Yard improvements to sell your Atlanta home and landscaping will generally get you the biggest return on time and money invested. An added plus is that they usually cost much less than, say, an extensive kitchen update. According to some real estate experts, an investment in landscaping and yard improvements has the potential to yield a 215% return in the sale value of your home. In addition, 71% of home buyers indicate that curb appeal is an important consideration when they are choosing a new home. Let’s see, then, what you can do to enhance that critical first impression.
1. Use Complementary Landscaping
First, if you’re going to make yard improvements to sell your Atlanta home, they need to complement and fit with your style of house. A Japanese garden, for example, with a Victorian home would be a poor fit and would stick out like a sore thumb. The better the yard improvements fit the style of the home, the better your return on investment will be.
2. Use Outdoor Containers
An easy and inexpensive way to spruce up entry areas and patios is to use strategically placed container plants. Large tropicals, for example, can add interest and visual appeal to the main entry – one of the primary places that helps to create that important first impression.
3. Lay Down New Mulch
This is one of the yard improvements to sell your Atlanta home that is very easy to do, is inexpensive, and has a huge visual impact. Old, dirty, decayed, unsightly mulch can be an eyesore. Bright new mulch that contrasts with plant colors makes everything stand out to best effect.
4. Shape Trees and Shrubs
Make sure to prune trees and shape your shrubs. Not only will they look much better themselves, but getting ride of overhanging branches and too-thick shrubbery will let sunlight through. The result, beyond better-looking trees and shrubs, will be a greener, lusher lawn.
5. Plant Trees
If you don’t already have trees in your yard, plant a few – because it can make a big difference in the sale price of your home. One study found that houses with trees and located on a tree-lined street brought 10% to 15% more at sale time than similar houses in an area with far fewer trees. Potential buyers want trees for several reasons, including their attractiveness and eco-friendliness. The main reason, though, is that trees shade a home during the hot summer months and so cut down on air-conditioning bills. Even if you plant a small tree or two shortly before selling, buyers can still see the potential.
6. Edge The Lawn
When thinking about yard improvements to sell your Atlanta home, consider that a clean, neatly edged lawn adds more visual appeal than almost anything else. Sure, a healthy, green, lush, properly mowed lawn is important. But edging sets it off in the same way a picture frame sets off a painting. (You seldom see an unframed painting, do you?) In addition, a good edging job – including along sidewalks, along the driveway, and around patios – gives you lawn a confined look that makes it appear easier to maintain. It also tells buyers that you take pride in your property and have kept it well maintained.
First impressions matter immensely, and your yard and landscaping are the first things a potential buyer will see. And if you make these yard improvements to sell your Atlanta home, you just may sell your home for a higher price.