Episode 7: Final Look at the Front of House – Plus Top Ten List

Scott Williams: Sweet Home Santa Barbara, where the skies are so blue. Sweet Home Santa Barbara, what’s worked for me can work for you. 

Jonathan Robinson: Well, welcome back, friends, to Sweet Home Santa Barbara. I’m your co-host, Jonathan Robinson. I’m with my friend and realtor… 

Scott Williams: Scott Williams. Hello, Jonathan. 

Jonathan: Good to see you, Scott. In this episode, we’re going to talk a little bit more about the front of the house and do a top 10 list of the most important things to think of, reviewing some of the things that you talked about and some new things. When we talk about the front of the house, what’s the first thing that pops into your mind, in terms of what people should be aware of and most concerned about? 

Scott: Well, the most important thing is the color of your home. We know from various ways of testing this that the overall color and condition and the paint is the most dominant feature of a home. 

Jonathan: You don’t want certain colors because they will actually devalue the price of your house, right? 

Scott: That’s right. Another way to look at this is if you are a buyer, shopping for a home and you come across a home, that otherwise seems like it’s a good home to you, but it’s painted blue and you’re just a little bit put off by that, you’re in good company. Most people are put off by blue. It’s the most common color that we come across that is hurting the value of a property. 

Jonathan: Yeah, sometimes if you see houses, you go around neighborhoods and you see a house that’s a real off color, it could be a great house, but it’s like, “Oh, yuck. I couldn’t buy that. If they sold it to me for 10 bucks, I think I’d avoid it.” 

Scott: That’s true. Those sellers are losing money with their orchid house or their fuchsia home, or the pink home. All of those are costing them. 

Jonathan: Yeah. Before we go into our top 10 list, what else occurs to you in terms of the front of the house that people need to be very [crosstalk]? 

Scott: Can you see the house? Does the house pop out at you? A homeowner may want to conceal the home from the street, but a buyer wants to pull up and go, “Oh, that’s my home,” and so they want to see it. 

Jonathan: Yeah. You know, some of the things that might work for you as a homeowner, like privacy and big bushes in a blue home or whatever it is, don’t work when you’re selling your home, basically. 

Scott: Yes. Your home is your castle up until the time you decide that you want to market it, and then marketing ideas, like we’re talking about, if you want the most money for your house, then you need to think about these. 

Jonathan: Yeah. The good news is that there’s a lot of things you can do for under $100 that make a huge difference, which gets us into the top 10 list. I think we’re going to start at number 10 in terms of things people have to be aware of when marketing their homes. What’s number 10 on the top 10 list? 

Scott: If they’re less than $100, I’ll mention it. Number 10, that you’re going to trim the trees to show your house. We were just talking about that. That’s, sometimes, a little bit counterintuitive, but that’s the first thing you want to do, open up the view of the house. 

Jonathan: Right. Unfortunately, that can cost a bunch of money, so that’s why it’s number 10, probably. What’s number 9? 

Scott: Number 9 is clear the path to the front door. There’s probably some sort of pathway that goes between the street, or possibly driveway, up to the house. We want to move all the bushes and shrubs out of that pathway. Anything that’s hanging down over that, make it easy and people can walk side-by-side. We want them to be able to do that, and we want it very clear where we’re going to. The target is the front door. 

Jonathan: Yeah. You know, when you walk into a house and it’s clean, it’s a very different feeling than when there’s stuff all around, and probably the same is true when people are walking from the driveway to the front door. They like that clean look. 

Scott: Yeah. If you remember back, we talked about there’s a meter that sets in people’s minds as they arrive at the house, leaving the front of the house where you parked, and walking up to the front of the house itself. This is when the meter is running. This is when their internal clock is saying, “I like it,” “I don’t like it,” or how much they like it. All this is setting right now. You have to pay attention to that that’s going on. 

Jonathan: Okay. What’s next on the list? 

Scott: Well, if you’re living in the house, your present, then we’re going to want to have a bowl of flowers at the front door. That’s going to include a yellow flower, we call that temporary yellow. It kind of sparks up the front door as you go on by. This is certainly under $100. If you are in a vacant home, we will be foregoing this because there’s nobody that’s going to water it to take care. 

Jonathan: Right. Okay, that’s pretty easy to do. It’s interesting that that’s been shown to actually have a big return on the investment. 

Scott: Yes, it is studied, actually. Number 7 is the entryway flooring. We’re getting inside the front door here, but this is the location of probably the finest flooring in the house. Sometimes, people will have a carpet that will come right up to the front door. Other times, not, but we want to think about the entry area of the house. That should be the finest floor surface in the home. 

Jonathan: And probably, clean that area up pretty well. I know my entryway always has little things I’m going to take to the car and such, so clean that, as well as have nice flooring. 

Scott: Yeah. We are going to declutter, and you can’t live in your home the way you normally live while you’re up for sale. Those habits have to go during the marketing. 

Jonathan: Right. What’s next on the list? 

Scott: Let’s see. We’re moving to the doormat. Right out there as you pull up in front of the doormat, I tend to prefer and like the doormats that come from Ikea over Home Depot or Lowe’s, or some of the more normal places that you get them, but you want them to be a high-quality mat that fits the size of the front door and should not have lettering on it. It shouldn’t say, “I’d rather be camping,” or any other choices that you might make. Make it plain, but nice and brand-new. 

Jonathan: Okay, good. Are we up to number 5 now on the list, I think? 

Scott: I believe we are. The number 5 would be the mailbox. Now, the mailbox maybe out at the road or up at the house, but generally, it’s best to buy a brand new one. Again, it’s less than $100, but it’s part of the meter setting of how much they liked it. Go ahead and buy a brand-new mailbox. 

Jonathan: Yeah, I can see that. What’s number 4? 

Scott: Number 4 is the light fixture at the front door. Now, there’s a certain coherence or congruence of all these things around the front door. We want them to all be the same color. If it’s the mailbox at the front door and some of the things that we’re talking about, the light fixture at the front door here, we want them to all be oil rubbed bronze or they’re all going to be brushed nickel, or they’re all going to be brown, or they’re all going to be black. We want them all to match because normally, you would have gone to purchase these at different times at different stores, and they may not be matching. That’s a common experience as we check on a home that’s going up for sale. We want them all to match as [crosstalk]. 

Jonathan: That makes sense. It gives it a good, clean look. What’s number 3? 

Scott: The doorbell switch as opposed to the four, five, six, seven-dollar doorbell switch that they might have at Home Depot, we go over to Capitol Hardware. We spend 17, 18, 24, 32 dollars for a doorbell switch that would be emblematic of a five- or ten-million-dollar home. That’s the picture you want to have in your mind. If you have a ten-million-dollar home, what would your doorbell switch look like? You would buy a very nice one, but it’s hard to get past $30 or $40 for the nicest one that you can buy. 

Jonathan: Yeah. If you don’t have a 10-million-dollar home, you have a two-million-dollar home, you still might as well spend $30 or $40 because it gives you the classy look. 

Scott: That’s correct. The next one, our item number 2 would be the house numbers that’s in the same category. Instead of two dollars or five dollars or nine dollars, we spend two or three times that amount to buy really nice, very heavy metal, five-inch numbers that are really attractive that you could put on your 

gate of your 10-million-dollar house. That’s as we go up at the front door, again, matching all in color. While we’re talking on house numbers, there’s one other location or two other locations, potentially, for house numbers that you might be putting new ones. One would be out on the mailbox. If you have your mailbox on the street, you would, again, buy, maybe not 5-inch, maybe 3 or 4 inches, but on the post or the mailbox, you would be putting very nice house numbers. They need to put them on both sides of the mailbox out there, but very nice ones, brand new go on with your new mailbox and maybe even the new post or the new paint, that’s all out there in the mailbox. Sometimes, people need to have more than one set of numbers on their house. People who are coming for the first time need to feel really comfortable that they’re at the right place. Some of our areas like Montecito and Hope Branch do not have For Sale signs, and it’s okay to cover that really well. 

Jonathan: Yeah, sounds good and smart. Last but not least, number 1 thing to be aware of it? 

Scott: The front door color. We know from studies that the best front door color that produces about a 1% increase in the sales price of the house is black. You may not have a house with a black woodwork. It does not always work. Oftentimes, then, we’ll switch to a color that stands out, like red, occasionally yellow. Sometimes, we take the trim color of the house and take it to a very 

dark shade of the trim color. It may not be black, but it may be an umber brown, like a burnt brown, dark color. A very fresh coat of paint or stain makes a big difference at the front door. That’s wrapping up our top 10.  

Jonathan: Well, that’s great. That’s a lot of information, great information. Something I appreciate about these guys is that you help people with this, or you give them the opportunity to say you can work with them at a discount rate and just sell their house quickly without working on their house. That choice is really nice because in different environments, different markets, sometimes, people just want to sell their house really quickly without working out, and sometimes they want a bunch of work and increase the price before they sell it. 

Scott: We’ll go into that in depth because that’s where some really main choices need to be made by people. 

Jonathan: Well, it’s great that you have that flexibility. We look forward to catching you on the next episode of Sweet Home Santa Barbara. If people want to get ahold of you, Scott, what’s the best way for them to reach you and contact you? 

Scott: Well, Jonathan, the name is Scott Williams, and the email is Scott@ScottWilliams.com. 

Jonathan: You have a website, as well. 

Scott: ScottWilliams.com. 

Jonathan: That makes it easy. Great. Well, we look forward to having you at our next episode, friends, and till then, enjoy your Sweet Home Santa Barbara. 

Scott Williams Voice Over: Thank you for listening. Please subscribe to our podcast on your favorite app. If you know someone preparing to sell their home, please tell them about the podcast. Visit ScottWilliams.com to contact me and download the two free E-booklets: “Is My House Saleable Now?” and “How Not to Buy a Money Pit”. Thank you for listening.