Enhance Curb Appeal: Landscaping Tips

We can all appreciate a nicely landscaped home. It grabs our attention and piques our interest. This is exactly what you want with your rehab project. When we see a home with an average landscape… do we even see it? Usually not. The idea behind quality Curb Appeal is more than just pretty flowers; it is enticing the senses of our guests and onlookers.

However, when it comes to our rehab projects, we often try to minimize the amount of money put into the landscape only because we are afraid of the cost. It’s not as important as the kitchen or the bathroom, is it? For survival it may not be, but for attracting a buyer, you better believe it is.

Think about the last time you looked for a home– not ones that you are looking to rehab or wholesale, but to live in. Which ones were you drawn to? Most people are drawn to the homes with nice curb appeal, which is hard, if not impossible, to come by without putting some thought and money into the landscaping.

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The Real Cost of Landscaping

The main reason people neglect landscaping is that they are afraid of the cost. However, if you count the opportunity cost of how long it will take to sell a boring home, you will find that the cost of landscaping is a necessary expense, by the way you know that you can take a landscaping loan for making look and feel of the house better.

The landscape industry says that to have a nicely landscaped home, you should spend approximately 5-10% of the home’s value on landscaping. Furthermore, to have an “excellently” landscaped home you may need to spend 15-20%. A recent survey performed by Money Magazine found that “….homes with ‘excellent’ landscaping realize a sales value of 6% to 7% greater than homes with good landscaping.”

With that in mind, since our typical target ROI for strictly rehab costs is 100%, it is usually not worth it to “excellently” landscape a home solely to sell it. However, just enough landscaping and color coordination of the exterior is crucial for curb appeal, which is a must-have to attract buyers into the home.

In order to determine how much you should spend on landscaping, ask yourself the following questions:

How Much Landscaping is Enough While Curb Appeal?

Determine what needs to be done to the home to increase curb appeal by establishing which features are necessary to create a “nicely” landscaped home. Your landscaping project might include a deck, patio, hard-scapes, and/or water features. If your project does not warrant any of those or has existing features that can be cleaned up, then your landscaping expenses are greatly reduced.

Who Will Complete the Landscaping?

After you have figured out how much and what type of landscaping you need for your investment property, you will then need to consider if you are doing any or all of the work yourself and/or hiring laborers instead of landscape contractors. If either or both of those are true, then you are able to reduce your landscaping costs even further

Though adequate landscaping is essential to increase curb appeal and sell a home faster, it is still possible to achieve the desired landscaping look while keeping costs relatively low. It is possible to cut a landscape budget down to 2 ½% – 5% of the home’s value. If you consider a slightly higher sales price and a quicker sale, then the ROI on that money quickly makes sense.

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Jonas Taylor: Jonas Taylor is a financial expert and experienced writer with a focus on finance news, accounting software, and related topics. He has a talent for explaining complex financial concepts in an accessible way and has published high-quality content in various publications. He is dedicated to delivering valuable information to readers, staying up-to-date with financial news and trends, and sharing his expertise with others.