Winter Kerb Appeal: What Buyers See Before They Knock
A buyer decides more about your house from the pavement than you would ever want to believe.
They are not being unfair. They are just arriving before you have had a chance to explain anything, and in November they are arriving in the dark, in the wet, to a garden that has stopped doing you any favours.
Why does kerb appeal matter more in winter?
Because everything that was hiding the flaws in July has died back.
In summer, a full border, a green lawn and a bit of leaf cover do an enormous amount of unpaid work. They soften hard edges, they hide the wheelie bins, and they draw the eye away from tired paintwork. Strip all that out and you are left with the bones of the place, which is exactly what a winter buyer sees.
The good news is that bones are fixable in an afternoon.
What do buyers actually notice from the pavement?
Far less than you think, and much more specifically.
Whether the path is clear, lit and safe to walk up in the wet.
The state of the front door and its furniture. Handles, letterbox, the bell that may or may not work.
Bins. Where they are, how many, and whether they are the first thing in shot.
Gutters, downpipes and any staining running down a wall underneath them.
Whether the windows look cared for, or whether the frames are quietly rotting.
Notice that not one of those is the garden design. Winter buyers are not judging your planting. They are reading the property for signs of neglect, because neglect is what costs them money later.
What is the single biggest winter mistake?
Wet leaves.
A path covered in sodden leaves says nobody has been out here in weeks, and it says it before anyone has knocked. Worse, it is slippery, so the first thing your buyer feels is mild alarm rather than interest. Twenty minutes with a stiff brush is the highest return you will get on any job in this list.
A blocked gutter is a close second, and for a harder reason. Water coming over the front of a gutter leaves a stain, and to a buyer a damp looking wall is a damp wall until proven otherwise.
What should you do this weekend?
Work outward from the door, and stop when you have spent a day on it.
Clear the path and the drive properly. Leaves, moss, weeds in the block paving, the lot. Then keep on top of it, because it comes back in a fortnight.
Clean the front door and repaint it if it needs it. A door is a small area of paint and the single most photographed thing you own.
Get light on the approach. A working outside light, or a couple of solar spikes along the path, changes an evening viewing completely.
Move the bins out of the shot, and if they cannot move, screen them.
Clear the gutters and hose down any staining underneath while you are up there.
Wash the front windows and the frames. Grubby glass reads as neglect from thirty feet away.
Cut back anything overhanging the path or the front windows. Light into the room matters more in November than the shrub does.
What if the garden is genuinely the selling point?
Then show it twice.
Ask your agent to include a summer photograph clearly labelled as such, alongside the current ones. Buyers are not stupid and they do not mind, as long as nobody is pretending. What they object to is a listing that is entirely summer pictures in November, because it reads as a house that failed to sell.
A simple line in the description telling them what the garden does in May is worth more than a hedge you cannot show them.
Does any of this actually change the price?
It changes the offer, which amounts to the same thing.
A buyer who arrives feeling that a house has been looked after starts from a position of trust, and negotiates gently. A buyer who arrives past dying pot plants and a slippery path starts hunting for what else has been let go, and negotiates accordingly. You are not buying a higher price. You are removing the reasons to offer a lower one.
Where should you start?
Stand on the opposite pavement at four in the afternoon and photograph your own house on your phone. The camera is much less forgiving than your eye, because your eye has stopped seeing the place. Whatever bothers you in that photograph is what to fix first.
Frequently asked questions
Is it worth repainting the front door in November?
Yes, if you get a dry spell and use an exterior paint rated for the temperature. Check the tin, because many will not cure properly below about five degrees. If the weather will not allow it, a thorough clean and new door furniture gets you most of the way.
Should I put lights up for viewings?
Light the approach, yes. Anything that helps someone get from the car to your front door safely and warmly is doing a job. Just keep it functional rather than festive, so the photographs do not date the moment the decorations come down.
My house is a flat with no garden. Does this apply?
Even more so, because you control less of it. Focus on your own front door, the hallway immediately inside it, and anything communal you can reasonably tidy or report. A well lit, clean shared entrance does a great deal of work for a flat.
If you know someone getting ready to sell this winter, please pass this on.
About the Ethical Agent Network
The Ethical Agent Network (EAN) is a national group of independent agents held to strict, independently assessed standards on honesty, service and community. It is not a badge you buy. It is one you earn, and have to keep earning. We are proud members, and the logo is there so you can spot an agent who has already been vetted to look after you properly. If you would like to know more about the Ethical Agent Network, please get in touch or visit www.ethicalagentnetwork.co.uk.