Street Appeal works wonders

How often do you sit in front of your property and really have a good long critical look at it? Probably just about never, I'm guessing. I'd say a more typical day is rush up parking where you can, carry stuff inside and get to work. Next time, stop for a minute. Perhaps park down the street a way, and really look at the property as you walk towards it. Drive towards it from a different direction every once in a while. Stand on the footpath on the opposite side of the road and take a good long look. What do you see? Hopefully, you see what everyone else sees, because that is what you need to see.

I have a property that a former owner painted pink. Not just one shade but two shades of candy pink. Not just in solid blocks, but in stripes, one per line of cladding. It is very distinctive. It clashes beautifully with the red roof.

I've known for a while that it probably only appeals to the former owner, and me as a purchaser as I knew it was easy fixed. It put all other buyers off, which is why I got it for a good price. What I forgot was tenants care about these things too. They don't want to live in 'the candy striped house'. So it sat there with very few enquiries until I got off my butt and got out that paintbrush. (To be fair, I was working on the inside of the property figuring it was where the occupants would spend all their time, and that looked great, but no one was coming inside to see)

Now, the street side of the property, is one colour, a trendy warm creamy brown (called Molesworth, if you're interested). Within 2 days of painting the first coat, I have lots of people turning up to see the house. Now I have my pick of tenants. How long did it take to make the difference? Well, about a month of being thick, then just one afternoon of painting. Sigh.

Sometimes these things are just so obvious we overlook them. What are your candystripes that are keeping tenants away from your property? Identify, then act.