Landscaping to Sell Your Home
If selling your house fast is your goal, landscaping for curb appeal is a great place to start. When prospective buyers see your house for the first time, your front yard curb appeal will have an immediate and lasting effect on them. To enhance curb appeal, you need to find ways to make the exterior of your house sparkle. Put it this way, if you live on a street with four houses for sale, how do you make yours stand out among the competition?
Landscaping Curb Appeal
“Curb appeal” is a great way to help sell your home. It can attract potential buyers and also mean that your home will sell for more money, and that your Minnesota home will sell faster. It’s just one more way to make your property “shine”! A well maintained lawn or even just planting colorful flowers, and adding greenery and potted plants creates a drastic transformation and higher perceived value.
It boils down to first impressions. A RealEstate.com survey of 500 sellers and 100 real estate agents across the country found both groups agreed that enhancing a lawn or landscape was the top priority for getting a house ready to sell. Half of buying decisions are based on curb appeal, according to the National Association of Realtors, and it is at curbside where your efforts need to start.
Professional Landcare Network and realtor estimates say landscaping can add up to 15% to the property value. An article published in the January 21, 2007 issue of the Los Angeles Times found that real estate listings in which the word “landscaping” was highlighted sold 20% faster. Supporting this trend, a 2003 edition of Wall Street Journal’s SmartMoney magazine stated, “If you spend 5% of the value of your home on landscaping, and do it wisely, you might get 150% or more of your money back.”
If you need help, it may be time to consider hiring a Minnesota Landscaping company to make some needed changes to spruce it up. A gardener or landscaper can help clean up and make a great impression on a buyer. You’d be amazed at how this will transform the exterior of your home into a pleasing space.
The landscaper should be able to give you some landscaping design ideas to make the property more eye-pleasing without spending a lot of money. You might want to consider hiring the them for regular maintenance (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly service) to help maintain your property during the time your home is on the market. It may also help reduce the stress on you while you are selling your home.
While your home’s curb appeal may not seal the deal by itself, it can certainly help your chances of making a sale if it creates a good first impression. Therefore, if you want to sell your home and get top dollar, you need to get potential buyers through the front door. Unfortunately, if your front yard curb appeal is lacking, you may never get to that point. It’s a competitive market and anything you can do as a seller to make your house more appealing puts you that much ahead of everyone else selling their house.
Remember – the landscaping surrounding your home is both the first and the last impression your buyer will have. Make them both memorable!