The Power of Flowers To Sell Homes
Anne Jaeger
Portland Tribune @ Home
Flowers have special powers. It’s amazing how flowers can lift your spirits, but imagine how good you’ll feel when the little lovelies help sell your house in a hurry? If you enjoy gardening that is not news to you, but for the people who hate “yard work” this may provide an attitude adjustment to put some pride into their place. Landscaping is one of the top five best resale improvements you can make. Smart Money magazine contends that homeowners who spend five percent of the value of their home spiffing up the front yard get 150% of the money back in resale.
Sure, the housing market has been nuts, but it cools in fall according to broker Larry Blackmar of Hasson Company Realtors. This last spring and summer, buyers found themselves paying more because there weren’t enough homes on the market. This month, however, there are more homes and fewer buyers. So if you’re selling you might need a push to get the price you want. Blackmar says “Even in a red hot market a homeowner needs to justify an overpriced home.” And since most families buy homes based on emotion, beauty is a great justification. And that starts right out front.
There’s a reason why “they” call it curb appeal. Buyers get an emotional snapshot of a home just driving by. If the landscaping is bad, many buyers don’t get out of the car. So suffice to say, a weedy yard can be a deal breaker, while flowers can jack-up the price. Clemson University did a fancy study on all this a while ago. The study shows homes with good landscaping, flowers and color increased the resale value by up to 5%. Now, get this… if your house is the weed in the neighborhood, it lowers your property value by almost 10 per cent! And consider this; how are you going to get a buyers attention if you’re in a subdivision where all the houses look the same? No one will see how wonderful your home is inside without some landscaping to get them in the door. Case in point, a home Blackmar was brokering in Wilsonville. It was a nice place, with a nice yard but completely overgrown. Blackmar recommended the sellers “put hanging flower baskets out front, bark dust the bare soil, cut back the bushes and plant a vine on the arbor. The house sold before we could get the sign up.” Where do you start outdoors? Here are the landscaping improvements that make a difference even in today’s market.
Today’s Outdoor Attention Getters:
- Planters of fall and winter plants grouped together in doorways.
- Weed and Trim the trees and bushes. Nothing tells the age of a home more than an overgrown landscape.
- Make the yard another “Room” in your house. Create outdoor “living” spaces where buyers can imagine themselves entertaining.
- Add winding pathways of stone, stamped concrete for visual appeal.
- Add a deck. It should be 1/3 the size of your homes first floor or less. (Studies show that you’ll probably get 200% of the money you spent on a deck back at resale.)
- Spend $200 on a consultant to evaluate your home with a critical eye and give you a “To Do List.” (Realtors can help you find someone who gets results.)
Finally, some advice from a woman who is nuts about flowers indoors and out; don’t wait until you sell to freshen up your yard with flowers and trees. Do it for yourself and you’ll find a house you can’t wait to come home to — today.
