| \n In the home-selling market, curb appeal is better than cash. If you can get buyers through the front door, you’ve passed the first hurdle in selling your home.”If they don’t like what they see outside, they’ll never walk inside,” says Michael Love, president of Interior Options Inc., a New York interior design firm.Curb appeal can often mean the difference between a house sitting for months or selling in a few weeks.<\/p>\n “Our region is still trying to get out of the economic doldrums — we have many homes on the market,” says Scott Griffith, president of ERA Griffith Realty in Brighton, Mich. “Curb appeal is going to be a big issue. With more homes competing for your eye, the home with curb appeal has the advantage.”<\/p>\n And the view from the street can net you more traffic than you might think. Seventy-four percent of all home buyers use the Internet to shop for a new home, according to 2004 figures from the National Association of Realtors.<\/p>\n “The first impression is key,” says Dan Lee, vice president of First Weber Group Inc. in Madison, Wisc. “People shopping on the Internet give it one look. If they don’t like what they see, that’s it.”<\/p>\n<\/td>\n |