Warmth. Color. Light. They stir good feelings in people. Makes them more comfortable. Sets them at ease. Puts them in the best frame of mind for making a major purchase – such as your house for sale in Detroit Lakes, MN, for example.
If you’re selling your home in the winter, when warmth, color and light are all in short supply, then you have an important choice to make. Will you take the extra effort to enhance your home’s curb appeal, so buyers will like it better? Or will you sell your home for less money?
For the sake of discussion, let’s assume that you, a seller, are in favor of selling for more. Here’s what you can do to enhance your home’s curb appeal in the snow!
1. Shovels, Snowblowers, Plows – You Get the Picture
It sure is fun keeping snow off your sidewalk and driveway all winter. One of the best parts of life in Minnesota, no doubt.
Make extra sure you don’t take a break from the action while you’re showing your house. Keeping your paved surfaces clear will make life safer and easier for the buyer, their agent, their inspector, and anyone else involved with the sale.
Clear pathways aren’t just functional. They make their surroundings appear clean and orderly. They also create contrast, which helps the house pop out better when there’s less light out.
2. Put That Back When You’re Done With It
Tools. Toys. Dog toys. Snow removal equipment. Yards tend to collect a lot of stuff through everyday use. If you’ve got kids, then half of your front yard might be covered in brightly colored plastic at any given moment.
You can probably guess what we’re about to recommend: keep all moveable property neatly stored away indoors while you’re showing your home.
Do everything else in your power to keep a clean, flat sheet of white on your front lawn. If you have kids, inform them that playing in snow is a backyard-only activity until further notice. And if you have a dog, don’t let your dog … you know. Do what dogs do on front lawns.
3. Let There Be Light
It feels like the sun sets at 9am on some winter days. That presents a challenge if you’re showing your home during dusk or the nighttime. How will buyers know how nice your house looks from the outside if they can’t see it?
Start by turning on all your outdoor lighting, which in addition to all your indoor lighting will provide a clearer glimpse of your house. You could even invest in additional outdoor lighting. Although it typically comes with a ~50% return on investment, your home might just have zero curb appeal without it. It makes a night and day difference.
You can use Christmas lights for outdoor lighting (until Christmas). Resist the urge to go full Clark W. Griswold while you’re lighting up your home. Place single strands across straight lines that accentuate your home’s architecture, and brighten up one or two smaller trees while you’re at it. Done! Christmas decorating done in a real estate market conscientious style.
4. Spruce It Up
Nice landscaping doesn’t do much for a home’s curb appeal when it’s buried under snow. But that’s okay, because you have the next best thing: conifers.
Putting a couple of potted evergreens on either side of your entryway will make your home much more inviting to eyes that have never seen it before. Get excited, because you have many more varieties of evergreens to choose from than you might realize. You also aren’t limited to a pine bough wreath. If it’s no longer Christmas season, you can still jazz up your front door with a tasteful winter-themed wreath. Cute!
Great winter curb appeal will only get you so far. You also need a great real estate agent! If this is the winter you will sell your house, commercial property, hunting land or farmland in the greater Detroit Lakes, MN area, then you want to contact Action Realty of Detroit Lakes today. We’ve sold houses in the snow for decades, and we know all the best ways to do it