Don’t Overlook The Garage When Getting Your Home Ready To Sell

There’s a lot of talk about curb appeal being the driving force drawing buyers into your home. It makes sense. If the house looks a mess from the outside, what buyer would want to set foot inside?

Well, maybe your house isn’t quite a mess. You have taken the time to fix-up the landscape, power-washed the house, and even painted the mailbox. But did you overlook what can be the biggest eyesore — the garage?

It’s the largest architectural element on the house. So it really, in this day and age, is impossible to dismiss the garage door as an important architectural element.

But the garage door is more than an architectural element. It can be a trigger point for buyers. They’re driving down the street in a tract-home neighborhood and suddenly they spot a carriage style steel garage door or a custom wooden garage door. It’s striking and different and often gives them reason to stop and take a closer look, maybe even come inside.

If you have a house that has a nice garage door, it sets the stage for the fact that everything else in the house is going to have attention to detail and it really does differentiate homes that are on the same street. With some exterior paint and a unique garage door, the house really becomes a semi-custom house.

Swapping out an old steel-style, raised-panel garage door that once was so very traditional is a huge improvement to a home. There is definitely an increase in the property value commensurate with the investment that you make in the garage door. And then there is the perceived value.

But not every garage door works with every style of home. You should really take a close look at your architectural style before you decide on the right garage door. Homeowners should match their home architecture to a garage door that is architecturally congruent. That way, you’re making the whole house just look that much more custom and fitted.

Whether or not you decide to replace your garage door, it’s important to make sure it at least is working properly. Besides the garage door looking good, it’s really an appliance on the house that has to operate efficiently, reliably, and without failure every single day. The key concept to remember is that a garage door shouldn’t just house your car and all your stuff that won’t fit in your home, instead it should help to entice buyers to want to see more of the house.