Well, the winter is over and it’s time to spend more time outside
and enjoy the weather and warmer temperatures that will be here very
soon. Have you seen the bulbs and crocuses already popping up on lawns
and flower beds? Very soon you will be planting your annuals Impatiens,
Black-Eyed Susans, Begonias, Petunias and other perennials to add
color, lushness and more value to your properties.
Good quality landscaping, if done properly can add as much as 20 percent and
tens of thousands of dollars to the value of your property. In fact, it is one
of the few home improvements that not only adds increased value to your
home, but keeps increasing in value over the many years that you live
there, similar to investing in a quality stock that adds to your wealth. You
may change the interior to your home several times and repair and
replace plumbing, heating and electrical devices while living in the home,
but your landscape never gets old or out of style. It will always add so
much color, beauty and satisfaction to your property as you see it grow
and mature over the years.
When family, friends, business associates and, most importantly, buyers walk down the path to your front door, there is nothing more gratifying than to
receive compliments and accolades about the way your property looks.
This, in turn, makes you proud and gratified that over the years all your disciplined efforts, sacrifice of your valuable time and labor were well worth the time and money spent improving your landscape while adding tremendous value and appreciation to your home.
Curb appeal becomes tantamount when a purchaser arrives at your
home. When is the last time that you walked down your front walkway
and was objective and, more important subjective, about how your property
really looked? Looking a little overgrown? Not really projecting a real organized look and flow? Is there a lack of proper shrubbery and trees to highlight your home? Also, over the years, is there insufficient color around your property, especially in the front, which would make your home stand out from all your neighbor’s homes, so when and if you were to sell, your place will stand out way above all the others? Maybe you need to redo and upgrade your plantings for a more enticing and exciting look?
Night-scaping is another add-on that will make your property pop. This is accomplished by setting up LED lighting on a timer and is positioned in and around the walkway and plantings that will accent and highlight your landscape and provide an amazing display that most will never see on other homes. It can also be integrated with your automatic sprinkler system as each zone comes on to provide another beautiful action oriented look.
We all have specific budgets and you surely don’t want to overspend, so consider sitting down and create a plan so that you do not overspend. You can get excited by the concept of redoing your property, but money constraints and logical and pragmatic thinking should override your going over the top with your valuable dollars and keep you within budget. Then you’ll be able to enjoy your project for many years to come or reap the rewards when a buyer comes along and falls in love with your home because of the presentation when they walk down the path to your front door.
Donate to the Ukrainian Crisis and save a life or 2:
Philip A. Raices is the owner/Broker of Turn Key Real Estate at 3 Grace Ave Suite 180 in Great Neck. He
has 40 years of experience in the Real Estate industry and has earned designations as a Graduate of the
Realtor Institute (G.R.I.) and also as a Certified International Property Specialist (C.I.P.S). For a “FREE” 15 minute consultation, a value analysis of your home, or to answer any of your questions or concerns he
can be reached by cell: (516) 647-4289 or by email: [email protected] Just email or snail
mail (regular mail) him with your ideas or suggestions on future columns with your name, email and cell number and he will call or email you back.
