If you’ve ever bought or sold a home, you know how important curb appeal is. Ask any Realtor and they’ll tell you what a significant role curb appeal plays in listing a home for sale. If you are motivated to sell but your budget is tight, you’ll be happy to learn that according to a survey by the National Association of Realtors, elaborate patios, fire features and swimming pools aren’t necessarily the best investments. Instead, basic yard care and improvements are what you need to yield the highest returns.
According to survey results, which polled both Realtors and Landscape Industry Professionals, here’s the percent of investment you can expect to recover from different curb appeal projects when selling your home:
Standard Lawn Care: 267% return on investment: The simple act of regularly applying fertilizer and weed control to your lawn can result in a whopping 267% return on your investment. This puts standard lawn-care expenses at the top of the list for the best curb appeal investments you’ll definitely recover when selling a home.
Landscape Maintenance: 100% returned on investment: The study looked at an average investment of $3,000 for landscape maintenance such as mulch, mowing, pruned shrubs and basic plantings. This also was shown to be a good investment that will reward you when selling.
Landscape Upgrades: 83% return on investment: Landscape upgrades were shown to produce slightly lower returns when homes sold, with 83% recovered. These are projects that include things like a flagstone walkway, stone planters, flowering shrubs, mulch and mature trees.
With projects like these, sometimes you have to look beyond the return on investment to how much the project can motivate a potential buyer to make an offer. Part of the study also talked about which projects rated highly among both homeowners and homebuyers for their “enjoyment factor.”
Projects that provided the most enjoyment included fire features and smart irrigation systems, both tied for first. Other projects that scored highly for homeowners and attracting the attention of home buyers include wood decks, water features, statement landscaping and an overall landscape upgrade.
The first impression that potential buyers have of your home can make or break a sale. How your home and landscaping present themselves from the first moment someone approaches can either be inviting, or off-putting. If you’re selling your home, or just ready to make a few improvements to how it looks, check out this article, “How to Boost Your Home’s Curb Appeal,” on our blog. And feel free to give us a call, we can help you with questions about everything from curb appeal to cost analysis, and make sure you the best deal you can.
