Is Landscaping A Good Investment For Your Home?

Source: Krissy Schwab

Most of us know that a key element of selling a home is curb appeal, and a huge part of that is landscaping. It’s the first impression potential buyers get of your home.

Properly planned landscaping makes your home stand out from the others on the block and can also give you a pretty decent return on investment (ROI). That’s right, your landscaping offers a return on investment, but just how much can you expect?

Experts nationally agree that investing in landscaping around your home is a strong move to make.

RealEstate.com shares the following landscaping-related statistics that might help change your mind if you’re still on the fence:

• Raises the property value as much as 12%.
• Increases your resale value 14%.
• Spending as little as 5% of your home’s value on landscaping may get an ROI of as much as 150%.
• Decreases the amount of time your home is on the market – sometimes by as much as six weeks.
• Nearly 90% of real estate agents encourage homeowners to invest in landscaping prior to selling.

Sounds pretty great, right? Well, before you go crazy planting trees and flowers everywhere, you’ll want to take some time to create a landscape plan. After all, if you’re going to spend a ton of money on this, you’ll want to make sure you aren’t wasting your money.

Make a List of What You Would Like

Sit down and think about all the things you would like to have in your yard. Do you want a large patio or composite deck for hosting parties? Is a vegetable garden area important to you? Maybe you’re thinking about putting in a pool or hot tub. All of these things are important so you can plan a budget and start thinking about where to put all that stuff.

Contact a Landscape Architect

A professional licensed by the American Society of Landscapers can help you plan your landscaping project. They’ll work with you create the back or front yard you’ve dreamed of. Whether you want lush plants or something that requires little maintenance, they’ll work with you to determine what will work best to meet your needs.

Don’t forget that you have tons of landscaping options that can help you save on your monthly water and energy bills. Make sure to mention that to your architect if it’s important to you.

Buy Quality Materials and Plants

Low prices sometimes don’t warrant quality, and you don’t want to buy a whole bunch of cheap plants only to have them die a few months later. Spend a little bit more at your local greenhouse to get quality plants and trees for your yard.

The same goes for the hardscaping, or non-plant items in your plan. For example, instead of opting for poured concrete patio, which is pretty cheap, consider a brick or wood patio instead. Not to knock on poured concrete patios, but wood or masonry make a larger visual impact in the space and look a bit nicer.

Learn How to Care for Your Landscaping

At this point you’ve probably spent a significant amount of dough on plants, flowers and trees, and you certainly don’t want it to die or turn into an out-of- control jungle. Decide whether you want to take care of it yourself or hire a landscaping expert to maintain it.

An important thing to keep in mind is most real estate experts suggest you shouldn’t do all your landscaping right before you plan to sell. To get the most bang for your buck, you’ll want to let your landscaping fill in first.

Whether you’re thinking about selling your home or just want to build an outdoor oasis, landscaping is a worthwhile investment. This summer, plant a little green around your home to get a little green back later on.