Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Time to prep your yard for home buying season.

Before a potential buyer even sees the inside of your home, you're front yard is the first thing they will view. First impressions can make or break a deal. Here are a few tips to help insure the front yard doesn't kill the deal before the car is even shut off.
Last year, thousands of U.S. households did some kind of landscaping project. The average annual bill was just under $375, according to the National Gardening Association. Many of projects can turn into disasters especially when the homeowners go to the closet big name garden center and just pull anything off the shelf that looks nice. Go to the local nursery that knows your area, and knows what they are talking about. Let them tell you what plants will work well in the area. Take into consideration soil conditions, sunlight and amount of rainfall. Do some planning first, then talk to the people that are pros about what your goals are, how much money you are willing to spend, and how much time you will need to water, prune, weed and fertilize.
Here are a few tips to help...
1) Lay the groundwork for successful planting. Does the property have good drainage or is water going to lay there. What is the Ph of the soil? Is it rocky, clay, sandy or nice soil?
2) Create a plan to draw your eye to a central point. Your yard doesn't need to have several flower beds all over the place, just a few well planned and thought out beds. Plant along a wall so it creates a focal point You can use different types of shrubs, or flowers to accomplish this.
3) Create a "portable atmosphere". Plant your flowers and herbs in decorative pots and any type of container. Get creative. Use old baskets, buckets, sneakers! They can make your deck or patio inviting and relaxing. Then, when you move, they move with you.
4) Part of your plan should be for privacy and shade. Part of a successful plan in landscaping is to hide your neighbors from view, or to help muffle the street noise. Tall plants can be used to screen your windows from your neighbors, or vice versa. Hedges are great for helping to block noise. Use your plantings to make different sitting areas. A tanning area, a quite area for reading, or an area created around a fire pit.
5) And finally, something that looks great after the blooms are done. Shrubs offer different colors and shapes. Shrubs will also be lower maintenance then flowers and herbs.
This is just a few ideas to get your home ready to put on the market. This is a buyers market and there is much more competition. That doesn't mean homes aren't moving. It means that
your home MUST be better then the neighbors, and it MUST be priced better then the neighbors. Do what it takes to make the home the most appealing home in the area. It will be worth it.
If you are putting your home on the market, or know of someone that is, please give me a call. I would like to meet you show you what I can and will do. I don't want to just list your home, I want to sell it. give me a call. My web site is www.ricksapovits.com. I am looking forward to meeting you.

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