By Melissa Dorman, April 26, 2019
Spring is officially here! As we get ready for the busy listing season it can be easy to forget the effort that goes into to preparing your property beyond those 4 walls. Landscaping can be a quick and easy way to make a large impact on the aesthetic of your home.
Benefits of Landscaping
If the Landscaping is well executed it can add value of the property to a great extent.
Among the many home improvement ideas; Landscaping not only adds to the up front monetary value of the property at but also increases in value as the years go by.
Popular quote “First Impression is the Best Impression” fits correct for External Landscaping.
A proper maintained exterior landscape is the first attractive point that catches the attention of potential buyers.
Interior decoration ideas and popular designs mostly depends on the latest trend.
But many times these go out of style and in some cases mechanical systems also wear down, providing no future value.
On the other hand plants and trees grow fuller, taller and more robust in the future so yield more value, if proper care is taken.
Things to keep in mind :
1. Proper Planning
A proper plan must be made before starting the Landscaping task. The biggest mistake that homeowners make is they do not have a proper and coherent plan.
It is often seen that many a times homeowners do the landscaping tasks un-systematically.
They decide to plant a tree now, and then a few years later add some flower beds or turf. Then some times later they put in some shrubs and another tree.
This doesn’t gives the property the leading edge that otherwise it would have got had the landscaping been done with a proper plan.
So it is always recommended to come up with a cohesive vision before starting any landscaping activity.
Hiring an expert and expensive landscape designer is not essential at all, if one is on a tighter budget.
If properly planned any amateur can get a professional-looking landscape for $500 to $3,000 worth of plants and materials.
2. Increased Home evaluation after Landscaping
It is a popularly known fact that a well-landscaped home has a significant price advantage over a home with no landscaping.
On the basis of type of landscaping and the original value of the home this price advantage can range from 5.5 percent to 12.7 percent.
As in terms of price value, it can translates into an extra $16,500 to $38,100 in value on a normal $300,000 home.
3. Additional value for Mature Gardens
A landscape which is full of large and matured plants sends a signal to buyers that is well take care off and has been carefully tended.
This gives a good indication to the potential buyer that the care taken in the interior as well.
Mature garden can yield more price than a land with small plants and flowers.
4. Implement What Buyers Value in Landscaping
The number-one priority that buyers are looking for in landscaping is a well manicured design.
Second factor considered is the existing plant size and its maturity.
Third factor to consider from buyers point of view is the diversity of plant life therein. Strategically placed landscaping can also give the allure of privacy and seclusion.
Additional Tips
If the plan is to sell quickly say within a year, even then several steps can be taken to update the landscape and boost the selling price.
By cutting fresh edges around your planting beds; and having a sharp, well-defined edge between grass gives the landscape a professional look.
Another idea is to have fertilizer treatments on your lawn; for the potential buyers to see a lush carpet.
Laying colorful pebbles and interlocking stoned walkways is also a great idea.
Adding varieties of faster growing flowering plants; and colorful annuals for a few dollars price can be done, if on a tighter budget.
If budget is not a problem then investing a few hundred dollars in larger perennials and shrubs, will provide good value for money.
Melissa Dorman
Broker | OR & WA
She/Her
Ten years ago, Melissa was living in a slum in Kolkata, India, helping over 200 women escape sex trafficking by providing alternative work at a social business.
It was there she discovered her passion for financial education as a means of empowering people to move out of poverty. After graduating from UCLA with a Masters, Melissa spent 5 years working as a Social Worker; assisting clients facing homelessness, in jail, or at a psychiatric facility.
As much as she loved the work, imagining saving for retirement on the meager salary of a social worker was becoming grim. That's when Melissa discovered "passive income." In no time, she fell in LOVE with real estate as a vehicle for wealth. Soon after, Melissa began locating off-market multi-family properties to purchase through creative financing strategies and win-win opportunities. Two years into investing, Melissa quit her day job as a Social Worker to become a full-time broker and investor. Initially, she was drawn to people in difficult circumstances, so she developed extensive experience assisting families facing foreclosure, short sales, and probate. Melissa is well versed in helping her clients overcome complex real estate challenges.
Currently, Melissa is teamed up with Super Broker, Yascha Noonberg at Living Room Realty. Together they assist clients to achieve their real estate dreams, including how to strategically buy and sell a personal residence to maximize profits. Far from the slums of Kolkata, her greatest passion now is empowering other working professionals to develop passive forms of income through buying multi-family properties in Portland.
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- T: 503-567-4697
- melissa@livingroomre.com
