If you plan on listing your home for sale, you probably know how big an impact landscaping can have on the success of a listing. After all, roughly 60% of potential home buyers believe that a well-landscaped yard influences their purchasing decisions. It’s certainly understandable that you’d want to improve your landscaping prior to putting your property on the market. However, it’s possible that your efforts to improve your curb appeal could actually reduce your chances of selling your home for the highest price. If you don’t avoid the following missteps, you could actually hurt your curb appeal instead.
Clashing Colors
Color plays an essential role in the majority of landscape ideas, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to take things too far. The colors you should choose for shrubs and flowers should complement both the existing property features and each other. If you have too many distinct themes in one small area, this will only create chaos in the yard — and make home buyers feel overwhelmed. Stick with a central color palette (ideally, three colors in the same general family, with some white accents to balance things out). This will make things easier when picking out plants at your local nursery or when working with professional landscapers to decide on the design. Keep the style and colors of your house in mind when deciding on your palette, as well.
Fair Weather Flowers
The real estate market does tend to heat up in the spring and summer — and with everything in bloom, it’s easy to focus on these aesthetically pleasing seasons. But to improve your curb appeal, you’ll need to consider how your property looks throughout the year. When picking out your plants, be sure to add some options that bloom throughout the summer and into the fall. Adding shrubs and trees that will retain their color throughout the winter will ensure that your property won’t look dull and dreary during the colder seasons. Don’t count on the spring and summer blossoms to sell your home for you. Get some help with landscaping to ensure that, even if your home doesn’t sell until fall or winter, your property will always look its best.
Falling-Apart Fences
Don’t forget that you can also improve your curb appeal by adding hardscaping and other non-plant features. Fenced-in yards can be highly enticing to buyers, but fences that are in disrepair can be a real detriment. If the wood is rotting, the paint is peeling, or if the fence is broken, tilted, or falling down, this won’t serve as a selling point. Buyers will look at the fencing and think only about the work (and the costs) involved in fixing it. Before listing your home, make sure to fix any fencing that has seen better days. To further improve its look, give careful thought to how to landscape around your fencing to give your yard some charm and enchantment.
Overcrowded Clusters
In your zeal to improve your curb appeal, it’s easy to get carried away with planting. When you first plant flowers and shrubs, the yard might look a bit sparse. But before this prompts you to fill in the gaps, remember: plants grow. Without the proper spacing, your new plants will quickly become overcrowded. Not only can this look less than attractive, but it can actually hurt the health of your flowers and shrubs. An overgrown yard won’t do you any favors; you might even have to pull out those plants and start all over. Do your research to find out how much a given specimen might grow and follow instructions to make sure it thrives. Even better, hire a professional to design and execute a plan that will make your yard look beautiful and leave room for necessary growth.
When it comes time to take a look at your landscaping for an upcoming home sale, steer clear of these mistakes to retain your property’s value. For more on how we can help your home look its best with our landscaping and hardscaping services, please contact us today.
