When selling a home, there is no doubt curb appeal can make or break a potential buyer's opinion of your place. "Good landscaping is going to help a house sell more quickly, which allows you to move on to the next phase of your life," says Greg Paul, a renovation specialist with Realty One Real Living Mortgage in Rocky River. "Landscaping definately sells the home. It definately brings customers in." Here is some simple landscaping advice Paul says will attract potential buyers and help you sell your home more quickly:
• Create a clean and simple look and make sure everything is maintained.
• Generate privacy and create a lush look with perennial plantings that keep their color. “Evergreens are nice. They can create a barrier, a nice warm look and they’re there year-round.”
• Fencing also creates privacy and helps add depth to the yard. “If you put up a six-foot privacy fence in white, it actually makes your yard look bigger.”
• Install lighting to show off the property at night and highlight the landscaping.
• Paver stone pathways along the driveway have both aesthetic and practical appeal. “It makes your driveway look bigger and avoids those [tire] ruts.”
• A photograph of the property can put things in perspective and help identify what should be done. “When you look at it in a picture, visually it’s different. That works wonders.”
• Pay attention to the details on the exterior of the house as much as you do the landscaping. A picture-perfect landscape job is only diminished by an unpainted porch or weathered front door.
