Getting your house exterior open home ready

By Lili Stellingwerf – Realestate.co.nz

Appearances play a huge part in first impressions, especially when it comes to viewing open homes. When preparing your house for an open home, it’s easy to forget what first impressions your home gives off, and to many potential home buyers this can be a make or break. To help, we’ve compiled our 5 top tips that will ensure the exterior of your house is ‘open-home’ ready.

1. Decks

Take a look at the condition of your deck. Is it looking in good shape for a potential buyer? Decks can easily suffer from overgrown moss and lichen, which will cause the surface of the deck to become unappealing. An easy solution is to water blast it or get a hard bristled broom and brush it down. Either will be ideal for slippery fungus and growth and will quickly remove it from your deck. If you want to go a step further, you could also add a new coat of stain or paint to ensure that it can endure the different conditions that will be thrown its way.

2. Roof

Make sure your roof is clean and tidy with no debris, to make it look presentable for your open home. You could also do further work like ensuring your roof is clear from sprouting plants, or replacing loose roof claddings for some long term maintenance that will appeal to potential buyers.

3. Exterior walls

The exterior of your home endures many seasons and likely will have gradually have built up a collection of who knows what on it. It’s the first part of the house a potential buyer will see, so taking care of it is important. Book a professional house washer and get your house looking brand new. You can also do it yourself if you have the equipment. If you can reach the main spots, get a soft bristled broom to brush it off. Checking the foundations, soffits and the fascia for discolouration, flaking, cracking or rotting is important too as this protects the integrity of your home.

4. Windows

During the colder months it’s natural to have some mould and mildew built up behind curtains. Making sure your windows and window sills are clean and clear is key when having an open home. By combining a good glass detergent and a soft cloth will easily eliminate anything unsightly.

5. Gardens

By making sure your lawn is neat, mowed, with a well-kept, weeded and trimmed garden, potential buyers will see a different garden that you probably never saw. It makes a huge difference aesthetically and greatly improves your chances of selling.

Taking the time to clean the exterior of your home will not only improve first impressions, but add value to your home in the long term. By keeping on top of your household maintenance you’ll ensure you don’t have too much work to do, come time to sell your home.

Images: Realestate.co.nz blog and Pinterest.