Landscaping Tips for Homeowners: Features that Decrease, Increase Home Value
Are you trying to sell your home - or perhaps just want it to have a bit more curb appeal?
If so, you’ll want to consider the role that your landscaping plays. Landscape expenditures, particularly those that look expensive, can dramatically increase your home’s value. In fact, homes that have great property landscaping often fetch a higher selling price than homes with minimal landscaping.
Follow these landscaping tips for homeowners, and you’ll be on your way to a more attractive view in no time.
How Does Landscaping Affect Home Value?
If you want to increase your home’s value, adding some thoughtful landscaping is a smart choice. However, it’s important to note that not every investment will have quite the impact you might be hoping for.
Although installing a swimming pool, for example, might bring you a ton of joy, it won’t do much when it comes to return on investment. That said, lawn care services can add a ton of value, as can landscape maintenance and tree care.
Therefore, you may want to focus on adding features like landscaped pathways, all-seasons decks, and fresh mulch if you want to upgrade the appeal of your home and increase its value. Steer clear of things that might be highly personalized to your preferences or to a certain niche, along with broken fencing, unkempt gardens, or artificial grasses - all of these can dramatically reduce your home’s value.
Landscaping Features That Can Increase Home Value
If you want to increase the property value of your home, consider installing these landscaping features.
1. Plant Trees
Trees offer several benefits to homeowners who want to increase their property value. Of note, trees can add privacy, increase shade, and even lower energy bills when positioned strategically.
However, before you plant, it’s important to think about the impact that the tree might have on your property values. What will its mature height be? Are the branches going to leave a mess everywhere?
Shrubs and trees are great for adding value, particularly if you grow a mature tree. Look for one that’s in a 15-gallon pot - but avoid fruit trees. They can attract insects and need constant pruning. Read: extra chores.
2. A Well-Maintained Lawn
Here’s the good news about this landscaping feature - it costs virtually nothing besides a little sweat. To improve the value of your home, keep your lawn in tip-top shape. Regularly mow, water, and fertilize the lawn (you might consider investing in an irrigation system) to keep your lawn in good shape.
Also, make sure you remove any perennial weeds. These can signal problems to potential buyers.
3. Lighting
Adding any kind of outdoor lighting is a great way to increase your home’s resale value - and make your outdoor space a safer place to be. You might consider solar-powered or LED options as an alternative to hardwired lighting.
4. Mulch
Mulch is another low-cost upgrade that you might consider making. Adding fresh mulch or even some new sod is something that you can do quickly without having to invest a lot of time or money. Plus, it will inhibit weed growth and ensure the health of your plants - a double win when it comes to investments!
5. Add a Pop of Color
Adding some color to your landscape is another way that you can increase your home value. Consider planting some eye-catching plants, even in pots. Planting in pots will allow you to move things around to add interest to your entryway, porch, or other areas.
Landscaping Features That Can Decrease Home Value
Of course, good landscaping isn’t just about showcasing what you have and making certain upgrades - you also need to closely evaluate your landscape to determine whether there are certain features that might be harming your resale value.
1. Artificial Grass
Artificial grass might be low maintenance - you can lay it down and then forget about it - but it’s certainly not the prettiest thing to look at, especially if you’re trying to sell to parents who have children that want to play outside. Install artificial grass and you could see as much as a 5% reduction in the resale value of your home.
2. Outdoor Water Features
Sure, large outdoor water features might attract birds, bees, and butterflies - but some home buyers might see them as more work to maintain than they’re actually worth. Plus, they can attract pests like mosquitoes.
3. Sports Courts
Having a place to play basketball or a few rounds of tennis might be great for families with athletic children. For most people, however, it’s going to be a big swing and a miss. Plus, having a sports court will detract from a green expanse of lawn. Skip this upgrade if you’re considering it.
4. Swimming Pools and Hot Tubs
Everybody loves taking a nice, relaxing dip in the swimming pool or hot tub - but you might be doing yourself a disservice by adding one to your landscape strictly for the resale value.
Installing a pool or hot tub is a hefty investment. However, just because you love swimming doesn't mean that a potential home buyer will. Since they don't want to deal with the maintenance, they might end up crossing your house off their list of prospects entirely.
5. Concrete Patios
Concrete patios look industrial and uncomfortable. They also produce a lot of heat and can be a safety hazard to visitors. This is definitely one feature to skip if you’re working on upgrading your landscape design!
Keep Things Tidy - and Consider Making a Few Upgrades
Of course, the most obvious thing that you might be doing that is harming your resale value is not keeping things neat and tidy. It’s important that you make sure your garden and lawn are both well tended-to. If not, it could make your house look messy, too.
Make repairs to things like fence panels, walls, and other fixtures as well. This will show that you’ve put the time and effort into making your home a pleasant, safe place to live.
Don’t have time to make the upgrades you want - or to tackle those landscaping tasks you’ve been putting off? Consider looking for landscapers on Billy.com. Here, you’ll find all kinds of helpful professionals who can help you get your landscaping jobs done quickly so that you can rapidly increase the value of your home.
Author’s Bio:
Kym Preslar is a bit of a gardening and home improvement fanatic. She’s been working on her garden for over 5 years and loves writing about everything landscape-related. Whether it’s keeping care of sod or the greenhouse, she’s been there and done it all. Currently, she’s enjoying her time working at SodLawn as their Content Manager.
