When you're considering selling a piece of northern Michigan real estate, you must consider what the potential buyer's first impression will be. Working investment properties as a side business selling 5-10 per year, curb appeal is the most affordable upgrade you can do to help the Realtor sell your home.

Curb appeal is the general appearance that your property gives off. There are things you can do to improve the value of your home or at least decrease the amount of time it will take to sell your piece of property. For those who are working on a budget, which most of us are, this is where we have an advantage. At this stage in the selling process, we are trying to maximize the return on every dollar spent. If improving the looks of your home or vacant land helps you sell the piece of northern Michigan real estate quicker, then you've actually made money. Just figure in taxes, insurance and interest on the loan and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Anyway, as far as a home is concerned, a few potted flowers will make a world of difference along with a fresh coat of paint if the exterior is rough. Painting is a must if there is any sign of wear and tear.  In fact, don't even bother putting your home for sale unless exterior is fresh, unless of course it is a fire sale. Bushes and shrubs would be a little too much too late. We want to focus on a clean and well groomed yard. Make sure all the drapes are matching and junk is out of of site that we tend to set on the window sills. If you need to trim around the windows with some touch up paint, that is a cheap way to clean things up as well. I mentioned it early, but make sure all the junk is out of the yard. Kids toys need to be picked up and vehicles need to be parked neatly in the driveway.

Even if you are dealing with vacant Upper Peninsula Michigan real estate for sale, it is important to at least have a driveway put into the property. Buyer's want to be able to drive on the property, park and want to feel what the property is going to be like. I've seen many offers written on the hood of a car while parked in the drive of an 80 acre parcel. Now, there may not be a lot of 80's available in Traverse City, Sutton's Bay, Leland or Petoskey, but this should be a consideration even on smaller pieces of land.

The above are just a few quick and easy steps. Of course putting in flowers, landscape stones, rocks, lights, etc. will aid in the sale of your home, but if you haven't done this already, then don't worry about it now. No matter what type of buyer you're looking to attract to Northern Michigan, all buyers will respond to a nice curb appeal.