It’s no secret that a house’s curb appeal can make a tremendous impact on its resale prospects. Although we always tell ourselves not to judge a book by its cover, it’s only human nature to assess something upon the first impression we form. Even if a story is great, we’re less likely to give it a chance if we don’t like the cover. Even if a house’s interior is charming and highly alluring, we may not give it proper consideration when the exterior doesn’t appeal to us.

For this reason it is important to pay attention to your house’s curb value when you’re trying to sell, especially in the current buyer’s market. With prices stagnant and inventory high, refinancing your home may be a better option than trying to sell it under current conditions. But, if you ultimately need to sell, you’re going to want to maximize your curb appeal as much as possible.

Fortunately, it doesn’t take too much money or effort to upgrade a home that is lacking in curb appeal. Here are four easy options that you might want to consider:

1. Start painting.

The easiest and most beneficial way to boost your curb appeal is to get some paint and add an layer to your house’s front façade. Since this may be a challenging solo project, you can get essentially the same value for your work by painting your garage door and your home’s front door. A clean layer of paint on each of those surfaces can go a long way towards boosting your house’s perceived value.

2. Pave the driveway.

When looking to improve curb value, many people focus on their home or on their garden and overlook the driveway. This is a mistake. A chipped, cracked, or faded driveway can reflect poorly on the house and on the property as a whole. The general rule of thumb is that a dark, smooth, and clean driveway is probably your best bet. If you want to take it a step further, however, you can instead top your driveway off with crushed gravel or limestone to give it a more sophisticated look.

3. Brighten and clean the yard.

Most people realize that an appealing front yard can make a house appear much more desirable. This does not, however, require that you plant exotic bushes and spend a tremendous amount of time and money cultivating the perfect garden. Instead, just make sure that everything in the yard is well-trimmed (ie bushes, the grass, any trees). If you’re looking to sell during the warmer months, you also want to make your yard as colorful as possible. This may entail using fertilizer to darken your lawn or buying some cheap flowers to plant near the house.

4. Get outdoor lighting.

Buying and installing a few well-placed outdoor lights can go a long way towards boosting your curb appeal. These lights should be facing towards your house and should be used to illuminate bushes or the home’s façade once evening falls. Having lights can be especially useful in winter, when many homes are viewed after the sun has begun to set.

There are numerous other ways that you can easily improve your home’s curb value. For example, if you drive a nice car, giving that car a wash and then letting it sit in your driveway has been shown to add perceived value to a home. But even without a high-end vehicle, following the above tips can go a long way towards improving your resale value. In a tough market, it’s an easy and obvious investment to make.

Photo Credits: bgautrea

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Keeping your Driveway Clean

Keeping your driveway completely clean is going to be a big part of allowing it to last a long time while maintaining the attractiveness as well. It is important that you clean up oil spills, other spills and other forms of contamination as quickly as you can before the chemicals are given a chance to damage your driveway by seeping into it. In order for you to clean up a dirty asphalt driveway, you should perform the following steps:

1. Use an ice chipper, a spade or a lawn edging tool to scrape out any weeds, debris or grass that have gotten into the cracks in the driveway, as well as from around the edges of the driveway.
2. Use a hose or an air compressor to create a strong blast that you can use to remove loose bits of asphalt from damaged areas or cracks present in the driveway surface.
3. Bring out a broom and use it to brush away any debris or loose asphalt that you shook loose.
4. Dilute a driveway cleaner and use it to scrub your driveway, removing any dirt or oil. Repeat this scrubbing process as needed until you have removed all of the stains. If there are oil stains that are excessive you may want to use a primer for oil spots and other stains that you cannot simply scrub away.
5. Hose the driveway down thoroughly, using as much pressure as you possibly can. When you go about hosing the driveway down, it is best that you begin at the top and work down and to the sides as you go.
6. You can use a shop vacuum cleaner to remove loose debris from the cracks in the asphalt as well. Keep in mind that the driveway has to be very clean and dry before you can repair it with filler.
7. Now you are going to want to allow your driveway to dry completely before you make the necessary repairs to it.

Photo Credits: JaguarJulie

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Originally posted 2009-10-27 03:09:51. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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When those cracks appear, they're usually small and don't seem too troublesome. The problem with the cracks is that they let water get in, where it seeps beneath the asphalt. This expands the cracks thanks to freezing in the wintertime, or merely with the moisture changing the foundation under the driveway.

Doing asphalt repair as soon as you see a crack or as soon as the asphalt starts to appear gray is essential to keeping your asphalt driveway in good shape.

Clean

Clean the driveway. You can sweep it thoroughly, or make quicker work of it with a pressure washer. The next step is to wash it with asphalt cleaner or Trisodium Phosphate (TSP). This helps clear away any leaked oil or other stains. It's important to get any oil residue off the asphalt before sealing it because oil will break down the asphalt and let water get beneath it.

Asphalt Repair

You need to fill the surface cracks. You can opt for a thick, pourable crack filler or the type that's thicker, like caulk. Either will work, so choose whichever you're more comfortable working with. You'll want to dig into the crack to make sure that the crack doesn't look like a V with the widest part at the surface. This gives the crack filler nothing to grip on to. Dig the bottom out a little so that the narrowest part of the crack is on the surface and it gets wider as it goes down. This anchors the filler, and means that it will be thickest at the base, and can't just lift out of the crack.

Once you've dug out the crack in this way, fill it with crack filler. Be sure to use too much and overfill it. And then use a flat surface like a trowel to smooth it out. For very deep cracks you can fill most of the crack with sand, and leave about a half an inch at the top for the crack filler.

While you're performing asphalt repair because of cracks, go ahead and smooth and level out your driveway. Asphalt cold patch should be used according to the manufacturer's instructions to fill dips and low spots. Pack as the instructions say and leave it overnight.

Asphalt Sealing

Be sure there's no rain predicted for at least 2 days. Choose asphalt sealer and apply with a long handled brush. Follow any special directions on the sealer, and don't forget to dress in clothes that can get messy. Special cleaners can get asphalt repair sealer out of clothing, but if it dries you may have to throw the clothes away or save them for painting and other messy jobs.

Photo Credits: Fuschia Foot

Originally posted 2009-09-25 09:03:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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