Landscape design increases home value

Taking the time to plan out and plant a landscape design is a fantastic way to spend your summer weekends, but did you know that homes with a well landscaped yard are worth more than homes without maintained plant life? Landscaping creates a pleasant living environment, and thus appeals to potential homebuyers. This means that investing in your landscape increases sales price and the speed in which a house gets sold.

It may be obvious, but homes with well maintained landscaping are more desirable to prospective homebuyers for a myriad of reasons. Simply put, the aesthetic value of manicured plant life is immediately noticeable the moment a homebuyer sets sight on a home. Even if someone is just browsing listings online, photographs of a home with lush plant life will draw more clicks than a similarly priced home without.

According to SF Gate, “this advantage ranges from 5.5 percent to 12.7 percent depending on the type of landscaping and the home’s original value. That translates into an extra $16,500 to $38,100 in value on a $300,000 home.”

New homeowners are generally looking for landscaping that is well maintained and manicured, as it suggests that the home within is similarly kept. Another factor to keep in mind is the maturity of plant life, and the biodiversity of plants within a home’s landscape design.

Details are important, and don’t need to break the bank. A well defined edge between grass and mulch gives a lawn a professionally maintained look, and can be done yourself. Adding a barrier of Hardscaping between planting beds and grass give your landscape a luxurious feel, without much investment.

Similar to a fine wine, landscapes mature well with age. A freshly planted landscape design will be obvious, and while you will still gain benefits from it, planning ahead and letting your landscape grow into itself before listing will yield more value. A yard that has been tended to for years will signal to buyers that the home has been maintained well.

It pays off to plan ahead, especially with landscaping. Saving up a little for a landscape refresh will serve your purposes much better than purchasing one tree one year, then a shrub another year, and a perennial here and there following. Buyers will pick up on the disorganization, and thusly may ascribe that feeling to your home, even before stepping in for a showing.

“Come up with a plan before you do any landscaping. Even if you don’t have – or won’t spend – the money to hire a landscape designer, at least draw up a master plan for your yard and stick to it. Even an amateur can get a professional-looking landscape for $500 to $3,000 worth of plants and materials,” suggests SF Gate.

A designed landscape is key to making a house a home, and putting even a little bit of effort into your yard will cause your home’s value to rise, effectively paying for itself (and potentially more). If you’re thinking of moving within the next few years, or even further out, stop by Whispering Hills and ask about our landscape design services. We’ll get you and your landscape ready to look its best, while you live there and beyond.