You can alter your home’s curb appeal to increase your home value. A higher property value raises your homeowner’s equity, enabling you to secure a mortgage refinancing for better repayment terms.
The simplest and the most economical strategy for curb appeal improvement is landscaping. There are several counties with ordinances that regulate your options in this regard. Nonetheless, you still have the liberty to go beyond the regulations and achieve more than what the lawmakers envisaged when they created the laws.
Creative and artistic landscaping improves the value of your home in the following ways:
- It makes the property feel like it is in its proper place
Although realtors and home appraisers consider floor space, access to amenities, serenity, and security as essential components of the home value, landscaping also contributes to the home value. The first impression that property gives to a prospective buyer can be uninspiring, or alluring and inviting. You always want your property to stand out, especially when you’re ready to sell.
Since most counties have regulations that direct landscapers to use indigenous plants and local materials, home contractors create a façade that blends with the environment to enhance the natural aesthetics of the location.
Therefore, landscaping can configure a property to create the impression that it is in the right place. Most homebuyers place a premium value in properties that create harmony between its interior and exterior. Good landscaping enables the transition from outer home to inner home to be seamless.
2. Landscaping is a staging strategy for the exterior
Realtors who stage home interiors use furniture, décor, or art pieces to beautify the home and make it appealing to potential homebuyers. Landscaping can complete the staging process and give the property warmth and life. Stucco, wood sidings, and windows can have an industrial look that makes it hard for a home buyer to visualize living in such a place. But a manicured lawn and stone walkway can enable a prospective buyer to foresee how their life will pan out in the property and allow you to receive higher offers for your property.
Some people can use exterior furniture, such as a rocking chair, for the patio, or creeper plants for the picket fence to enhance the landscaping and make the exterior pop. Items such as sculptures, ornamental flowerpots, and smart lighting attracts more inquiries in open houses, which lead to increased sales
3. Plants decelerate the wear and tear in the façade
When trees are part of the landscaping, a homeowner can slow down the exterior wear and tear due to exposure to weather elements. For instance, trees can reduce the impact of hail on wood sidings and stucco, which slows down the rate of paint wear.
Additionally, the texture of the exterior can be affected by weather elements such as heavy rain, and with time, the home can have an inconsistent appearance.
A worn-out and unsightly home exterior can water down the good qualities of your home and knock a few thousand dollars from the listing price. You can also think of trailing plants for the walls, such as vines, to protect the walls and maintain the original hue.
4. Landscaping increases the scope for functionality
Contrary to conventional beliefs, where you measure a property by the floor space and the interior design, current trends also place a premium value on the usability of the exterior space.
For example, if you design your front to appeal to an outdoor party, the value is likely to go up since the pricing matrix of your property will be expanded. As the emphasis on exterior living surges, more people prefer to spend time outdoors, and innovative landscaping ideas can be a positive addition to the home’s features.
5. A paradigm shift in favor of green solutions with buyers opting for energy-efficient properties
Energy-efficient homes are becoming essential worldwide, as people attempt to cut their carbon footprints. For instance, trees can provide shade to your home exterior, minimizing the use of the energy-intensive AC.
Additionally, you can use recycled greywater from your kitchen sink to water the plants in your home to cut water bills and reduce your reliance on grid utilities like gas, water, and electricity.
Therefore, a home that can be livable off the grid increases the listing value, as it guarantees the new buyer of low maintenance costs, especially in this era of worsening inflationary pressure.
6. Landscaping creates a family and pet-friendly home
A well-kept yard not only spruces up the curb appeal, but also creates a family-friendly space that significantly increases the client base. Most homeowners would prefer buying a property where their children can roam around and play safely without them having to keep a continuous eye on them. They would also prefer a home where they can spend time outdoors and pursue their hobbies.
This feature allows realtors and property appraisers to place a premium value on your home premised on its most significant selling point of family-friendliness.
7. Well maintained homes are valued, and landscaping is the primary indicator
Homeownership is expensive, exhilarating, and time-consuming. After moving into a new home, most people could be financially constrained and unable to spend further on remodeling, repairs, and refinishing projects.
People use different strategies to check whether the property is in great shape before making a purchase. However, many home sellers overlook one key strategy, and that is their landscaping. Landscaped homes enable realtors to shorten the available property-listing period and increase the property price to assure that the new occupier will not spend a fortune shortly.
Conclusion
Market trends, property construction costs, and improving the curb appeal can transform your home from a standard to a premium property. Landscaping entails creating an inviting exterior environment to spruce up your property and increase offers, especially when selling.
Most prospective home buyers value interior and exterior functionality, pet and family friendliness yards, and other aspects that enhance the livability aspect of a home. Besides trees and lawns, landscaping also entails overhauling the driveway and walkway, creating outdoor lighting for intriguing night vision, and placing exterior furniture and décor to attract buyers.