You love your Hunter’s Creek home, but it’s time to sell and you want to get as much out of the deal as you can. To do that, your property will have to look its best to best out the competition. Most people focus on their home’s interior, but it’s the exterior which makes the first impression; and, that’s quite important because statistics clearly show people form their impression of a home in only 7 to 10 seconds.
This is why it makes sense to make the curb appeal very appealing and put potential buyers in a frame of mind that doesn’t have objections because the landscaping isn’t up to par. More than likely, buyers will first see your home on the internet and even if the interior looks good, that might not be enough to overcome a poor landscape.
Think Like a Buyer
To get the best results, think like a buyer. What are the problems they will see when they first see your property. Give your yard a fresh take by having a friend or family member give it a once over to discover things you might not otherwise spot.
“Potential home buyers form their first impression of a home from its curb appeal. Yet often a home’s outdoor landscaping is overlooked, or underdone, in the preparation for the sales process. An attractive and well-maintained landscape can add as much as 10 percent to the value of your home. Ideally the time to get started cleaning up your yard is about a month before you plan on showing your house. That should give you enough time to get everything looking just right and not leave the impression that you simply waited until the last minute to put things in order.” —HGTV
Because you live there, it’s very likely you will build up a tolerance to things that you’ve essentially taken off your to-do list because it would be a pain to fix.
Landscaping Tips which Pay Off when Selling a Home
The best changes you can make don’t have to be expensive, just smart choices and the curb appeal of your home will be another weapon in your marketing arsenal:
- Highlight the best features. Some inexpensive outdoor landscape lighting and mulch in strategic places will set off the best features in your yard.
- Shape up the shrubs. Trim the trees and shrubs, cleaning and shaping them up so they look well maintained.
- Use containers for more pop. Planting flowers and plants is good, but using colorful containers is better.
- Create shapely boundaries. Bricks, walls, and mulch can make for great boundaries and nonlinear ones make the biggest impact, so avoid square and rectangular shapes when possible.
- Do enough but not too much. Where many home sellers sabotage their own efforts is to go overboard. You want it to look open, inviting, and colorful, not like a headache to maintain.
When you’re ready to list your property, contact me for a free consultation and I’ll devise the right marketing strategy to get your home in front of qualified buyers. I’m intimately familiar with the Orlando area and can sell your home quickly and for the best price.