While it may be true that the location, bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom may be the strongest selling points of the house, they are not the only things that can boost your home's sale value. For instance, the exterior of your home, particularly its driveway and its garden are crucial for the overall impression it makes on the potential buyers. Because of this, it might be a good idea to renovate your garden prior to listing your home. Here are few tips you should look out for while doing so.
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Planting Trees
One of the first things that pop to mind when people mention gardening or landscaping is the idea of planting trees. According to various sources, having a tree line around your property can increase its value by a staggering 15 percent. Not only can such a thing give a boost to the first impression that those approaching your home have, but it also goes above and beyond to make the household more sustainable.
For example, five years after planting the tree on the west side of your home, you could start saving 3 percent on your energy bill, while fifteen years later, this number could climb to the amazing 12 percent. In the end, even having trees on the properties surrounding yours can benefit its value.
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Growing a Lawn
Another thing you might want to focus on is the lawn in your garden. According to some, a proper lawn care greatly boosts your property’s value. You see, a garden lawn is like a background on a painting. Although it is not the most prominent element it the makes the image beautiful as the whole. Nonetheless, in order to grow your lawn, you will need a no small amount of research and some proper gardening equipment.
Sure, line trimmers, leaf blowers, and hedge trimmer are all quite useful for this task, but at the very beginning, you could start by getting a quality hose and a hose reel. Still, when it comes to the irrigation of the lawn, you need to know few things. First, never do it in the evening, in order to reduce the risk of disease. Furthermore, watering during the time when there is no wind or in the early morning hours significantly reduces the loss of evaporation.
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Try to Keep It Low-Maintenance
Even though having a well-organized garden is great in boosting your home’s aesthetics, you need to focus a bit closer on the maintenance that it requires. A garden that needs a lot of upkeep is bound to drive away some potential buyers.
Luckily, there are numerous flowers and plants that don’t require much care. Shrubs like lavender and azalea, bulbs like snowdrops and crocus and climbers like ivy are just some of the examples. Furthermore, you could also turn to some annuals such as sunflowers or even petunias to add even more color to your low-maintenance garden.
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Personal Oasis
Finally, keep in mind that you are not actually selling the actual garden but the idea of what the buyer will use it for. This is why having a barbecue area where your buyers will be able to imagine themselves with their closest friends on Sunday afternoons might be a deal-breaker.
Moreover, you might also invest a bit in increasing the level of privacy in the garden either by a strategic placement of shrubs and plant screens or with the use of a stylish fence. In this way, you can make this garden into a personal oasis and in this way appeal to the emotion-driven decision making in a buyer. To further capitalize on this idea, you could also add some fiery elements (like an outdoor fireplace or a fire pit) into the mix.
As you can see, renovating your garden requires minimal investment while it gives your property’s value a significant boost. A bit of landscaping, and out-of-the-box idea or two and some accessorizing (garden gnomes, hanging planters or even a garden mirror) and you can turn your garden into your home's strongest selling point.
Of course, building a pool and a playground for children might also do the trick, but seeing how pricey this investment may be, the abovementioned four yield much better ROI. They are also more frugal for those operating on a tight budget.