Real Estate Agents who understand what it takes to sell a home understand the importance of curb appeal. The most important aspect of a quick home sale is getting as many people in the door as possible. As such, it’s important to make a good first impression in order to get potential buyers in the right frame of mind. No matter how good your listing photos look, if the outside of your house is a horror show, not only will far fewer people refuse to step inside, the few that do will enter it in the wrong frame of mind.

It’s understandable that not many sellers would want to engage in the expense and heartache involved with doing a full overhaul on their landscape, but there are many instances where sellers are in full self-sabotage mode without realizing it. So while it’s understandable that a seller wouldn’t be willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars to increase their curb appeal, there are no excuses for the little, virtually free things that can be done to keep it respectable.

1. Grimey Windows

No matter how diligent you are at cleaning the inside of your home, including your inside windows unless you wash them from the outside, they will appear dirty and have a noticeable effect on your curb appeal. You don’t have to wash them once a week or anything like that, just make sure you give them a thorough scrubbing with soap and water and a hose down twice a year.

2. Overgrown Lawn

Probably the most common curb appeal killer is an overgrown lawn. At least twice a month, it’s important to maintain your lawn. It doesn’t have to be perfect, you don’t have to dig out every weed, but as long as the grass is short and you have put the proper care into edging, it will look fine. The point is not to stick out like a sore thumb with respect to your neighbors.

3. Decrepit Garage Door

One of the first things that capture the attention of onlookers is the garage door, making it a vital aspect of curb appeal. This can be problematic because garage doors suffer a great deal of wear and tear. If replacing your garage door is not in the budget, there’s no excuse for not giving it a quick DIY paint job on a lazy Sunday.

4. Front Door

If the garage door is one of the first things people look at, one of the few things it’s surpassed by is the front door. If your front door isn’t up to snuff, you don’t have to completely replace it with something new, nice front doors are expensive. But repainting it and replacing the hardware will give a much-needed facelift with minimal expense.

5. Outdoor Lighting

Curb appeal during the daylight hours is as important as curb appeal at night. When a property is on the market, there will be prospective buyers driving by to check out the house; oftentimes it is after work hours when the sun is about to set. If your lighting is too dim your house can look uninviting, and if it’s too bright it can be intimidating. Make sure to replace the bulbs with the right intensity to create an ambiance that is comfortable to the eye. If it’s still too dark you can light the path to your door with solar-powered lights. They are inexpensive and impose no energy cost.