Getting applicants excited about your rental can be difficult in the colder months. Unlike spring, where your lush landscaping shines the brightest, the browning trees and falling leaves of Fall can put a damper on your curb appeal. By utilizing a few of these tips, you can take advantage of the season and make your property look a little more inviting.

Routine Maintenance & Cleaning

Just like with spring, you’re going to want to perform some thorough cleaning and maintenance. This means pressure washing your rental, repairing or replacing panels in fences, potentially repainting, and maintaining your current landscaping (plus clearing out gutters). We go more into depth in our article, Fall Preparations to Protect your Property, but keep in mind that this would be a perfect time to start winterizing. By winterizing your rental now you avoid some additional stress during the holidays.

Amp Up your Fall Theme

Despite the gusty weather, utilizing fall colors when amping up your curb appeal can make your property feel cozy. Put a warm colored wreath on the door. Place pumpkins or fake potted plants near your entry-way. No matter how you decorate your door, you’ll want to keep it simple. This will highlight your property’s entrance, leading your applicant’s eyes to naturally draw that way.

Other small upgrades that can add to your curb appeal are replacing or cleaning house numbers, upgrading the mailbox, adding outdoor lighting, or adding colorful flowers to your landscaping. While planting flowers might seem exclusive to spring, there are many different varieties of cold weather tolerant plants. Some fall and winter flowers Sunset Magazine suggests are Calendulas, Candytufts, and the English Daisy.

Fall Finishing Touches for Indoors

With your property’s exterior spruced up, you don’t want to neglect the inside of your rental. When showing, light some candles and make sure the inside of the house is a good temperature. Keep a few coat hangers in the closet and offer to hang your applicant’s coats up. Our article, Get More Applicants when Showing Your Rental Property, can give you more tricks when it comes to showing, but ultimately you’ll want the inside of your rental to match the cozy feeling you’ve created on the outside.

Spicing up the exterior of your property is not only good for attracting applicants, but it helps keep your rental’s value up. While it might seem easier to spruce your property up for applicants in the spring, you can easily adapt your springtime routine for other seasons. Regardless of what time of the year it is, it’s never too late to pay attention to your curb appeal.