Love at first sight—it's what you want prospective buyers to feel when they lay their eyes on the home you’ve put up for sale.
Keeping your yard in tip-top shape is the best way to make that happen. A well-groomed landscape not only makes a great first impression, but it can also drive up the value of your home.
Before plopping a “For Sale” sign out front, read through some tips that can help you turn the best profit on your home.
Believe it or not, increasing your home’s value doesn’t require a fancy patio or a flowing fountain. These perks do add to a home’s overall appeal, but simple things like planting new flowers or trimming pruning trees can also make a statement.
Potential homebuyers appreciate a good-looking landscape, so much so that they’d pay more for a home surrounded by pops of color and large, well-maintained trees. How much more, you ask? Get this: researchers over at Virginia State University found that landscaping can add anywhere between 5.5 to 12.7 percent to the value of a home! That means buyers would fork over approximately $8,000 to $19,000 more for a $150,000 home with a neat landscape design.
According to Texas Tech University, for every $1 you invest in upgrading your landscape, you could add $1.35 to the value of your property. But even if your efforts don’t quite tally up to that return on investment, one thing's for sure—when you take time to improve your landscape, buyers take notice.
Researchers at Michigan State University found that homebuyers value sophisticated design most when they’re critiquing a home’s curb appeal. While that may sound like a big ask, giving your landscape a refined look is easier than you think.
Here are five simple ways you can spruce up your landscape and help sell your home: