• Make or purchase new pillows for your sofas and chairs. Textured fabrics in warm jewel tones will warm up your room. Adding a luxurious throw over your couch will provide a warming, comfortable feel to your home.

• Add new splashes of color and scent to your rooms by swapping out old candles. Replace the existing ones with great fall scents like pumpkin or apple spice, and try to stick to the warming fall colors if possible.  Don’t leave candles lit if you leave your home for a showing! 

• Modify your artwork and/or decor throughout your home. Vivid paintings and brighter accent colors will brighten up your rooms on dark, dull days.  This is very important when people are visualizing themselves living in your home this time of year.

• Change your bedding. Replace your summer duvet cover with a warm, cozy comforter, and place an extra woolly blanket at the foot of the bed. 

• Add area rugs to cold hardwood floors in the living room and bedrooms. 

• Buy some fancy bath towels and hang them just for showings. 

• A clean bathroom is a great selling feature. Be sure to keep your shower curtain and bathmat free of mold and mildew -buy new ones if necessary! Also, try adding a few more colorful candles or other cheerful objects to your bathroom and watch things liven up before your eyes!

• Add a new fall wreath to the front door, as well as a new "Welcome" doormat. 

• Place some seasonal plants around your home, as well as in the garden if you can. Adding real pumpkins and other seasonal vegetables of all sizes to both your front porch and inside decor will enhance the warmth of your home this fall. You may also want to add some hay for your pumpkins to perch upon outdoors. 

• It is important to rake the leaves and clean up your deck or patio regularly. Curb appeal for your home is just as important as the inside features your home has to offer. Be sure to throw your summer hanging baskets away. 

This blog was revamped from an original Active Rain blog post by RE/MAX’s Aboutowne Realty in Oakville, Ontario

Canton and Plymouth, Michigan home owners learn the value of curb appeal and how it relates to the quick sale of their house. Simply defined, Curb Appeal is a "Common term for everything prospective buyers can see from the street that might make them want to take a closer look at a house for sale." Canton, MI home buyer’s and sellers find the following tips very informative and helpful. These easy, inexpensive fixes will help create that outside appeal and get you one giant step further into a sale in today’s market!

1. Paint or stain the front and garage doors, especially if they show any weathering. These are the first visuals where a potential buyer focuses. If garage doors are metal and dented, they may need to be replaced.

2. Any old, basically abandoned sheds or small structures, must be removed, the area graded and the grass replaced.

3. Change any dated, outside light fixtures.

4. Fix that driveway. If it is blacktop, make sure cracks and crumbling areas are dug out and filled and then the whole driveway sealed. If it is cement, have large cracks filled and repaired professionally. The buyer must at least feel they can drive the moving truck in confidently!

5. Make sure landscaping bricks are in their proper placement. Mowing, weed-whipping sometimes moves them and this is something the homeowner rarely notices, but makes the property look unsightly.

6. Fill in bare dirt under large shade trees. Plant shade-tolerant plants in defined planters or groundcover. Landscape properly for that area.

7. All landscaping beds should be cleaned out and updated for the time of year it is in your region. Place new bedding material down.

8. Have trees and bushes pruned and trimmed. If a bush or tree is looking old or about to expire, remove it and replace it with a similar size and type if you can. If there is a tree limb(s) over the roof, have them removed. Flowers also bring instant curb appeal.

9. If the house needs painting and a full paint job is not in the cards; have it touched up professionally in the worst, most visible spots. Paint shutters and fix them if they are hanging crooked. At least this may help get your client in the front door, even if they negotiate a full paint job into the sale later.

10. If the house is sided, have it power-washed and have gutters and windows cleaned. Window cleaning inside and out makes the house feel updated and fresh, rather than old and dingy.

11. Make sure grass is in good shape, weeds are removed, trimming done regularly. So many sellers fall down on this job the minute the house is listed, and this is critical to selling a house quickly, especially one where the owners have already moved out. In snowy climates, removal must be done regularly, too. If owners have moved out make sure you have an Home Warranty to re-assure buyers.

12. Keep garbage and recycle containers inside the garage, along with all toys and equipment. Make sure the garage is neat and organized. Painted walls and floors also go a long way in this area and are inexpensive to do. Some have found that having their garage floor resurfaced was a huge selling feature.

13. Decks should be washed and repainted or re-sealed; plantings around them cleaned, weed-free and looking good. Patio furniture should be in excellent condition. Even though it is in the backyard, this is the area where the family can envision enjoying the warm days and the new yard.

14. If the roof has missing shingles and they can be replaced inexpensively, suggest this be done as it may save negotiation over a completely new roof. Roof repair needs and costs should be minor or the homeowner might as well replace the entire roof.

15. If you want to do a bit more, other great ideas are solar lights lining the driveway or installing a more attractive front door with lead glass inserts and replacing plain doorknobs with something more custom.

16. If you have an evening showing, make sure lights are on outside and inside the house. This is warm and inviting. Staging your home nicely will gives the potential buyers a better perspective on how they can see themselves living there, and it makes your home really stand out from the rest!

17. If it’s a holiday season, by all means decorate the home! Just like sugar cookies or vanilla scent on the inside of the house, this really says "it’s a home" and "I can really see myself enjoying life here"! In the least, always have some greenery or flowers for the season on the front step or porch; even a birdbath with a little garden around it says home.

Remember, most home buyers cannot visualize even these simple changes and clean ups in a house. The ones who can, will be looking for a reduced price. So, to sell your house at top dollar and quickly, make it "appeal" to the many who will be seeing it rather than the few who are looking for a "fixer upper." These people know what they want, go after it and need less assistance. There are also, of course, some improvements that will give you the best payback as well.

Another tip is to have neighbors or friends look at the finished results to see if you have missed anything key that would be quick and easy to do. It may also be helpful to search the internet to get some other great ideas. 

Do you have any curb appeal suggestions to share?  Please leave us a comment!

Canton Michigan home sellers find their homes sell five times faster if they pay attention to the little things. This video provides one example of often overlooked items, within the home, that can make a big difference to potential buyers:

Another video provides helpful tips on adding Sweat Equity as well as curb appeal to your home