Landscaping, Curb Appeal and Housing Prices!

Wow, we've had some really pretty days lately...And along with that, it certainly brings a desire to go to the local nursery and pick up a few shrubs and annuals and just play around in the yard.  But have you ever thought about what effect a nicely landscaped yard does to the value of your home. Well, here are a few things that might get you motivated to study your landscaping and make some improvements.

We've all heard that phrase "curb appeal"  - when you hear those words, it's not related to an UNattractive home. Quite the opposite. How often do you see a home with a beautiful front lawn, manicured bushes, cheerful flowers  and a bright shiny door and stop to take the second look. Sometimes, we'd just like to know the people that live there. Afterall, if their yard looks like that, they must be fun people to be around.  Isn't that what curb appeal is about? Makes you want to see what the rest of the house is about.

Now, back up for just a moment and think of yourself driving through a city that you've never been to before.  On one hand you encounter a city that greets you with a Welcome Monument that is landscaped, and perhaps has some benches that invite you to sit down or take a stroll through some well planned green space.  On the other hand, you see a city that has litter blowing around the road and the common areas in need of repairs. Where do you think you are going to stop to explore a little further?  One place offers a feeling of peace and relaxation; the other can even make one feel unsafe.  Fortunately, our little Corner of the World in Smyrna has many places that encourage a stop to just enjoy the fresh air and out of doors.  Our local government has done a superb job of creating many green spaces and Keep Smyrna Beautiful and their many volunteers do wonders keeping our streets clear of litter.

Is Your Subdivision and your home doing the same? Let's go back to the beginning now.  If you've ever shopped for a home (or are shopping for one now), do you remember seeing an ad for  a  home that you just couldn't wait to get inside of because it had that wonderful curb appeal.   Did you get to that house and find that even though the  house was ever so charming (inside, too), you just couldn't buy it because the neighborhood didn't look quite as good as that house did. Since you are buying the neighborhood when you buy your house, it's just as important to feel good about it, too. 

We all want our properties to sell at the best price we can get, and we don't want the neighbors properties to be the reason that we can't sell. So get out there in this fresh air and sunshine and look closely at your home. Ask yourself if your home has "curb appeal".  Ask yourself if your shrubs are overgrown and need trimmed back - ask yourself if you can make your grass look better with some pre-emergent in February and fertilizer in April - ask yourself if your flower beds need edged or your sidewalk and driveway need pressure washed. And ask yourself if you are contributing to making a positive impact on  your neighborhood (and raising values) or are you the guy that needs to pay some attention to your property. 

 A lot of our subdivisions have common area which is handled by an association. We can be pretty sure that entrances to those subdivisions bring that welcoming feeling that was described above in the tale of two cities. If your neighborhood does not have a formal group with covenants and restrictions, perhaps you can get a group of neighbors together and have a work day. Clean the entrances; make them inviting - and distinctly yours! That can be fun, and it brings people together. (Schedule a BBQ for after the work day and get to know each other) Take it a step further - if you know someone in your neighborhood that is having financial difficulty or is elderly and on a fixed income, why not offer to cut the grass for them. It will make your neighborhood look better and you might feel good about what you did, too.

It may not seem so, but all of this goes to bringing the values of our homes and our neighborhoods up. You want your neighborhood to be the one that the buyers are "targeting". You want your neighborhood and subdivision to be the place where people want to stop and look. And you want a bigger price tag on your house.

And don't wait until it's your house on the market to get involved. Start now. Get out there in the sunshine; get some Vitamin D and exercise; and feel good about a days work in your yard.

I'm going now - because, my yard is probably the worst in my neighborhood, and if I don't get out there, I'm going to get voted off the island.