RE: Real Estate Podcast

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (00:00)
studies have shown that houses with high curb appeal sell for 7 % more on average than someone who hasn't updated the curb appeal on their

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (00:27)
Hello everybody. Welcome to another episode of the RE Real Estate Podcast. I'm your cohost, Ben Harang I'm with today my cohost, Clint Galliano. How you doing today, Clint?

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (00:41)
I'm doing wonderful, Ben. How you doing?

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (00:44)
Clint, I'm doing terrific, man. The sun's shining, the weather's nice, there's fall in the air, the weather's changing, life is good, life is good. So.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (00:56)
That's awesome. I've been over here at the office. We've had Keller Training Camp all week. And so while we've had some incredible speakers and classes going on here at the office, it also means that we've had breakfast and lunch and alcohol every day.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (01:16)
Well, I've had breakfast and lunch. hadn't partake in any alcohol. Everybody's better off when I don't do that.

What were we talking about today?

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (01:25)
you ever heard the saying that you never get a second chance to make a first impression? Well, in real estate, that first impression happens before a buyer even walks through the door. It happens right at the curb. So today we're talking about the incredible power of curb appeal and how it can dramatically impact your home sale.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (01:44)
The, the idea that you can prep your house for sale is foreign to a lot of people. And typically I'll, I'll walk through a house with people and point out things that they may or may not want to hear, but how to get the house ready. And chances are, if they do half of what I suggest, I'm, I'm excited on a couple of occasions. They took what I said to heart.

And three or four months later, I get a phone call and say, we're ready, Ben. I said, what you mean? But we did everything you told us to do. Come back. I walk into that, to that house. It's like, it's a brand new house. And my reaction is like, you really want to move now. You know, the house is ready, is ready to go. And that house will absolutely sell faster and for more money than a house down the street that somebody just went to a big box store and got a for sale sign and put it in the front yard.

brings people through a house wet that's well lived in and not freshened up. So it seems like a small thing if you're ready to move and you're tired and you don't want to clean it up and you don't want to paint it or you don't want to cut the grass or rake the leaves. You're going to pay for it in the long run. So you're better off getting it ready to show.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (02:59)
And Bill Boyd told me one time that when you're working with buyers, you should always park across the street if they're riding with you so that when they get out the vehicle that they're looking at the house, at the whole house. And especially if it's a house that has curb appeal so they can get that full impact of how the house looks.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (03:19)
Mm-hmm.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (03:24)
and you know it's like curb appeal so it's like you're looking at it from the curb and it's appealing. It's you know some houses are stunning some houses you look at and it's like well that that's not very encouraging it looks like a box you know and

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (03:38)
Right. Some houses you look

at and think I need to drive back to that house every day. I need to see that house from the outside every day. I don't think so. You know, that's just, just the way it is.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (03:47)
Yeah, you know, and it's like, it doesn't

matter if you walk in and it's like, holy crap, it looks like the Taj Mahal in here, but the outside has no curb appeal.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (03:53)
Right. You jaded from

the outside before you start. So that would be the legendary billboard. 50 years.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (03:59)
Yep.

The legendary

50 years in real estate, Bill Boyd, Realtor of the Year in Louisiana and all those accolades.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (04:10)
Yeah,

uh-huh. I thought that's who you were talking about. Okay. so the curb appeal is is good. but it it also goes into the house. you know the the

What you do on the outside of the house needs to be done on the inside of the house. That's what I'm trying to say.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (04:29)
Yeah, and then that goes

without saying, yeah.

A house that has overgrown weeds, peel and paint, a dingy front door, the knobs are rusted, they got stains all around the door knob. That's going to be way less appealing than something that's freshly painted, cleaned up, pressure washed driveway, pressure washed house, freshly painted.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (04:42)
Mm-hmm. ⁓

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (04:51)
You know, something that makes you go, ooh, as opposed to something that makes you go, ugh.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (04:55)
Right.

And I tell people when they, their house is ready for the market. When they look at it and start to wonder why they want to sell it. that's when it's time to put it on the market. They've done such a good job, job prepping it. they start second guessing themselves on why they want to sell the house.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (05:15)
And from that perspective, studies have shown that houses with high curb appeal sell for 7 % more on average than someone who hasn't updated the curb appeal on their house, which makes sense. It's more appealing to the buyers.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (05:35)
It absolutely does. And you can, you can drive through subdivisions with that, that generally have pride of ownership and you'll, you'll see the houses are well maintained, the yards are, mowed and edged and raked and everything's ready to go. then they'll have somebody that's kind of new to the neighborhood.

And yeah, that grass is a little long. They don't edge quite as often as the rest of the neighborhood. just doesn't, it doesn't fit in a neighborhood. And the neighbors have just not been able to educate that new homeowner yet how he needs to keep his property to stay in the neighborhood. you know, so it definitely attracts, whether it's good or bad, there's, a visual judgment made on your house from the curb.

And you don't want that to be negative before the people even walk into your house and their view is jaded.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (06:27)
So if you're thinking about selling your house and you want to update your curb appeal, there's four main areas to look at. So the first one is your landscaping. So you want to mow your grass, it well trimmed. You want to make sure there's no weed in the flower beds or weeds.

You want to lay down a fresh layer of dark mulch. It's kind of like a new layer of paint, a fresh layer of paint on things because it looks fresh. It looks neat. It looks appealing. It makes everything pop. You want to trim back your overgrown bushes, especially anything that's covering windows or hiding you windows. You want to make sure that those stand out. And you want to add some seasonal color.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (06:54)
Mm-hmm.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (07:11)
depending on the time of the year that you're listing and everything, but maybe some pots with some colorful plants in them just to kind of help everything look nice. And like Ben said, make sure that you edge along your driveways if you want to take the extra mile and you've got lawn up to the edge of the street, edge along the curb, make sure that everything is nice and neat.

next thing to look at would be the grand entrance, your front door. So fresh coat of paint always helps. I've seen a lot of homes that they wanted to go with the wooden door. Gotta have the wooden door. I got it from Mama's old house and we've got to have it on our front door and then they don't take care of it. And especially if it faces east or west.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (07:58)
Mm-hmm.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (08:01)
and it deteriorates after a short period of time. The paint dries out, the doors crack. You want to maintain that. Make sure it's filled in, sanded smooth, put some fresh paint on it. Make it pop. Give it a color that accents the color of your home, the exterior, but also is a nice contrast to it also. You know, a good accent.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (08:01)
Right.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

don't go out and paint your front door purple or green or... Just don't... You might love purple. You may be the only person in the world that loves purple. Don't do it. Use some neutral tones, moderate colors that, like Clint said, that accents the rest of your house.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (08:30)
Why was I thinking purple?

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (08:46)
And if you can't pick colors, go to a paint store and get some help. They'll be happy to tell you which one people are using. And look, you judge from the outside of your house what the inside is going to look like. So if you can get past the judgment on the outside and then the inside, people expect it to be the same.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (09:04)
Now, you also want to don't forget your hardware. So if your knob is has all the lacquer rubbed off or it's rusting, it's time for that to go too. Put something new in. They're not that expensive. You could put something that looks nice and matches with everything else. Next thing is the title of the the power of clean.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (09:16)
Mm-hmm.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (09:27)
You know, so if you don't have a pressure washer, rent a pressure washer, hire somebody to pressure wash it. Pressure wash the house, the driveway, the walkways, the siding, the gables, the fascia, the soffits, you know, get everything neat looking. Cause that's going to do a lot as people walk around the house and look at things. Clean the windows inside and out. It makes everything look brighter, cleaner. Again,

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (09:40)
Mm-hmm.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (09:53)
I hate to beat a dead horse on it, but what you're going for is appeal. doing that helps out a lot.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (10:03)
And Clint talked about the difference in the sales price. In addition to the difference in the sales price, if you do it right, you get the speed at which the house will sell. Cause until I, until I got into this business, I grossly underestimated how many people, how many houses buyers see. Clint and I see a lot of houses. Somebody that's actively in the market will see more houses than Clint and I probably.

and when they, when they see the one that they want, they're going to buy it and you want yours to be the one that they want. you want yours, you want to make yours the next house to sell. Not only driven by the price, it has to be properly priced, but you get into that price range and all of a sudden they see five or six houses that a well lived in, and just not even, not even in bad shape.

but just lived in from years of the parents in three or four children running around in the house. It shows wear and tear versus somebody that has been through all of that and painted, cleaned the floors, changed the floors, do what needed to be done. It's a no brainer that that house will be the next one to sell.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (11:14)
And so the fourth part, we'll call it, let there be light. So look at your lighting on the exterior of the home. And that's if I was thinking about selling and even though I'm not thinking about selling, I know it's something I need to update on my house. I've got one of my light fixtures on outside of my door that's not working. I've got some corner light fixtures that are dead.

And so that all needs to be updated. So you can get some stylish, affordable replacement lights and it's same thing like your door hardware. You want to get something that looks nice and is functional. And for an extra touch, you can add some solar powered lights along your walkways that will give it a nice looking glow for people coming visit at night.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (11:45)
Mm-hmm.

Well, you said you have a couple of broken things as we talking about it. I'm realizing when I get home today, I'm a mow the grass and needs to be cut. the, there's a spot on my front door on the inside that needs to be painted. Probably need to paint the door

every time I unlocked the back door to my house. I'll see the, ⁓ 15 year old, Venetian bronze lock

I'm thinking I need to replace that

But it works fine. And I'm not thinking of selling. So, I always think about these things about what I would do if I put my house on the market. And the first thing I would do is get it ready from the outside in.

Because doing the inside didn't do a whole lot of good if the people had turned off from the outside before they even walked in the house.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (13:01)
So some other things that you can look at, maybe a little bit bigger projects, is painting your exterior trim and shutters.

gives it a crisp, neat look.

Depending on how old your mailbox is and how many times the drunken neighbors from the back of the neighborhood have hit it, maybe time for an upgrade.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (13:17)
Mm-hmm.

Sound like you have experience with that.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (13:23)
Not personally, but at least three times my neighbor has had to put his mailbox back up. One time they took out a whole mortered brick mailbox so he replaced it with a four by four with a stake on the bottom and that one's been taken out twice. I don't know what it is, but people like to run over his mailbox for some reason.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (13:24)
Ha ha ha

Mm-hmm.

Hehehehehe

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (13:48)
and it's nothing

personal, I think it's just they're not paying attention. And they don't stop to say, hey, I hit your mailbox, can I fix it for you?

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (13:51)
Yeah.

Right,

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (13:57)
So another one would be like cracked concrete in your walkway or your driveway or a sagging gutter. Those are red flags that concrete is probably not so much, but if you don't have it, it's a lot less of a detraction. Sagging gutters are definitely a detraction.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (14:14)
Yeah, yeah. It's first thing you expect to see on a foreclosed property is a hanging downspout on a gutter or a hanging gutter.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (14:22)
All right, so that's a wrap for the power of curb appeal. So kind of a recap here is tidy up your landscape, put some fresh mulch and some flowers, make your front door a welcoming focal point for when people walk up, clean everything until it shines, update your lighting, and that'll have a sizable impact when you're ready to sell.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (14:47)
Yes, it will.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (14:48)
So here's a little call to action. It sounds like Ben and I have already kind of halfway started thinking about our own homes. So walk across the street from your house and take a picture of it. Look at it with fresh eyes, kind of with the things we talked about today in mind. And look at it like a buyer would. What things could you change this weekend to make a better first impression on your home?

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (15:13)
Because in today's market, you need to make the buyer want your house and not want somebody else's house. And it's not always about price. Price is up there and what's important. But if they walk in into a nice clean house that they can feel at home in, that goes a long way. They can overlook a lot about the price.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (15:33)
Yeah, there's people, they see a house they want, they're going to buy that house regardless of all the other factors. And it happens, you know, and not everybody thinks like me and says, well, I really like the house, but it's going to cost me this much to maintain it. It's going to cost me this much in insurance. It's going to cost this much in utilities and things like that.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (15:43)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (16:00)
That's my thinking process.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (16:00)
Yeah. I kind of like those buyers that don't think about all that, Clint. No. We want people to buy a house with their eyes wide open and know exactly what they're getting into. We don't like surprises after the fact. So, all right, Clint. Yeah.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (16:06)
I like all buyers.

Yeah, we point all that stuff out. So,

all right, well, that's another one in the can. Remember to like, subscribe, share, comment, invite all your friends, tell your friends about us. Go to rerealestatepodcast.com. You can watch videos from there. You can ask us questions that will...

eventually getting around to answering here on the podcast. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app from there or just listen to episodes directly on the website. You can also access Ben and I's agent websites if you want to contact us. What did I forget, Ben?

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (17:01)
we, Clint and I both happy to talk to you if you have any questions, you know, if we picked, if we, if we hit a topic that you're interested in and not real clear, you know, contact us, leave a message on the, on the website, email us, call us, text us. We happy to have a 10 or 15 minute conversation, about your concerns or questions and, and see where it goes.

Clinton and both love to sell real estate, but every conversation we have is not about just buying and selling.

So that's it for me, Clint.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (17:28)
Yeah.

All right, Ben. Well, y'all have a good one, and we'll talk to y'all next time.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (17:34)
All right, see y'all in the next episode.