Front Door Tune-up

When you’re preparing your house for the market, almost every agent will explain how valuable curb appeal is when it comes to marketing your home. Curb appeal can mean a lot of things, of course, ranging from wholesale replacement of the roof, paint, and landscaping, to a few tidy details designed to spruce up the place.

One of the best (and most cost-effective!) tune-ups you can make works both from the curb and from up close. It’s kind of like Botox for your home’s face. It’s a little something I like to think of as the “Front Door Tune-up.”

The front door is a focal point on your home, both from a distance and up close. Here’s how to leverage it for maximum impact:

1) Paint the door with an appropriate, fresh, contrasting color. Not only will this draw the eye (possibly even away from the crack in the driveway!), but it will go a long way to creating the impression of a new paint job.

2) Replace faded, small address numbers with classy, visibly new hardware. Long gone are the days of tacky decals. Even a modest investment at an upscale home accessories store can add a touch of luxury to your entryway.

3) Replace knob/handle and lock hardware. The feel of the doorknob, the click of the hardware, and the sense of security the door conveys matters hugely. It’s a front-line sensory experience for potential buyers. A sticky, weak, degraded set of locks only hurts your first impression.

4) Upgrade the door, if possible. Sometimes paint and hardware won’t do the trick. If you have an older home in a subdivision where many of the same styles of door were used, this could be a good time to differentiate your home while upgrading the aesthetic.

Will a door save your home from significant cosmetic problems? No. But I’ve seen it work again and again: The “Front Door Tune-up” is a subtle but effective listing tool.

I have lots of resources on curb appeal! Contact me for more:

http://www.fortlauderdalehomeseller.com/registration/

Big Goals

Are you going to be one of the few who look back one year from now with the extreme satisfaction of having kept your promises to yourself? Or will you be among the millions who vow to try again next year?

I want you to be in the first category, and I want to help you see your goals become reality. So in that spirit, I thought I’d share a few strategies and tools for success this year.

1) Have you really articulated your goal? Is it “be in better shape” or is it “lose 30 pounds”? A degree of specificity is a must, because you’ll need an objective against which you can measure your efforts.

2) Have you gotten excited about your goal? Have you imagined the outcome? Don’t be ashamed to really visualize yourself enjoying the spoils of your hard work. Imagine yourself sharing your success story with pride.

3) Share your goals! Don’t keep your dreams in the closet where no one can see them. Public declaration not only helps you find third-party support from friends and family, but putting them out there makes them harder to abandon when motivation flags.

4) Don’t give in to “all or none” thinking. When you slip, lose focus, or encounter setbacks, don’t use them as license to give up. It will feel worse to crawl back after a blow-out than it will to forgive yourself and pick up where you left off. Accept that progress matters more than perfection.

5) Leverage apps and other technology to help you make progress. Automatic reminders, social networks, and other goal-specific tools can help. (Check out this article on “5 Apps for Keeping New Year’s Resolutions: http://mashable.com/2012/12/27/apps-new-years-resolutions/)

So what are your goals? Comment below! No time like the present to make your dreams public.

(Of course, if one of your goals is to buy or sell a home, I’d be happy to play a big part in helping you reach that objective! Contact me today!)