Landscaping and Curb Appeal Make for a Faster Sale

Nothing says “spring!” to a homeowner like warmer weather, the appearance of green grass, and – of course – the urge to rake leaves away from our homes and gardens.

It’s not on everyone’s favourite to-do list, but cleaning up outside after the winter months can offer up a sense of newness. It’s an opportunity to start fresh with our home’s exterior, and the great outdoors.

Our staff at McGarr Realty also know this is a great time to check out your home’s exterior – roof; siding; foundation; chimney; flashing; exterior lighting; shutters; fence, and gate – for any damage that may have occurred over the blustery winter months. If you have damage that requires some repair, placing a call early in the season to the right professionals should be a top priority.

For families prepping their homes for sale in the near future, McGarr Realty team members know that brushing up on a home’s landscaping and curb appeal really does help make a good first impression. It tells a prospective buyer that the home is well-loved and cared for, with attention paid to details like fresh paint on the door; a pretty wreath; hanging baskets, fresh mulch on garden beds; sparkling windows and siding.

If you are planning on taking the May long weekend to do some landscaping and curb appeal work, it’s a good idea to decide what you need to do, and the order to do it in. Some of the larger, messier jobs, if done first, clear the way for smaller jobs to be more easily accomplished.

Our expert team members at McGarr Realty have come up with a list of the more common ways to add curb appeal, while completing spring maintenance on your home. Whether your home is for sale in St. Catharines or not, you’ll appreciate getting these jobs out of the way early, so you can relax and enjoy your brand-new curb appeal.

• As we mentioned before, checking for winter damage and getting it repaired tops our list. You’ll want to repair significant damage early so things don’t get worse and start affecting your home’s interior.

• Before working on gardens or other jobs where hoses are required, check outside faucets for damage; test hoses and replace all washers.

• Prep lawn mowers, string trimmers and other gardening tools for the season ahead. Before you know it, the grass will need cutting, so you’ll want to be ready!

• Tidy garden beds and trim shrubs, hedges and trees as necessary. Rake well and dispose of garden rubbish; add mulch as required; seed lawns; fertilize and add pretty planters with flowering plants for visual appeal.

• Have a look at your driveway. Does the asphalt need a coat of sealant, or repairs to cracks? Does your concrete driveway suffer from a weed infestation? Now is the time to take care of these issues … you’ll have to trust our McGarr Realty staff; a “clean” driveway adds a ton of curb appeal points!

• A pressure washer comes in handy for all sorts of outdoor jobs: Washing down shutters and siding; giving the garage door a spring bath; hosing down the driveway after gardening, and so much more. Some units have a setting that’s perfect for washing windows. Take care, though – if the pressure is set too high, you can actually peel paint or even put pits in your concrete! Whether or not you use a pressure washer, though, you should definitely wash all windows. Nothing adds curb appeal like clean , sparkling windows.

• Once the big jobs are taken care of, you can continue to add curb appeal with lots of little touches. Our McGarr Realty team members advise homeowners to think about cleaning up the patio furniture; adding a new mailbox; putting up new house or carriage lights; installing a new set of home address numbers and improving the front door. Maybe a coat of paint; a new brass door knocker, or a pretty wreath will take your front door from drab to fab, making a great first impression on prospective buyers.

However, adding curb appeal isn’t limited to just the items on this list. In general, it helps to tidy things up and make sure everything is clean, while adding the small touches that show your home is loved and cared for.

A strong curb appeal goes a long way to making a great first impression when you need to turn that sign on your lawn from “for sale” into “sold!” Together, with the help of our expert staff at McGarr Realty, we can make it happen!

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McGarr Realty teams are standing by, ready to help our family of clients boost their home’s curb appeal for a faster sale.

Give our office a call at 905-468-9229 in Niagara-on-the-Lake, or 905-687-9229 in St. Catharines. Send us a message HERE.

Let’s get started!