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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We spend time designing brochures for marketing, we design web ads, we submit advertising in print (and pay for all of it), we hold open houses for brokers and the public.  We help price a home not only
by using the usual tools that all agents have, but with knowledge of the specific market the home is in because we are there selling in the area  daily.  We know the history of areas, the best schools,
the best plumbers, the best painters, the community.  How can a Virtual agent with Redfin who may be sitting in our case in San Francisco and selling houses all over the bay area represent their client to the best?  We are seasoned agents working within offices of seasoned agents.  We understand our market.  Redfin, a Seattle based company who is opening up offices in cities around the country will hire agents who can’t possibly provide local information in large metro areas.  There are too many regions to be an expert
in, and when one sells in areas they’re unfamiliar with, they open their clients up to potential litigation.

Now, what happens if you are buying a house and decide to use Redfin as your real estate company of choice?  They make you do all of the leg work.  Then they say they’ll kick back commission to you.
Super, but what happens if the property has been listed for 4.5% or 2.25% for seller and 2.25% for buyer side?  Do you expect to see a huge amount back to you?  I don’t think so.  And, who will make sure that you understand the disclosure package and walk you through the property with that disclosure?  Who will be there for the final walk-through?  Who will be there at the closing?  Does the Virtual agent come to you for anything?

Our area is full of agents who have strong tech backgrounds and we work with clients who work in the tech industry.  We are there 24/7 for them.  We can meet them and show them property.  We can talk
about areas.  We can talk about commutes.  We can help direct a client to the right location for them, one that will provide them with the kind of lifestyle they’re looking for.  Buying a house around here is a huge commitment and doing it only online, and then being told to do the heavy lifting on your own is a dangerous
proposition.  Will Redfin be there when you get sued by the buyer of your house because you didn’t disclose something?  Will they have the deep pockets to protect you?  Are they being run by people who understand real estate?

By the way, a commission on a house is split four ways, not two ways.  Let’s use the norm here on the Peninsula, 5%. Out of this commission, 2.5% goes to the listing brokerage and 2.5% to the selling
brokerage.  The agents work on splits and they receive a percentage of the commission.  Out of this split they must pay E&O insurance (Errors & Omissions Insurance is paid to make sure we are covered in the remote case we are sued), office expenses, selling expenses and any other fees that may come out.  So, use a full commission of $20,000, split 50/50, $10,000 goes to the selling broker and $10,000 to the listing broker.  The agents split varies depending on experience and the number of transactions they produce, so
let’s say one is at 60% split and the other at 70%.  One will see $6000 gross and the other will see $7000 gross.  Deduct fees of about 15-25% and you begin to see what someone makes on the deal.  Not much.

Is Redfin the place for you?  Only you can decide. If you want totake on the responsibility of finding the property, reading the disclosures and trying to understand them, not knowing if you need to have additional inspections, finding your own lender and hope they’re honest, finding yourself at the signing sitting alone across from the escrow officer who may know what they’re doing, or then again, may not.  Go for it.   We offer personal and professional service to our clients. They don’t.  We try to protect our clients from shaky deals, provide information about the community they want to live in and are there after the sale.  We know which properties have issues.  We hear of listings before they hit the market, and we can often present offers in person to the seller, before Refin has even seen the listing.  We’re in the street every day, they’re in
their seat in their office.  What’s best for you?

Last by not least, Redfin has had 20 listings in our MLS, Reil.com, 5 have sold, 4 pending, 2 active, 8 cancelled and 1 expired. I know they haven’t been in our area very long, but those aren’t very good stats in my book.  One of those cancelled listings was relisted by a Cashin agent and sold in 11 days.

What makes a Gen X buyer different than anyone else?  In my book, nothing.  My kids are Gen Xers.   I tell my clients if I think a property isn’t a good buy for them and if it isn’t something I would want my own kids to live in I won’t want them to buy it either.   I tell my clients the same things I would tell my own kids.  Ultimately my word and reputation is on the line here and I pride myself in taking good care of our clients.

So, my question goes back to why should I work differently with someone in the Gen X category?  I use the web, email and am pretty tech savvy for an old dame.  After all, I’m blogging this commentary, aren’t I?  On the other hand, working with someone my own age, or older (and I won’t say how old I am, just that I have 2 grandsons) often means less use of technology and more use of the phone.  But other than that, I service clients the same way.

My expertise is San Francisco Peninsula real estate.  I know San Francisco, I know the East Bay, I know the South Bay, but I prefer to stay within San Mateo county and just into Santa Clara county down to Mountain View.  That’s my territory.  There are a lot of places to know within that territory.  If I want a client to feel I am an expert — a maven or mavin like my license plate says, then I need to keep to specifics.  I need to know what’s going on in specific communities.  How good the schools are.  Whether the weather is good, bad or perfect.  I know that’s subjective, but give me a break here.  I need to know where you work so I can suggest the best way to get there from your prospective home.  It is impossible to be a know-it-all for every where so select someone you feel comfortable with.  Because you will be in close contact with me before, during and hopefully even after your home purchase.

We like to give a little extra to those we work with.  Whether you’re a first timer or have bought and sold multiple times, we provide things that other agents don’t.  Curious?  Ask me.