You know the saying, ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression’?
Well, in many cases curb appeal is the first impression for your home. Now, I promise I’m not trying to get all philosophical with this video but these curb appeal ideas will help you sell your Arizona home by increasing it’s value and making it stand out!
If this is your first time here, welcome! If you’ve been here before, thank you so much for spending your time with me. My name is Lindsay and I‘m a proud Anthem resident and your local REALTOR® with the Wise Move AZ Team at Realty ONE Group. On our blog and YouTube channel we have a lot of fun talking about all things Anthem and real estate every single Thursday, and we absolutely love having you along for the ride.
In this video I’m going to give you 10 things you can do to immediately enhance the curb appeal of your home, Arizona style. Some will be dead easy and others will require a little planning to accomplish.
Before we jump in, let me address a couple of housekeeping items.
Curb Appeal in Arizona?
You may be wondering why this video is about getting your Arizona home looking fabulous. Isn’t curb appeal universal or at least pretty consistent throughout the US? Yes and no! If you’re not in Arizona you’ll still be able to use and implement many of these ideas, and I hope that you do. But here in Arizona, rocks are, in many cases, our outdoor décor of choice, because, that beautiful lush green grass we see on TV is insanely expensive to maintain here. Oh and cute little planters of summer flowers will be totally SCORCHED in our summer heat. So yeah, we’re tackling these curb appeal ideas with the reality of Arizona living in mind!
Curb Appeal isn’t Everything
I also want to say, while curb appeal is an important part of peaking buyer’s interest in your property, it’s not the only thing that matters. If you’d like to download a copy of our free guide to getting your home ready to list in 30 days or less, click here.
Know the Rules (Before you Start)
Lastly, Homeowners’ Associations are very common in Arizona. HOAs often have rules around what you can and cannot do to the outside of your home. If you would like more information on HOAs you can click here. Make sure that before you jump in with both feet on the suggestions in this video that you consult your HOA’s CC&Rs and other governing documents. I would absolutely hate for you to do something and have to ‘undo’ it right after.
Idea #1: Blow out your Yard
If it has been a while since you’ve had your yard blown out, get it done. Have your own blower? Great! If not borrow the neighbors or hire a landscaper and get it done! Ridding your yard of leaves and other debris will give it an instant face lift. If you have outdoor furniture it’s also worth having it blown off and then wiped down.
Idea #2: Top up your Rocks
There’s nothing quite like tidying up your yard that highlights bare spots in the rocks or decomposed granite. If you can see dirt where there should be rocks, or if the rocks are just looking really sparse, consider getting a top up.
Now, unless you happen to own a heavy duty truck, you’re going to have to hire some help for this one. Also, fair warning it usually takes way more rock than you think. Find out what depth of rock your HOA stipulates, if any, and work with the granite company to determine how much you need.
If you’re planning to disburse the rock yourself, I strongly encourage you to bribe lots of friends with pizza and beer. It’s very labor intensive. Alternatively, you can leave this one to the professionals.
Idea #3: Trim your Plants
Trim your plants up from the ground and away from the house. It’s amazing how much more cared for your property looks when you tend to the trees and shrubs. While you’re at it, make sure that you remove any dead foliage.
Don’t forget that most of our desert plants are prickly so please be careful and wear appropriate protective gear. This is a bit of a win-win. Not only will your yard look better but trimming your trees and bushes will also be good for monsoon season AND if you are selling your home it will be one less thing that shows up on the inspection report.
Idea #4: Touch Up Paint
If you are overdue, you may need to paint the whole house, but if you’re exterior paint is still looking pretty good, I want you to think about painting just the garage door and front door. We ended up painting our garage door because it got a little bit of overspray on it when we were painting the interior of our garage, and I couldn’t believe what a difference it made. It looked like a brand new door!
You may also want to consider painting your side gate if it’s visible from the street. For whatever reason those wooden slats really take a beating from the sun. You can also consider switching to composite slats, which require a lot less maintenance and will have that ‘new’ look and feel for a lot longer.
Idea #5: Remove Clutter
If you have any personal items cluttering the front yard, tidy them up. This may include warn out lawn decorations, hoses, garbage and recycling bins, ladders, and so on. You want your yard looking open, cared for, and clutter free. Also, if you are trying to improve your curb appeal because you’re selling, please don’t just move these items to the back yard. Obviously you’ll need to keep your garbage bins but tidy everything as best you can and get rid of things you no longer want or need.
Idea #6: Pressure Wash
Personally, I do a good job of keeping the inside of the house clean and tidy, but when it comes to scrubbing down the outside, I am definitely guilty of forgetting. Break out the pressure washer and clean the exterior of the house, driveway, and walkway. You may also want to have the roof and gutters pressure cleaned, but I am always leery about encouraging people to get up on their roofs. One, because it can be dangerous and two, because you can damage your roof if you’re not properly trained to walk on the tiles. I’m going to recommend that you hire a professional to assist with this part.
Idea #7: Wash Windows
This one is pretty self-explanatory. Now that you’ve pressure washed the exterior, wash the windows, inside and out. It’s amazing how much dust builds up on our Arizona windows.
Idea #8: Replace Hardware & Fixtures
The heat and sunlight can really take its toll on the exterior of our homes. I want you to take a look at all the hardware and fixtures on the exterior of your home and repair or replace them, as needed. This includes the hardware on your front door, light fixtures, address numbers, and so on. If they are looking shabby, freshen them up.
Idea #9: Light it Up
I want you to look at the front of your home once it’s dark outside. Could it use a little extra light? Adding light can make your home feel more inviting and more secure. You can add brighter bulbs to existing fixtures. You can also consider adding lights to the path or even adding spotlights pointed at some of your landscaping. This can be a really inexpensive way to add to the perceived value of your home. Since we’re blessed with so much sunlight in Arizona, you can often use inexpensive solar powered lights to get the desired effects.
Idea #10: Ditch the Grass
As I mentioned at the start of this video, grass can be painfully expensive to maintain in Arizona, and even if you tend to it meticulously it can still go through phases of looking parched and neglected. It’s just not fair, I know.
If you have grass in your front yard in Arizona it could be a deterrent to a potential buyer who sees it as an unnecessary expense and extra work. So, if you have your heart set on keeping your grass, I encourage you to up your watering and care schedule while your home is listed, to keep it looking as lush as possible. If you’re not set on keeping the grass consider replacing it with turf or even filling it in with rocks or other plants.
So, there you have it! What do you think? Is your curb appeal on point? Are there a few things you could do to make it pop? Fair warning if you take on all 10 of these ideas your neighbors might have a little curb appeal envy.
If you would like even more tips on getting your home ready to list and a step-by-step timeline, click here to download your free guide.
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Also, in the interest of making sure you’re totally ready for the sale of your home, you may want to click here for our best tips for the final walk through or click here for our best tips for navigating the BINSR process, for sellers just like you.
Enjoy those and I’ll see YOU next Thursday!
