Boosting curb appeal often a matter of common sense

If you’re thinking of selling your home, or just want to spruce it up, Page Johnston has the same advice many people give to job seekers: You only get one chance to make a good first impression.

“That’s a cliche, but it’s very true,” said Johnston of Johnston Real Estate in Wauneta. “Whatever attention you give your property before you put it on the market, you want to have that in mind. You won’t have a second chance.”

Of course, the current condition of the property will determine how much work has to be done.

“The age and condition and the level of care the properties have is so disparate,” Johnston said. “You just have to look at them on a case-by-case basis.”

That doesn’t mean there’s no baseline, he said. “You don’t want the lawn dead, you don’t want shockingly loud paint, you don’t want broken windows, things that are alarmist for whatever reasons.”

Common upgrades include a new exterior paint job and, often, gutter repairs. And since, he said, “the average yard is probably not a candidate for Yard of the Month,” it’s important to “make sure everything’s watered and fertilized and the flowerpot has been weeded and that sort of thing.”

It’s nothing more than common sense, Johnston said.

“The higher the level of care and management that the property reflects, the more benefit, the more salable the house is going to be. If it looks like it’s had good care, it’s going to be attractive to people. If it looks like it’s been neglected, it’s going to be less attractive.”

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