Nine Ways to Enhance a Home's Curb Appeal

By Josh Garskof, excerpted from Money magazine, reprinted with exclusive permission through Lowes Realtor Benefits Program

Just as every mother believes her son is a handsome devil, we homeowners tend to see the best in our houses-or at least we become comfortably familiar with the way they look. But let's face it, to the objective eye, not every house is a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece.

There are a lot of drab, even downright gloomy facades out there-especially among homes built after World War II, when many builders abandoned traditional architectural styling to streamline costs and mass-produce housing.

Thankfully, the cosmetic surgery required to put a beautiful face on your home won't hurt a bit. It doesn't even require a big-ticket construction job. "Creating curb appeal isn't about trying to transform the house from, say, a plain-Jane ranch into a grand Victorian," says Charlotte, VT architect Ted Montgomery. "Just changing one or two little details is all it takes." You can find your inspiration by looking at similar houses in the neighborhood-or by hiring an architect to offer suggestions ($300 to $500) and maybe sketch a plan (add $300 to $500). You'll boost your home pride, endear yourself to the neighbors and generate a lot more interest from buyers someday when your house goes on the market.

SUBTRACT FLAWS

Assuming the house and yard are already well maintained, job one is to get rid of unsightly blemishes left by a penny-pinching builder or the misguided remodeling efforts of previous owners.

Replace the Garage Doors

The most prominent facial feature of many homes is a pair of big garage doors-which all too often are flat, lackluster slabs of steel or vinyl.

Trade them for more visually appealing doors with moldings, windows or an old-fashioned carriage-house look ($2,000 to $5,000 a door, including labor). See designerdoors.com and clopaydoor.com for examples.

Remove Siding

Sometimes ugliness is only skin-deep. "Peek under dreary aluminum, vinyl or asbestos siding and you may find well-preserved wood clapboards hiding underneath," says Asheville, N.C. architect Jane Mathews. If so, remove the siding, repair the old wood and give the house an attractive paint job ($10,000 to $20,000). If not, you could paint the siding or replace it with fiber cement siding (see below), a no-maintenance product that looks like real wood ($15,000 to $25,000).

Lose the Funky Railings

Swap out bad porch or stoop railings-such as black iron bars and chunky pressure-treated decking components-for visually interesting banisters and spindles that are worthy of their prominent placement at the front of the house ($1,000 to $3,000).

ADD CHARACTER

Like a dimple or a cleft chin, the addition of an interesting architectural element can give your house some distinctiveness.

Install a salvaged door

The typical postwar front door is decidedly dull, but the entry should be the focal point of your house, says Corvallis, Ore. architect Lori Stephens. For interesting replacements, troll an architectural salvage yard (the directory at buildingreuse.org can help you locate one). Consider a recycled mission-style oak door, a six-panel colonial with blown-glass windows, or arch-top French doors ($200 to $800; more if you're converting to an arch top).

Add Moldings

Many newer homes lack exterior trim; the siding just butts up against the windows and doors. A contractor can give the house a more sophisticated, traditional look by cutting back that siding and slipping in wide, flat moldings around the openings and possibly at the corners of the house and between its stories ($3,000 to $4,000). Consider using a synthetic product like cellular PVC for your moldings, which looks like wood but will never rot.

Enhance the Roof

A straight, un-adorned roofline makes a house look about as interesting as a shipping container. So consider adding one or more windowed dormers (gabled peaks) or extending the eaves (the roof overhang) a few feet beyond the front of the house with detailed moldings on the under-side ($2,500 to $6,000 per dormer or eave extension). This is major surgery though; do not attempt it without first getting an architect's input.

MULTIPLY THE EFFECT

Invasive procedures aren't always necessary. Just adding the right accents can transform your home's outer look-not unlike a pair of stylish new specs or a good haircut.

Replace Light Fixtures and Hardware

Lose generic shiny brass or black house numbers, mailbox and porch lights (especially bare-bulb fixtures) and substitute something unique and substantial, perhaps made of antiqued copper, bronze or brushed nickel ($20 to $75 each). For ideas, see rejuvenation.com and restorationhardware.com.

Plan for a Nonstop Flower Show

Most of the flowers in your yard probably bloom in the late spring, which makes for a beautiful May-or whenever the big show happens in your climate-but leaves you with a bland yard for the other 10 or 11 months of the year. A local nursery can help you choose and plant additional bulbs, shrubs and trees with different bloom times (as well as plants with colorful autumn foliage and winter berries), so there'll always be something performing in the yard ($50 to $250 a shrub, $500 to $1,500 a tree).

Add Color

A paint job ($2,000 to $10,000) in pleasing hues can make any structure appealing. "But don't choose a bright, high-contrast color scheme-that only exaggerates a house's flaws," Montgomery warns. For subtler suggestions, check out the book House Colors by Susan Hershman ($23 at Amazon.com) or go for the colors of nature-muted greens, deep reds or pale yellows-and keep the body and trim close in color. That will give your home a friendly, peaceful look rather than making it say, "Hey, look at me." Sort of like an average-looking guy choosing a simple charcoal suit instead of a flashy powder blue one that only a Hollywood star could pull off.

Looking to connect with reliable & professional tradesmen to fix up your home? Get connected through Thomas J. Nelson's Referral Business Directory.

E-mail me for details : TJN@ThomasJNelsonRealtor.com

Some Facts To Know                                                            

• More than 1000 banks closed in 1930 - only 14 U.S. banks have been taken over in 2008
• There are 76 million households in the U.S. that own their home - 24 million of these homes are free and clear
• There are 52 million homes with mortgages - 97.2% of these are not in foreclosure, 93.8% of these homes are current on their payments

On a sobering note:

• Over 20% of homeowners with a mortgage owe more than their home is worth
• 40% of all foreclosures are non-owner occupied

How did we get here?

Decade    Homes Sold High    Homes Sold Average

1970's      3.9 million               3 million
1980's      4 million                  3.3 million
1990's      4.9 million               3.9 million
2000's      7.1 million               5.6 million
Resale numbers - the above does not include new home sales.

Sources: Wall Street Journal / Moody's Economy.com / RealtyTrac / NAR / Forbes

Real Estate is going to lead this economy out of it's recession. Real Estate created a boom 1999-2006 in the (California) market (and the job market), it's leading the economy, real estate market and jobs market corrections that we're experiencing now and it will will us back into an appreciating market again.

California has only 5.9 months of inventory (most being short sales and foreclosures) but below 6 months is 12 months less inventory than a year ago! January 2008 we had 15.3 months of inventory.

September 2007 vs September 2008 up 65% October 2007 vs. October 2008 up 111%!

We're gonna have a couple more waves then we'll be rocking again! People need to get out there and take advantage of this "perfect storm" for deals!

 I know people are scared, concerned about their jobs & the economy. But some, I know from the questions I get asked weekly, are simply waiting for the media to tell them it's ok, for the "herd to move". But that's the same mentality that caused peoples' bankruptcies and foreclosures for the last 2 years, is that "because the other kids are doing it"  mentality that will cause missed opportunity today.

Buyers need to get out there soon and take advantage of cheap money and even cheaper prices before the correction finishes. The only way we'll realize the true bottom is 6 months after we hit it. Why? Because the only way to track the "bottom" is to see 6 months of consecutive and steady inventory drop and price increase in a market area. I go on what I know (and yes I bought in this market, you bet I did)!

I know money is cheap, houses are really cheap and they may bounce a bit more but not enough to risk missing out by waiting too long. I have had people actually tell me they do not want to over-pay, so they are waiting a few more months...waiting for what? When the news is reporting it, you are too late!Just ask all those high rise condo owners in Downtown San Diego.

We are obviously in a recession and will be for a time but, as we are already seeing in California especially, there's plenty of demand for discounted homes. Many short sales and foreclosures are in multiple offer situations. There's money to be made in times like this but it requires us to take the emotions of our fears and apprehension and pour it into some due diligence and action.

I don't know about you, but I am fortunate to be working with some clients who get it. They are buying into 30% equity or getting $75,000 price reductions on fixers and buying first homes they never thought they'd own, etc. I watching people, within their means, push fear aside and invest in their future.