Don't let your yard sabotage your home sale!
Will your landscaping pull in buyers or make them drive on by? Outdated or extreme styles, high-maintenance features and invasive or overgrown foliage can kill interest.
For homemaker Sue Wildrick, it was the koi ponds that killed the deal. While the house she and her husband looked at in Denver last winter had its appeal, its elaborately bricked-in backyard and large network of fish ponds seemed like too much work. "It was a little overwhelming," Wildrick says. And it provided little room for the family to play games or throw a ball to their dog. "We would have probably had to take some of that stuff out."
These days, elaborate patios, outdated or high-maintenance landscaping and invasive plants and trees can kill buyer interest in a home almost as quickly as an outdated kitchen or orange shag carpeting, according to landscaping experts and real-estate agents. Landscaping often makes the difference between a prospective buyer getting out of the car for a closer look at the house and simply driving on by.
Good landscaping can provide more bang for your buck than almost any other home improvement -- provided it's done right. Buyers today expect landscaping that's easy to take care of and water-wise, and offers benefits like shade or privacy.
Here's a look at the top landscaping turnoffs for buyers and what homeowners can do to make sure their landscaping efforts enhance, rather than detract from the value of their home.
1. Your Father's Landscaping - Rounded junipers, squared-off boxwood and holly bushes, and topiary shrubs scream that the house is a throwback to the 1960s and '70s, agents say. People now want their landscaping to look natural, with more native plants and interesting, varied foliage. Big pine trees and other evergreens planted decades ago also can be a turnoff to buyers. These trees can get too big and must be continually hacked off at the top (a bad look) or taken out entirely to avoid roofs and power lines.
2. Gnomes Gone Wild - It should go without saying, but put the lawn ornaments away. Other buyers may not share your love of lawn globes, gnomes and plastic deer.
3. High-Maintenance Yards - While many buyers fancy themselves green-thumb gardeners, few want to invest serious time in pruning, spraying, mowing and fertilizing. Beds of non-disease-resistant plants such as hybrid tea roses can eat up a buyer's weekends with pruning and applying fungicide. An agent in St. Louis, remembers one property he showed with an elaborate English country garden that dominated the backyard. A key inside the house mapped out the names of all of the manicured shrubs, roses and gardenias, as well as the contents of the adjoining vegetable garden. "People were just mesmerized," Rhoads says. "For a minute they would say 'I've always wanted a place like this.' Then they started talking about it and said this must take a long time to maintain every week." The house stayed on the market for quite a while specifically because of the rigors of its landscaping.
4. Over-The-Top Outdoor Living Spaces - The line between the indoors and outdoors has been blurring in recent years, with more homeowners building elaborate outdoor living spaces complete with fireplaces, kitchens, outdoor showers and custom stone work. In many parts of the country, these areas are a big selling point, making the house seem larger. But when the work gets too ornate or extensive, it can sometimes detract from the value of a home -- especially in colder climates. Homeowners who put in these improvements should not expect to recoup their total investment at resale. One man's $80,000 outdoor kitchen may only be worth an extra $30,000 to another.
5. Bad Seeds - Some plants send up a red flag with many knowledgeable buyers because they are so invasive. High on the list are ficus trees, especially those planted too close to a driveway, house or patio. The fast-growing, shallow roots of the ficus crack pavement and can wreak havoc on foundations. Similarly, ivy and other vines can proliferate too quickly, posing a danger to other plants, as well as to windows and roofs. They also can attract bugs to the house.
6. Too Much Green? - Many people are asking for smaller expanses of grass so they spend less time pushing the lawn mower and running the sprinkler. By sorting plants according to water need you waste less water and homeowners can spend less time wielding the hose. But, he notes, that doesn't mean buyers are ready to give up color.
Maintain whatever landscaping you have. Overgrown hedges, dying flowers and leggy bushes send the message that the inside of the house is ill-kept, as well. Maintenance is key to maintaining your value.
By Melinda Fulmer of MSN Real Estate
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