How to Up Your Curb Appeal to Enhance Your Custom Home

When you’re dreaming about building your own custom home, the resale value is probably the last thing you think about. Yet designing a home with curb appeal is important.

According to the National Association of Realtors, first impressions are everything.

Can someone make up their minds on a property in under ten seconds? Yes.

Can someone decide on whether to visit a potential property based on photographs alone? Over 63 percent of home buyers decide based on the pictures they see online.

First impressions are a part of human nature. We form opinions in everything we do. We judge based on what we see and what we learn within those first few seconds of time. We want to trust. We want to feel comfortable and warm. And we can see it simply by looking at the outside package.

Walk up to a home that needs paint, the shutters are falling off the hinges, or the landscaping is dead. That creates a pretty significant first impression, right? I’m sure you can picture it now, the one home in the neighborhood that everyone talks about.

Now let your mind wander to another home, the one that everyone dreams of owning. It’s the perfect color to blend in with the surroundings. The landscaping is well manicured, flowers blooming amongst the green of the trees and bushes. The front door is gorgeous, welcoming in all who visit. The windows let in the perfect amount of natural light. And when you enter, the only thing that crosses your mind is peace, serenity, the feeling of being welcomed home.

That’s what we’re all looking for in a home.

And when you build a custom home, you can create that any way you choose.

Curb appeal starts at the front door
The concept of “curb appeal” obviously started outside as you drive up to your home for the first time. It’s the impression you get from the road, from stopping and viewing your home from the curb. And that’s where the custom designed home can win every time.

Think about all the homes you’ve visited or looked at in a magazine or online. What attracts you the most? Is it the path leading up to the door? Is it the landscaping that nestles the home into its surroundings? Is it the front porch that beckons you in? Is it the large front door that can only be described as gorgeous?

With a custom home, you can put your dreams on paper and make them a reality. It means you don’t have to select from one or two options the builder has available, or accept what’s currently in place on a previously owned home. Instead, you can search to your heart’s content, finding the perfect look for you. Find websites, photographs, manufacturers, or designs. Present them to your custom home builder and listen to what they have to say. They have the ability to make your dreams come true.

Act like a buyer
When you are designing your custom home, you are in fact a home buyer. But sometimes that meaning gets lost in transition. Often, we see people designing their custom homes forget about the end results, focused instead on the nitty-gritty of what they have in mind. You may have this vision in mind, but when it is drawn out on paper and built into your final home, it can leave your home looking a little odd.

This is where it pays to build trust with your custom home design team. After all, they design custom homes every day. They know what works, and more importantly, what doesn’t. They’ve dealt with strange requests, and put together plans for things only one person could ever want. They’ve also developed ways of incorporating a client’s wishes and creating the result that will look aesthetically pleasing for years to come.

While your custom home should be the place you’ve always dreamt of, don’t forget to look at it through the eyes of a home buyer too. Do your ideas translate well on paper? What’s the best way to get what you want while creating a well-functioning home in the process? That’s what a custom home design team is truly for.

Where to skimp and where to splurge
We all know that success can only be built if you have a great foundation in place. That thought can be carried over into many aspects of our lives, including the homes we live in.

Throughout the home building process, you’ll be asked to make hundreds of decisions. From what color to paint the walls, to what appliances you want in place, to the material in place on your roof, you’re about to be tested in ways you never have before.

And let’s face it, some choices are more fun to make. It’s exciting sitting down with color palettes and finding the perfect color for your kitchen. Selecting a roof? It might not be quite as much fun.

But it’s important to keep in mind that some things have longevity and can literally impact the functionality of your home. Select the wrong roof, and you might have a very expensive mistake to correct in a matter of a few years. Select the wrong paint color, and it’s an easy fix even just a few weeks after you move in.

Use longevity to factor into all your decisions. If something has the potential to last for years, save you money in the process, and be difficult to replace once you’re moved in, spend extra time weighing your decisions. If something is a part of the structure of your home, select with care. That includes things like windows and doors, the roof and the floor.

Just Ask
The most important factor when choosing to build your own custom home is to realize you’re not alone. Chances are you’ve never gone down this road before. You may love watching home shows on HGTV or love pinning your wishes to your Pinterest board. But when it comes to knowing what makes a well-designed home, you haven’t mastered the art.

That’s where we can help. We’ve helped people just like you over and over again. We get design. We understand building. We can help you find the perfect look for you.

Just ask.