Source: US News —
If you’ve ever put your home up for sale, you know how important curb appeal is to attracting the right buyer quickly. If your house doesn’t have that little something when they pull up, they might not even come inside. And today, as more people find your home online long before they show up in the driveway, something else is starting to matter a whole lot: digital curb appeal. Here are a few ways to make sure your on-market home has it.
What Is Digital Curb Appeal?
Digital curb appeal is a new variable in the curb appeal equation for home sellers and home buyers. Not only does your home need to shine like a diamond when potential buyers show up, it should also look amazing online.
“Every listing begins online, even if all an agent is doing is throwing it in the MLS, as 80% of homebuyers begin their journey online,” says Maureen McDermut, realtor with Sotheby’s International in Montecito, California. “I ensure every home I list is professionally staged and architectural photos are taken. When it comes to the exterior of the home, I am often contracting landscapers, roofers and other assorted services for my clients to ensure the home photographs well. One of the most common things I urge sellers to do is change their entry door. Entry doors are the top return on investment improvement you can make to your home. An investment in a $300 door can lead to an increase of $7,000-$10,000 in the sale price of the home.”
Unlike physical curb appeal, digital curb appeal is about more than just the outside of the home. Buyers get a chance to look through your entire home virtually, so it’s important that digital curb appeal extends to every part of your home’s listing by creating a great subject for solid photography.
“Before physical curb appeal, buyers see the digital curb appeal through online media,” says Abdul Hasib Azizi, broker and global advisor at Premier Sotheby’s International Realty in St. Petersburg, Florida. “For example, if we see a picture of a room which is clean and decorated nicely, using good color furniture and so forth, it automatically attracts us to learn about it more. Finally, it will make us want to go and see it in person, and to purchase it. So digital curb appeal is really an important part of a listing that can provide a good or bad impression on a property.”
