Garden Centre

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Selling your house? Start with your garden!

I’ve been talking to a friend this week who is an estate agent (realtor in the USA) and he commented that my garden would sell my house quicker than anything else that I could do – not that I want to sell my house, but he was making the point that in this time of recession and stalling house prices, people often don’t appreciate how a garden affects the speed (and price) of a house sale.

This intrigued me, so I asked him what I was doing right (and wrong) on a purely theoretical basis.

Apparently 30% of buyers decide if they want a house based on the front garden and path leading to the front door! This means that having flowers in the front garden, or neatly trimmed hedges and shrubs, really makes an impression and because this area always features in the advertisements, ensuring that you have given the house a welcoming appearance can determine if people even choose to view it. He said that people should buy some tubs or hanging baskets and fill them with flowers to brighten up a dull area, clean the path and remove any weeds or litter and ensure that the frontage looks welcoming and cared for.

In rear gardens, grassed areas can be make or break – at a minimum grass should be cut and edges neatly trimmed, because a tatty lawn implies other more hidden problems in the house in general. Then you need to deadhead all your flowers and make sure that trees and shrubs are kept in reasonable bounds, no twelve foot rambling roses, for example.

Decking must look perfect or you’ll lose money on the purchase price for repairs – fortunately we have paving, not decking, but he hinted it could do with a good power wash if I were in a selling mood. Ponds need to be clean and tidy, and sheds also. Finally, garages are important – apparently nobody puts a car in the garage anymore, in stead they use it for storage or as a workshop, so clearing the floorspace is important and hanging some baskets or putting some trellis on the garage wall for a climbing plant really adds to the appearance of the area.

I had no idea that the garden was so important to the value of my property! It makes no difference, of course, except to the way I think, but I shall look at my garden with a new eye from now on.

Labels: garden first impressions, garden sales, selling houses

The All Seasons Gardener at 6:18 AM

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