When attempting to increase home value, home owners often overlook an increasingly important aspect of the Dallas real estate game: their landscapes. With the right yard and exterior upgrades, a home can transform into a land of profits.
Blast Off the Past
For buyers, part of the appeal of purchasing a new house is the opportunity to approach life with a clean slate. That concept can be difficult for buyers to imagine if your home bears the vestiges of an unkempt landscape and dirt and grime. Knock off dirt, dust, mold, and mildew with an intense and purifying pressure wash. This can get your siding, driveway, entryway, and exterior additions, like decks, sparkling to potential. Pay special attention to areas with overgrown vegetation, as the accumulation of soil and other organic matter can require a bit more elbow grease to combat.
Prune for a New You
While you might find a hanging branch or unchecked vine growth to be endearing, character-adding elements to your home, its new owners may consider these things nuisances and indications of high-maintenance landscaping. Assume that your home’s new owners have very different tastes than you and hew towards neutrality. Spruce up your landscaping by pruning your trees, removing dead branches, trimming bushes, pulling up weeds, and attending to out-of-season perennials. Replace flowers that have lost their seasonal luster with fall annuals that boast the universally-favored autumn colors of red, orange, and yellow.
Open the Doorway to a Sale
Assess your windows and entryways. Vines that grow over windows can contribute to a feeling of claustrophobia when buyers enter your home and attempt to take in the view through your glass panes. Remove debris from gutters to ensure that they’re working properly. Clean gutters can also reduce the possibility of organic material and standing water contributing to offensive odors. Replace any wood around your home that has fallen victim to rot due to wet weather in the changing seasons. Potential home buyers who see rot may think that the coming winter months will be even harder on your house.
Think About Going Native
Common perennial and annual flowers provide a wide selection from which to choose when creating your very own Texas oasis in your garden. Many residents of the Lone Star State, however, have found that investing in a native garden can attract scores of buyers. Part of the popularity of native landscaping can be attributed to the appeal of seamless integration with a surrounding environment. Texas native landscaping offers very specific benefits, as well: practicality and manageability wrapped up in a minimalist approach.
While sellers tend to favor chrysanthemums when sprucing up their gardens, Texas offers a variety of native alternatives that prove no less beautiful and capable of flourishing in this hardy landscape. Mexican Petunias, Texas Gold Columbines, and Mist Flowers can grow unobtrusively in a Dallas garden while providing all-important splashes of color that draw buyers’ eyes. Growing vegetables that can withstand finicky Texas weather can add to the perception that you live on fertile, healthy land. As an added bonus, nurturing a garden or landscape that closely mirrors flora can support local wildlife. For home owners interested in a very low maintenance landscape, xeriscaping encourages replacing traditional gardening elements with sand, rocks, and even gravel. Ironically, this type of minimalist gardening can increase home value.
Image Source: Flickr/Pictures of Money
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