When you buy or sell the home you occupy, real estate professionals will always urge you to invest in professional landscaping. It creates a yard you can really enjoy, entertain friends, relax in serenity, and admire for years. A talented landscape professional will know precisely what designs suit your location, what features are actually most used by owners, how the design exploits a superb view, and why the recommended plantings favor the design in texture and color throughout the year. But even more important to the owner is a simple question. How will professional landscaping build exceptionally high home value?
Appraisers will often allocate a beautifully designed, well-maintained landscape 15% or more in value above a comparable residence. And that increase compounds annually with the rise in your home value year after year. The home worth $1,300,000 today would likely add $ 200,000 in value with a superbly designed landscape. As a component of home value, the landscape itself would double in value in as few as 8 years. Few if any improvements to your home can match that potential. Accountants will often view home improvements in terms of cost recovery. What percentage of the cost to build can you recover on a sale of the asset? But that approach misses two huge benefits of professional landscape design– curb appeal and human envy.
Your agent will confirm that curb appeal can sell a home in 30 seconds. If it accompanies a stunning landscape, and your buyer falls in love with your property, you have an excellent chance to name your price. Remember when you were last in the market as a buyer? You were focused on the home itself, but every home has a setting and it subtly affects your perception and desire. When you saw something you hated, it was usually an overall impression and that feeling is framed by the landscape appearance, maintenance, and appeal. Maybe it was neglected, overgrown, mostly not usable or it was all three! Professional landscaping invites you to enter, look, appreciate and enjoy. For the buyer, it gets them imagining how it could be used for very rewarding experiences in a home they could buy now.
Your buyer is a human being who would prefer to live in a home others admire. A professional landscape design delivers the “Oh, WOW!” And when the buyer finds it, they want it. And they’ll pay for it. The buyer sees it’s unique, stunning, and beautiful. Would that motivate you? Even an accountant would overpay!
Buyers appreciate a landscape that’s easy and cheap to maintain. The landscape professional will build in a modern, efficient system to conserve water, handle drainage expertly, and minimize maintenance. You could spend thousands on maintenance, drainage issues, lawn and gardening care, irrigation repairs as a homeowner trying to chase upkeep. The professional landscape is designed for low maintenance and saves you tens of thousands of dollars over the life of your ownership. This is a savings that the accountant and appraiser both overlook.
Buyers admire a suite of features for entertaining. The decking you can use year-round, subtle and attractive lighting, the distinctive water feature, fire pit, and the all-season patio kitchen. Buyers focused on serenity appreciate a design that creates privacy, a sound barrier from traffic, shade and circulation for summer use, and lush color in spring and fall.
