Curb Appeal

What does your landscape say about you?

These days, elaborate patios, outdated or high-maintenance landscaping and invasive plants and trees can kill buyer interest in a home almost as quickly as an outdated kitchen or orange shag carpeting, according to landscaping experts and real-estate agents.

Many times landscaping can make the difference between a prospective buyer getting out of the car for a closer look at the house and simply driving on by. 

What you need to know to help sell the house from the outside in:

Here's a look at the top landscaping turnoffs for buyers and what homeowners can do to make sure their landscaping efforts enhance, rather than detract from the value of their home.

1. Kick out that old landscaping

Rounded junipers, squared-off boxwood and holly bushes, and topiary shrubs scream that the house is a throwback to the 1960s and '70s, agents say. People now want their landscaping to look natural, with more native plants and interesting, varied foliage. Big pine trees and other evergreens planted decades ago also can be a turnoff to buyers. These trees can get too big and must be continually hacked off at the top (a bad look) or taken out entirely to avoid roofs and power lines.

 

2. Gnomes gone wild

It should go without saying, but put the lawn ornaments away. Other buyers may not share your love of lawn globes, gnomes and plastic deer. The same rules for depersonalizing and de-cluttering inside your home apply to the outside, as well.

 

3. High-maintenance yards

While many buyers fancy themselves green-thumb gardeners, few want to invest serious time in pruning, spraying, mowing and fertilizing. Beds of non-disease-resistant plants such as hybrid tea roses can eat up a buyer's weekends with pruning and applying fungicide. Choose maintanance free plants and shrubs. 

4. Ellaborate outdoor living spaces

The line between the indoors and outdoors has been blurring in recent years, with more homeowners building elaborate outdoor living spaces complete with fireplaces, kitchens, outdoor showers and custom stone work. In many parts of the country, these areas are a big selling point, making the house seem larger. But when the work gets too ornate or extensive, it can sometimes detract from the value of a home -- especially in colder climates. Be sensible to your envirment.

5. Too much green?

Many people are asking for smaller expanses of grass so they spend less time pushing the lawn mower and running the sprinkler. Buyers see money going out in the form of water if there is too much lawn. 

Most important, agents say, maintain whatever landscaping you have. Overgrown hedges, dying flowers and leggy bushes send the message that the inside of the house is ill-kept, as well. Maintenance is key to maintaining your value.