Looking to sell your home?

Then, it’s important to make a first good impression.

It's called home staging and it can help a home sell more quickly and to make it stand out from the rest of the block.

First impressions are everything, and that's no different for our homes.

"When you are thinking about selling your house keep in mind that your exterior is your first impression so you want to have a great first impression because some people may not even be willing to go into the house because they've been turned off by something in the front yard,” said Angie Hicks of Angie’s List.

Having great curb appeal will add value to your home, whether it is on the market or you plan to stay forever.

Your home's interior is important when selling a home, but it's the exterior that helps get potential buyers in the door.

"I had my house for sale and the people who bought my house actually said to me "we were driving down the street and we saw your home and my wife said that's the one I want!" without ever seeing the inside, that's the one. It was because it was staged for my pleasure and for people in the neighborhood, but also to help sell the home,” said Mike Puckett, a real estate agent.

The first step in achieving great curb appeal is to start with a clean house.

Power-washing the exterior is a great way to remove any dirt, grime and moss that has accumulated.

All of the windows should be clear and sparkling, and because some are hard to reach with a normal ladder, consider hiring a pro to help.

Get into the gutters and the roof line to remove all dirt, leaves and branches.

"If you are on a budget and you don't want to spend money on this project the good news is that it can be very do-it-yourself,” said Hicks. “So step across the street and look at your house from a distance and think about ways that you can make it look clean and simplify it. Then those are projects you can tackle whether it's weeding flower beds, painting the front door. It's the little things that make the difference."

And if you have some extra money to spend, it might be a good investment.

"Nice flower beds are always an enhancement,” adds Puckett. “You can see here that this client has hostas right here in different degrees of colors with the hostas. On their front porch they have put geraniums, pink geraniums. And over here they have ground ivy. The bushes are all trimmed. The mulch that they have used is very important."

Remember, you can't sell your home if it can't be seen. Trim, prune and shape all trees, bushes and shrubs.

If you have an attached garage that faces the street and takes up a large amount of street-facing frontage on your home, be aware that a dingy, dented or damaged garage door can make a bad impression on buyers.

Not only can you improve your home's curb appeal and resale value with a new garage door, you can also improve its safety and energy efficiency.