevant because that’s the reality with which we have to deal. Now while a trained house hunter like me will not be dissuaded by a first impression, 80 per cent of people rely on first impressions from which they make a huge leap to the final judgement! Do we want to alienate that 80 per cent? No way! And if 80 per cent are so significantly affected by a first impression, shouldn’t we be getting a wow response from that first impression? Absolutely!

For most people, buying a house is an emotional investment. Most buyers form an opinion in the first 30 seconds. If you haven’t grabbed their attention with that wow factor then as sure as night follows day, they will not even expend the energy to get out of their car and come inside.

Here are 3 rarely followed but sure-fire Top $ Tips to greatly enhance the street appeal of your home.

Top $ Tip 1

Get your front windows professionally cleaned. Cleaning windows so they are streak less and blemish free really is a job for professionals. Clean sparkling windows are one of the most powerful, unspoken ways in which a proud homeowner can say welcome, so invest in a professional clean.

Top $ Tip 2

Get your lawn mowed and the edges trimmed. Even if it is a dry patch, make sure it is not a weed-infested dry mat. If you have time, investigate replacing with artificial lawn but if nothing else, at the very least, make sure the “lawn” is cut, fertilised and watered. Green lawns will make you thousands!

Top $ Tip 3

Dress your front entrance. Set the tone for the rest of your home with a welcoming entry featuring a clear path to your front door, well-tended greenery, a beautiful front door (This may require painting or adding a new door handle or new numbers), and striking potted plants as a feature either side of the front door. Creating a welcoming entrance that makes people feel good from the moment they approach your front door will entice them inside. Whatever it takes, make it look better than it did.

Street Appeal embraces everything between the street and your front door. It doesn’t take much to make dramatic style improvements that will add massive value to your home.