3 Budget-Friendly Curb Appeal Projects

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There are a variety of steps that you can take to improve the curb appeal of your home. Many of which are extremely affordable and do not require a ton of effort. Here are three examples of budget-friendly curb appeal projects that you may want to consider in 2020.

Upgrade front entryway

If you plan on selling your home soon, you may want to consider upgrading the front of your home to appeal to a greater number of buyers. Your front door can make or break your home’s curb appeal. An easy way to enhance the appearance of your front door is to replace the hardware. Consider upgrading items like your handles, knocker, and peephole if you have one. Another relatively easy way to spruce up your front door is with a fresh coat of paint. This is a great place to consider adding a splash of color to your home. You may also want to think about replacing your house numbers or investing in an inviting welcome mat as well.

Upgrade mailbox

When was the last time you looked at your mailbox? This is one aspect that is often overlooked by home sellers. Another low-budget way to enhance your curb appeal is a new mailbox. You may not even replace the entire mailbox. A new box may be all that you need.

Upgrade lighting fixtures

Excellent outdoor light can dramatically enhance the appearance of your home from the street. You want your entryway to look and feel as inviting as possible. Many outdoor lighting fixtures are surprisingly easy to install and won’t cause you to break the bank. They may just what you need for evening home showings.

HUD Foreclosures

HUD foreclosures and VA Foreclosures are some of the best homes to buy when price is part of the equation. As with most Americans, price is always a concern. If not buying the same house for less, why not buy more house for the same dollar invested? When looking for a good deal it is hard to do better than the VA or HUD foreclosures market. The simple truth is that there are just more VA and HUD homes on the market, as they represent such a large number of mortgages that are generated each year. This translates into more foreclosures just by the magnitude of difference between all others comparing to the two largest.

The two largest also being government owned and operated means that they have less time to wait to make money back on the home. The FHA is especially known for selling HUD homes for less than the average sales price in a given area. FHA foreclosures represent a fraction of HUD but they are still a significant number of homes and both should be considered.

VA (Veterans Administration) and HUD (Housing and Urban Development) have different and unique opportunities for the buyer. Both are often forgiven for the local taxes normally associated with the purchase of a home (this is on a county by county basis). Be sure to ask the local title company or escrow company to look into it for you before closing as this is often missed due to their are not used to dealing with the 2 to 3 percent of the market that VA and HUD foreclosures represent.

Foreclosure Listings Increasing

As the market settled after the mortgage meltdown foreclosure listings also settled and fewer homes were on the market with a placard reading “Bank Foreclosure” in big red lettering. This was a good thing for the entire real estate market. Having an abundance of foreclosures brings the entire market down and it makes it harder for home owners, who would like to move, to get the appropriate price for their home as a similar home down the same street was sold for substantially less and the appraiser is using the foreclosure as a comparable sale.

This is just one of the problems when there are too many foreclosure listings in any area. Another issue is the television set that sits in everyone’s living room harping about the price of homes based on the number of foreclosures and this constant barrage of negative information makes most people sit on the sidelines waiting for the market to either implode completely or to correct itself. Meanwhile while they wait, others are buying foreclosure listings and making great investments.

Whatever the reason, a market can only handle so many foreclosure listings at any given time. The more foreclosures, the lower the market gets and this is a lesson the banks that were foreclosing and selling off realized too late. The market and their investments would have been better off if there had not been a rush to divest themselves of the toxic assets made more toxic by their own actions.