Your home’s looking spiffy. You’ve polished the hardwood floors, painted designer colors and cleared up the clutter. Outside your front window beyond, your realty sign, a car creeps slowly alongside the curb . . . and continues. "Hey! Stop!, you think." "This is a great house!"
In today’s tough, tough, tough real estate market, if your front yard landscaping ideas don’t scream "COME ON IN!" you’re likely to lose an ever diminishing number of buyers to your neighbor, who’s curbside appeal is really appealing!
It used to be that great landscaping would increase the value of a home by about 7% – 15 %. But with contracts falling through and buyers with good credit unable to qualify for a loan, landscaping has unfortunately become a seller’s "MUST DO!" in order to get buyers through your door. And it’s not just the front yard, once real estate agents get their clients into your home, if your backyard doesn’t beacon them to sit a while and put their feet up, those coveted buyers may just continue looking until they find a backyard that does.
You wonder how in the world you’ll come up with the necessary $10,000 to $25,000 for landscaping! Here’s the good news, you can actually spend far less than that and still attract buyers. Assuming that the front of your home has a fresh coat of paint, or is in reasonably attractive shape, there are some smaller less expensive touches that will make a world of difference and won’t break the bank.
Start by making sure your overgrown shrubs are cut back to show off your home’s façade. Junipers are a "must go". Flowers are a "must have". If the lawn is overgrown with weeds and brown polka dots, consider laying down some sod. It costs about .50 to .60 cents per square foot, so depending on the time of year, for a few hundred dollars you can put down an inviting carpet of green. If your trees are over grown, trim them back — buyers can be easily scared off because they perceive the trees to be high maintenance. In fact, just as you cleared up the clutter in your home, clear up the clutter in your yard. Buyers enjoy clean uncomplicated, yet intentional design. Dig a shallow circle around your trees and plant flowers. Surround them with neutrally colored bark.
Draw attention away from unsightly areas such as fences or fire hydrants by placing eye catching foliage in areas that show off your property’s best features. Implement the same kinds of ideas to your back yard. If you have large areas, border them and put down additional bark. Accent those areas again with decorative potted flowers that you’ll be able to take the pots with your when you move.
If you lack imagination, pick up a magazine from your local hardware store and look at some landscape design pictures for ideas. Implement a few simple landscaping strategies like these works wonders and will at least get your home seen, if not sold!
Tags: front yard landscaping | front yard landscaping | selling your home | selling your home | landscape design | landscape design | landscaping | curb appeal | curb appeal