Homes & Land of Ottawa

Spring cleaning for the spring market

The spring market will be in full swing very shortly, with plenty of homeowners choosing the next few months as the time to put their homes up for sale. If you plan to join the crowd, exterior maintenance and curb appeal should be at the top of your weekend to-do list at the moment. After all, first impressions are of utmost importance – never more so than when house shopping.

The best way to begin is by taking a good look at your home from across the street. Take some photos if you like – it may help put things into perspective, plus you can ask family and close friends for their opinion. What jumps out at them? What are the first things their eye is drawn to? If it’s not your impeccably trimmed hedge and pristinely painted front door, you may have some work to do.

Snow and ice conceal a multitude of evils, but when they melt away they can leave behind piles of dirt and grit, discarded rubbish, and last fall’s dead leaves and plants. Sweep and spray down your driveway to remove dirt and debris. Rake the lawn and flowerbeds, and remove deadfall.

Next, examine the façade of your home. Are there loose pieces of siding? Peeling paint or crumbling bricks? Visible foundation cracks or loose shutters? Take advantage of the milder weather to paint and make necessary repairs. Check the roof for loose or curling shingles – snowstorms followed by spring winds can be hard on them. Clean out the gutters so that spring rain flows away from the foundation rather than down next to it – this can help prevent leaks in your basement. If water pools near your foundation, consider having the earth around it re-graded to slope away from the house. Check for loose eavestroughing.

Once basic maintenance has been taken care of, you can add aesthetic details to boost your home’s visual impact at street level. Consider painting your front door a vibrant colour or a glossy black. Some other design ideas that give your home a “magazine” feeling: add decorative shutters to front windows; box in your flowerbeds with paving stones; add interlocking stone to your driveway or walkway; place potted cedars or other shrubs near the entrance; upgrade exterior lighting to show off your home’s newly refurbished face at night.

This may sound like a lot of fuss, but putting your home’s best face to the world can help encourage potential buyers to step inside and see what else your property has to offer them. For more ideas and assistance in creating amazing curb appeal, talk to a member of the Ottawa Real Estate Board. Find us online at www.OttawaRealEstate.org -- we’ll help you shine up your home’s exterior and get it sold this spring!