The first thing someone sees is the exterior of your home and first impressions matter. Which is why it’s important to keep it in great condition. Even if you’re not looking to sell your home right now, these are still valuable tasks that can boost your home’s curb appeal.
After this blog, you’ll be able to answer the question, does curb appeal increase home value, and have actionable steps you can take with your home.
1. Adding a Deck or Porch Enclosure
Whether you’re looking to spruce up an existing porch or make an addition to your home, you’ll find that an enclosed porch or deck does increase your home value. Ultimately, anytime you add to your home’s liveable square footage, you’re adding something potential buyers may seek out.
If you already have an existing structure, here are some tips and tricks to enhance the space.
- Keeping things symmetrical, makes the space feel larger.
- Add greenery or plants that match the rest of your landscaping, this helps your outdoor space flow together.
- Include pillows or other key outdoor accessories, by adding some details, your porch feels complete without being overly cluttered.
On the other hand, you may choose to create an enclosed porch structure which can increase your home’s value by 4 to 6%. Again, anytime you expand liveable space or your home’s footprint, it positively impacts your home’s value.
Not only does a deck increase home value, but this addition will also provide immediate benefits to you, especially if you aren’t looking to move right away. An enclosed porch or deck opens up space and helps your home feel less cluttered.
Additionally, you are able to spend more time outdoors, even as the colder weather starts. On the contrary, in warmer months you can stay cool and keep your A/C off because you’ll have a shaded and screened-in structure to protect you from the sun.
2. Upgrade Exterior Lighting
Outdoor lights are a great investment when you’re selling your home, but can also help enhance your security. When choosing exterior lighting, it’s important to find the balance between aesthetically pleasing and functional.
There are two different types of Underwriter Laboratories (UL) fixture ratings for outdoor lighting.
- Damp-rated. Best for areas that will not get direct exposure to snow or rain, so they are ideal for screened-in or enclosed porches.
- Wet-rated. These fixtures can withstand ice, snow, and intense rain, which makes them a great choice for the outside of your home and garage space.
Other things to consider when purchasing exterior lighting are how bright you need them to be, the color temperature, how they will be installed, and their energy efficiency. There are also special features you can choose from when selecting your lighting.
- Dark Sky-Compliant Lights
- Dusk-to-Dawn Lights
- LED Dimmable
- Lights with Timers
- Solar-Powered Lights
If you take the time to invest in a well-designed, professional lighting system, you can potentially increase your home’s value by up to 30%. However, even adding simple light fixtures outside your garage or around pathways will provide a fair return on investment.
Adding Solar Panels to Your Home
You can find many benefits by incorporating solar panels into your home, but do solar panels really increase your home value? Well, this depends on where you live and how effective the solar panels would be for your home.
For example, in Pennsylvania, homes can sell for 4.9% more if solar panels are installed. The percentages will vary depending on your location, but in most cases, your home will increase in value with these additions.
3. Polish Your Home’s Exterior Features
Increasing your home value doesn’t have to be a huge project for you, especially if you aren’t planning to move right now or in the near future. But simple upkeep tasks like giving your home a fresh coat of paint, or adding things to your landscaping, can help revive the exterior and makes improvements down the line easier.
Repairing or Replacing Your Roof
Obviously, replacing a roof will take significantly more amount of time and investment in comparison to smaller repairs. So, new buyers are likely to ask about updates you’ve made to the roof. They’ll want to be reassured that this isn’t a bigger project they will have to deal with soon after they settle on the home.
Replacing or making roof repairs can provide up to a 59.6% return on investment.
Apply a Fresh Coat of Paint
Just like the roof, you don’t have to repaint the entire home to see some return on investment. Instead, you can spruce up the areas that need a little TLC and still boost curb appeal and real estate value. We recommend painting the shutters and door which gives an overall life to your home.
Don’t forget about your garage door! Often, your garage door is a major entryway into your home that people, or potential buyers, will notice right away. Our maintenance checklist will guide you through the steps for repainting your door or giving it a fresh cleaning.
Pressure Wash Your Siding
When you’re driving through a neighborhood, think about some of the first things you notice when you pass a home. If the home’s siding is covered in dirt, you’re likely to see it right away.
In order to make a great first impression, you should ensure that all sides of your home look clean and polished. This is a very inexpensive task and you can rent a pressure washer for anywhere between $40 to $100 a day.
4. Improve the Landscaping
We’re going to continue to show you that curb appeal does increase home value, with this fun and relatively simple landscaping tasks. A well-kept exterior can increase your home’s value significantly.
In this section, we’ll cover a variety of ways you can improve your curb appeal. It’s best to not only consider your wants and stylist preferences but also what your neighbors are doing. This will help indicate what’s important to potential buyers in the area.
Below are some landscaping tasks for you to consider.
- Add an outdoor shed or structure. This can be a useful storage option and a nice addition to your landscape. A small shed helps ensure tools or equipment is in a secure spot and isn’t cluttering your yard.
- Plant some trees. Planting trees in your yard is not only an environmentally friendly task but can also increase your home’s value. Privacy is an important factor to most home buyers, and trees are a naturally beautiful way to keep your yard more hidden from the street and neighbors.
- Add a water feature. Like most other landscaping projects, a water feature allows your home to look nicer and more put together. It provides a unique touch and some dimension to your exterior.
- Construct a firepit. Having some sort of outdoor hangout spot is likely a positive in a potential buyer’s eyes. If you are financially conscious of this task, there’s also a chance you’ll give yourself a nice return on investment.
- Widening your driveway. Depending on your location, it may be beneficial to widen your driveway to increase curb appeal and real estate value. Especially if you have a fairly narrow drive and the only other option is street parking, widening your driveway does increase home value.
Curbscaping
To further improve your curb appeal and real estate value, focus on the areas that face the street or curb, otherwise known as “curbscaping”. The same recommendations and tasks apply, but keep in mind that this area will be what people see the most.
5. Revamp the Garage Door
One of the most significant ways to increase your curb appeal and real estate value is to replace your garage door. In fact, in 2022 this was the highest project with the best return on investment. On average, you can receive an ROI of up to 93%.
There are clear signs of when you need to replace a garage door, for example, if it isn’t operating correctly or is damaged, it should be replaced sooner rather than later. However, even if that’s not the case, a new garage door can provide a host of benefits.
- Improved Safety
- Increase Energy Efficiency
- Less Maintenance
- Better Curb Appeal
Upgrading Insulation
Upgrading insulation is one of the top five projects that can add to your home’s value. This investment not only increases your home’s value when you’re ready to sell, but it will also save you money on your monthly utility bills.
Having a highly insulated door ensures the heat stays in your home and continues to make your garage a usable space during the winter months. If you’re finding that your garage isn’t staying warm in the winter, it could be time to replace it with a new, insulated garage door.
