My New Blog

Landscaping your home - an investment worth making

It doesn't matter whether you're  planning to sell your home or not, landscaping can add a lot of value!  According to the folks at Plant Care.com, it can be as much as 14% of a home's value!

There are four main reasons for landscaping your home:
1)  Economic - the obvious value it can add.
2)  Environmental - maybe to shore up that hill that's been eroding into your backyard.
3)  Health - to keep fungus off your property.  Or maybe to reduce pollen.
4)  Social - the beauty that comes with good and effective landscape design.

Landscaping is both an art and a science.  Knowing what will look good, but also what will work with your home given the various shading and other natural aspects to your property whether it be a creek, a wet area or another feature you want to draw people's attention to.

When selling your home landscaping and curb appeal can be one of the most important or detrimental impacts to the effective sale of your home.  Remember that this will be the first in-person thing that your prospective buyers see.  And first impressions are the most important ones.

So maybe you have no plans to sell your home.  If there's a project you've been contemplating - or maybe you've been wanting to update your current landscaping - it's a great time to do just that.  Experts recommend using native plants, trees and shrubs in.  Make sure you clean out all of the dead flora/fauna as it will help other plants grow well. 

The value of landscaping, particularly as it applies to curb appeal is an important one.  Nothing will draw people's eye or make them look past your home faster than how you have it landscaped.  And it doesn't have to cost you a lot of money to do it.  You can visit the experts at a local nursery to find out more about what might work best.  Having pictures to show them will help.  Get bids on your projects from local landscapers and ask them what they think might look or work better.  They may have ideas for you to use.  Don't be afraid to ask about the process of how they would achieve what they describe. Many projects can be done for far less if you supply your own labor. 

Even if landscaping only adds 5% to the value of your home, your $100,000 home is now worth $120,000.  Just don't go overboard.  A cluttered-looking home can just as quickly detract from the value as it can add to the value.  When selling, people want to see open spaces so that they can see their own ideas coming to life and realize how large the space is.  Clutter detracts from this.

Landscaping returns on investment are subjective.  There will be no hard-and-fast number or percentage that it will add to your home.  Consult an appraiser if you have further questions.