Upgrading your home’s landscaping can bring a return on your investment of 35%, returning $1.35 for every dollar spent. And if you’re currently trying to sell your house, that’s an attractive prospect indeed! Maximizing your home’s value for as little cost as possible is a great way to update your home and attract more possible home purchasers, getting you and your home closer to a finalized sale.
Landscaping and exterior upgrades don’t have to cost a lot to be effective, either. Even small investments can dramatically improve your home’s curb appeal, which can go a long way towards creating a great first impression for home shoppers who are visiting or passing by.
If you’re currently preparing to sell your home, consider these six ways to give your home’s landscaping an upgrade.
1. Power Wash Your Exterior
First things first: Give your home’s exterior a good bath with a power wash. While not a landscaping tip per se, a power wash of your home’s siding or other exterior material will help brighten up the entire property and show off your landscaping to its very best advantage. That’s especially true if it’s been a while since the last power wash.
2. Shape Up Limbs, Branches, and Bushes
Give your landscaping a trim before you show your home. Reshape shrubs into cleaner lines, and cut back overhanging or overgrown tree limbs and branches to brighten up both your yard and your home. Trimming your trees and shrubs will also help keep them in their best possible condition all year long. If you’re not sure how to do this yourself, it’s worth the cost to hire an expert to handle it for you
3. Keep an Eye Out for Leaks and Irrigation Problems
Is your outdoor faucet leaking? If so, tend to it now and clean up any resulting rust or accumulated water. Leaking faucets hint at other, more expensive plumbing problems to sharp-eyed buyers, and give them a ready excuse to proceed no further, even if no such problems actually exist. In the same vein, if you have an irrigation system, make sure it’s in excellent repair. You’ll also want to have information about your system’s installation, care, and operation on hand to share with prospective buyers.
4. Mulch and Mow
Clean up the ground by mowing your lawn well on all sides. Then take a close look at the mulch in your beds. If it’s looking a little sparse and sickly, replenish or replace it entirely with new mulch in a deep brown color to avoid that washed-out effect. Fresh mulch plus a close-shave mowing can significantly upgrade your landscaping and your home’s curb appeal to people shopping for homes.
5. Clean Up Outside Accessories
If your lawns are cluttered with outdoor sports equipment and toys, now’s the time to clean it all up and either store them or sell them in anticipation of your upcoming move. While future purchasers probably won’t change their mind about an otherwise suitable home simply because of a basketball hoop over the garage door, a general sense of clutter can really detract from your meticulously upgraded landscaping. An interested shopper might pass on pursuing an offer without even really knowing why.
6. Plant a Plethora of Colorful Flowers
Another great and relatively low-cost way to improve your landscaping to attract home shoppers is to add as much color as you can through flowers. Plant them in beds and in planters around the entryway and elsewhere to vary the height and visual interest. They’ll go a long way towards improving your home’s exterior and getting people interested in seeing what’s inside the pretty, colorful home.