What’s important when you’re selling a home? Landscaping.
Homeowners spend big bucks on upgrades and staging to sell their homes, but research shows the most powerful tool you can use is nice landscaping.
ROIs Are Iffy
The return on investment for home improvements can be a gamble. Experts often advise that if you’re planning a major kitchen or bathroom renovation, your biggest motivation should be to enjoy these upgrades yourself, because if you’re doing them for some unknown potential buyer down the road, you will likely be disappointed.
You don’t get 100 percent ROI on almost any renovation or upgrade, and the highest returns come from exterior projects, such as new front entry doors or garage doors, according to a Remodeling magazine report.
A Washington Post story says that the ROI for landscaping is 150 percent or higher. Anyone looking at your house first sees the front yard and your home’s exterior. Even if you have all granite countertops and marble floors inside, if your grass is dry and brown and nothing’s blooming, potential buyers may not even cross the threshold.
Too Much
But before you raid your 401(k) to invest in top-grade landscape services, know that in real estate, as always, location is important. If all the other houses on your block have modest landscaping, you’re not going to want to fix up your yard like the Rose Garden on the White House lawn. Like the ubiquitous and universally despised McMansion, overdone landscaping complete with a gargantuan fountain may turn out to be the eyesore instead of the envy of the neighborhood.
This is where is helps enormously to have a professional opinion. So much is at stake, and your precious dollars could be wasted if they are allocated improperly.
Landscaping Elements
Fountains and other water features are, in fact, highly prized. You just want to make sure yours is a good fit. We here at Earthworks have installed hundreds of fountains, koi ponds, streams and more. We can match your feature to the size of your lot and the style of your surroundings, so your stunning addition looks like it’s always been there.
You really can’t go wrong with hardscape features, such as walkways, retaining walls, fire pits and pergolas. No one has an ostentatious walkway. Stones are natural and add an element of beauty to any landscape.
It Comes Down to the Blossoms
What often ends up making the biggest impact with landscaping, however, is color. Blooming plants can beautify any home or yard like nothing else. But it’s critical when you’re adding live elements to boost property values to tell your crew when you are planning to move.
If you’re listing your house next month, you need plants already in bloom. If you’re planning a move a few years down the road, we can plan for your future by planting bushes and ornamental trees that will reach optimal maturity just as the For Sale sign is hammered into your front lawn.
If you want help planning a landscaping project that will dramatically boost your property values, call us here at Earthworks Landscaping. We can turn your ordinary front yard into a showpiece that will have traffic backed up in front of your home as drivers gawk at the transformation.
Landscaping is the key to a higher sale price — call us today to find out how to do it.
