When you decide to sell your home many things come to mind about what has to be done in order to get it ready to be put on the market. Painting, new flooring, patching this, donating that, cleaning out and packing up. One area of your home that often times is forgotten is your yard. Handing over your beautiful garden and well thought out landscaping is a very personal and emotional thing to go through, but if you do it right, all of the hours, sweat and effort that you've invested in your yard and garden just might seal a sweeter deal for you. It may also inspire the new buyer as well!
With Spring a few short weeks away, you can begin working on landscaping now and then work in the yard and garden as the weather permits. Here's an inside look at one seller's choice to spruce up his yard for sale last Fall from the founder of Frame It All himself, Anthony Topping.
"Selling a home is an emotional and arduous task, decluttering , painting, cleaning and on and on. Every home had some special attribute that if given special attention builds the imagination of the potential buyers .
My home's special attribute was my raised vegetable gardens. My house was in the suburbs of NYC and was on less than a 1/4 acre but my backyard was a paradise of peppers, lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, eggplant and more.
My house went on the market October 1st of last year and in preparation I planted cool season vegetables to show off the garden. Most gardeners don't think about planting another crop of cool season plants such as lettuce & spinach and many warm season vegetables such as peppers and eggplants keep thriving well into the fall. Along with some cool season annual flowers such as pansies, my tired vegetable garden was spruced up and sparkled for the sale of our home. Being a horticulturist I always kept a nice well manicured lawn and flowers in the window boxes which made the curb appeal pop.
A terrific photographer helped greatly which made our listing stand out from the pack so much that in the first three days before the Sunday open house we had 18 showings and then 37 family's at our open house which resulted in 5 offers on the Monday after the open house!
First impressions matter and if the outside of your property is taken care of people rightfully think that the inside of your home should be as equally well maintained."
That was a great success story Anthony! Congratulations to you and thank you so much for sharing your experience with us! It certainly is very inspirational.
Now I know some of you might be saying that you're not a horticulturist or that your yard doesn't have lots and lots of durable, beautiful Frame It All raised beds on it, brimming with gorgeous ripening vegetables and blossoming flowers. Ok, ok, your yard is a little less of a garden Utopia than Anthony's was. Maybe your yard is one full acre of Frame It All raised beds and great landscaping but all the beds are empty and the yard hasn't had any attention in months, or maybe years! Both scenarios are ok, really, I promise! Our point to you is simply this. Work on your yard / landscaping because all of the effort you put in to it now will be noticed by the potential buyers that you invite in to see your home later. Who knows, it just might spur on a bidding war and increase the final sale price!
Here is one final suggestion that we have for you. Here is a way that you can pass along important information about your property to the new owners once your house is sold. You can also draw out your raised beds and what has been planted where and what has does well for you in the shade or sun! Then simply leave it for the new owner!
No matter how small or large your yard or garden is, making a potential buyer feel like they are purchasing a home with a well maintained yard will always work in your favor. Good luck with your sprucing up and happy selling!