Just about every homeowner wants to improve their home so that it shows its best to the world.  Well, maybe not everyone, but most normal people do.  I was in an unnamed North County city while out on Broker’s tour and I happened to drive down a street that looked like no one took any pride in ownership of their homes.  And, I mean NO ONE!  It looked like a slum but a slum with homes worth $600,000 to $700,000 if these houses were in good shape.  It got me to thinking about what must go into someones mind when they just stop taking care of their property.  The front landscaping turns to weeds, trees and shrubs die and the place looks, well it looks like a slum. I just don’t get why people have no pride of ownership when a house is the single most expensive investment anyone is likely to make in their lifetime.

So what are the five easiest ROI in landscaping your home?

1.  Lawn.

This is the first, and easiest, ROI in landscaping your house.  If it’s dead, pull it out, and either seed or roll out a carpet of sod (instant gratification, believe me).  The investment on this can be as little as a weekend of labor in rototilling the dead lawn, adding top soil, leveling it smooth and spreading seed.  Then water daily and watch it sprout.  Or, if you want to spend a little more money, rototilling, adding top soil, leveling it smooth and rolling out the sod.  Late Fall is a great time to do this because Mother Nature will do the watering for you.

2.  Trees and Shrubs.

Having too many on a lot is as bad as not having any at all.  We all like to see a couple of trees, especially the shade variety if one has a western exposure.  If you have a lot with too many trees planted too close together, get one or more of them out.  That is easier said than done, believe me, since I have had a yard like that in my lifetime.  I often wonder what the people were thinking planting 3 trees within four feet of each other.  They weren’t thinking, and probably knew they weren’t going to be living there when the trees matured and were entangled into each other!  Here’s how to remove the dead trees and shrubs on your own and save money.  If it’s a big tree, many cities in our County have heritage tree ordinances and you must get permission to remove trees, even dead ones.  They often require that you plant a new tree in place of the old one, but you may chose where to plant it on your lot.  Double check with City Hall before removing those trees, just to be safe.

3.  Flowers.

We all like to see color in a garden and flowers marching along side a entry walkway are welcoming.  Take an afternoon and plant some.  Don’t plant them too close to each other, and allow for space to grow.  Plant bulbs in the winter so you have spring flowers.  Plant fall flowers for color into winter. We are very lucky to have a climate that gives us 12 months of flowers and plants, so talk to the nursery about what’s flowering each season and plant a little of each for year round color.

4.  Bark.

When you see a home that has been staged go on the market, inevitability the yard has fresh bark (or mulch) spread in the garden.  This inhibits weeds, covers blank spots by filling in the earth between plants, and just finishes off the look.  it’s a true do-it-yourself project and takes only a little bit of time to spread the mulch around your garden.  Voliá!

5.  Fencing.

If your fence is falling down by all means fix it.  If you are going to ask a lot of money for your home, the least you can do is fix the fence.  If you have neighbors surrounding your property you can ask them to split the cost as it’s a benefit to them as much as one to you. If they don’t want to do that, bite the bullet and fix it yourself.  You’ll be happy that you did, and  it will enhance your property values.

That’s it.  The top five things you can do to enhance your home and see an ROI on the investment of money and time.  Take a look at this house now.  It has curb appeal and makes someone want to go inside to see the rest of the house.  No one wants to see a dump, unless it is a fire sale, and even then many won’t go inside to look because they make an assumption that the inside looks as bad as the outside.  Keep that in mind when you’re doing your yard work.  There really is a pay back when you have a nice looking yard.

Getting back to my drive down the North County street.  There was one house there that stood out from the rest so I lied about there not being any nice homes there.  It was painted.  It was inviting.  It had neat landscaping.  And, it was For Sale.  But, I did not stop to look at it because of the neighboring houses.  I could not show a client the best house a the block of slum houses.  I can’t do it.  And now you know why.

Check Out Some Homes Currently For Sale In This Area

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I received a call today from a former client. It’s the kind of all all
agents get, and don’t like.  We had gone over the hill to see him
last week because he has taken a  job in an east coast city and needs to put his house on the market.  He has one fabulous house with unobstructed views of the coast and a huge lot.  He sunk in over a half a million dollars in landscaping.  Remember my comments on ROI in updating your home for selling in my earlier post this week?  This is one ROI not likely to happen.  He spent the money because he didn’t think he was going to move from this house for many years so it seemed like a good investment at the time. Little did he know that a job offer would come that couldn’t be turned down.  So he wanted to talk about listing his property.

We presented a CMA (Competitive Marketing Analysis) on his home last week.  I had spent many hours preparing this CMA, researching what’s going on over the hill on the coast, looking a comparable homes
in person, and felt I had a very good feel of the market at the moment we were meeting.  I told him what I thought it should list at.  The price I gave hadn’t been arrived at in a vacuum, but with the help of conversations with other agents selling in that market and my experience as an agent.  He felt the price was way, way to low.  He wanted to recapture his ROI on the money he spent on landscaping.  Granted, the yard is amazing with blue flagstone patios, an outdoor kitchen, outdoor fireplace and spa area but it was
just completed last year.  He admitted that had he thought they’d be moving they might not have done such a grand job but they did what they did.  It wasn’t done with the idea of a resale in the near future it was done because it was what they wanted to live with.

We had several conversations this past week. He told me that other agents were telling him that he could get as much as $1 million more than what I had first suggested listing the home for.  He said he couldn’t believe the large spread agents were telling him and he was having a hard time grasping this spread.  I told him that we could list the house at the price he first threw out to me and see if anyone came to see it at that price.  If no showings, we lower the price.  But, there is always a danger in doing this.  The big danger in doing this is you might need to keep lowering the price i until you finally find a seller.  Then everyone wonders what’s
wrong with the property when you do this.  There is another option of course and that is to hold your price and hold it, and hold it, and hold it until the market meets it.  That can take a year or two if you’re able to hold out. But no one is likely to show an old property much.

The call this morning was to tell me he had listed his home with another agent for $1,000,000 more than I had suggested.  When this happens it is usually because an agent is able to tap into what the prospective seller wants to hear and to over promise.  I wish them both much luck in selling this home.  I told him as much.  Perhaps I am dead wrong on where this amazing property should be priced at, but something deep inside of me tells me I am not wrong and he will likely have to make months and months of payments on a home sitting empty waiting for someone to want it.

What this tale is all about is that pricing high is not always the best way to go.  Sometimes it is best to price where the market tells you to be,  not where you hope the market will be.  After all, if you are serious about selling your home for the highest ROI, listen carefully to what the agents tell you and try, try as hard as you can to be objective.  Many agents out there will tell you just what you want to hear and not what you need to hear.  Selling a home is an emotional process just like buying one is.  Selling is also very disruptive to your life but if you want to get it done in the shortest possible time, don’t over price it.  Price it right and it will sell fast.  Price it high so you might be able to recapture your ROI and you just might find it sitting on the market for a very long time.  Then you won’t think about a ROI you’ll think about getting it sold so you don’t have double payments.