Many believe that Fall is a hard season to sell a home – but if you embrace the season and follow these tips you may just find out how you can make it the perfect time for a potential buyer to fall in love with your home!
The holidays are right around the corner and buyers are cautious about making a big decision…so the first step is to ensure that your home’s exterior is a showcase, not a roadblock. Don’t be one of the many that let their landscaping fall to the wayside during these upcoming months – as come winter your home will become even less appealing.
The Institute recommends these tips to position a home, whether luxury or not, for a faster and more successful fall sale.
Keep Your Yard Clean
The leaves are changing and while people enjoy seeing the signs of the new season in their front yard it’s important to keep the dead leaves, broken branches and tired summer plants from becoming an unsightly feature.
A tidy yard will give the home an air of cleanliness and goes a long way to showing the right care is maintained in the overall upkeep of a property – no matter how luxurious it is on the inside.
Plant Fall Flowers
Flowers are not just for springtime! The addition of fall plants can add a burst of color and make the newly tidied yard really stand out.
Some beautiful fall plants to consider include Mums and Red Bud Maples. Even if the home is located in more temperate climates splashes of fall colors in the flowerbed can add that eye-catching difference to a potential buyer.
Spruce Up The Front Door
A home needs to be warm and inviting to potential buyers as the weather starts to cool down. Now might just be the time to take a hard look at the front door – if its looking a little tired after a hot summer, then add a fresh coat of paint.
Change the light fixture to ensure there is a welcoming, bright entrance during the early twilight hours. Or even something as simple not overlooking to replace that old torn front door mat!
Add a seasonal wreath or potted plants with warm oranges, yellows and reds to give that added fall feeling.
Update Your Exterior
As the leaves start to fall, a home’s exterior will become more visible and exposed!
While this is a good way to show off exterior architecture that may have been previously obscured, it also means that any sign of weather wear will be very easy to spot.
Fall cleaning is just as important – a pressure wash and fresh paint might be required, and always ensure windows and gutters are cleaned. These small touches will go a long way toward making the home look newer and in great shape!
Outdoor Lighting
With the days getting shorter, exteriors can tend to adopt a dreary or gloomy sort of look – it’s not quite Halloween yet! Install outdoor lighting in key locations such as pathways, driveways, garage and outside doors to keep a bright look and more importantly add the safe passage of a potential buyer to the front door.
Lighting positioned in key places can showcase the landscaping and architectural features of the property, maximizing its potential for stunning evening photography!
Did you know that exterior photos taken as evening light starts to fade with all the house lights on, have a 6 times higher attention capture rate than any daytime shot?
Fake cobwebs can be very distracting and take away from the architecture of the listing.
Keep Seasonal Decor to a Minimum
Holiday decorations are a favorite tradition for many, but if you are selling in the fall months, we would suggest that keeping decorations to a minimum is extremely important.
Small decorations, such as a seasonal wreath or pumpkin on the doorstep keep with the festivities and still allow buyers to picture themselves in the home during the holidays. However large decorations, especially of the Halloween variety, can be overwhelming.
They are considered by many to be a turn-off, obscuring the home and hiding its potential – and many buyers may not even decide to view the home…especially as they may think they will be greeted with more of the same once inside!