We all know how popular Cape Town is – last year it topped the Telegraph Travel Awards as the Best City in the World, and in Condé Nast’s highly acclaimed Reader’s Choice Awards, it topped the list as Best Food City in the World as well. So, if you’re about to sell a house in Cape Town you’ve already answered the golden mantra of any estate agent: location, location, location. But after that, when it comes to making a property more sellable, where should you begin? The answer is curb appeal.
We all know first impressions count. No matter how great the inside of your home is, buyers have already judged your house before walking through the front door, so from that very first moment a potential buyer drives up to a property, they need to be impressed with what they see. Gravel and dirt driveways are not going to do that, and neither are faded or cracking asphalt, but paving shows care and investment – it creates a perception of value and it’s this initial perception that forms the essential first step in a successful sale.
With curb appeal potential buyers are drawn in to see what else the property might have to offer, and while the wish list will change from party to party, what the outside area of the property looks like will always play an important role in the buying decision. In fact, so important is outside appeal that when a leading UK estate agent surveyed more than 1,000 homeowners in the process of buying or selling a home, 61% of the buyers felt that a well presented outdoor space was instrumental in making the purchase.
A few questions serious buyers will ask themselves are: is the outside area attractive, is it low maintenance, does it need any further investment? Is there a natural flow from inside to outside with courtyards and patios, and are these areas well-maintained? If the garden is landscaped, is it water wise? Have large expanses of lawn been strategically replaced with paving, or is this something that still needs to be done – currently a very important consideration with the drought in the Western Cape.
So, if you’re about to put your property on the market, apart from evaluating the interior of the house, consider the exterior and determine how presentable it is. You can never over-capitalise by paving driveways and walkways, or creating garden rooms; and if you need help with that, turn to professionals like QPave – industry experts driven to deliver the highest quality work and customer service at all times.
