Landscaping could add up to 15 percent to a home’s value. National Association of Realtors President-Elect, Walt McDonald of Riverside, Calif., was quoted in the article as saying, “When people ask me how they can get strong interest in their property, I always tell them to fix up their landscaping.”
When Americans want to enhance their homes, they focus on the outdoors. In a recent Gallup research project, homebuyers revealed they think landscaping adds 14.87 percent to a home’s selling price. In another survey, Money magazine reported that landscaping as a home-improvement project has a recovery value of 100 to 200 percent if it is well done and harmonizes with nearby foliage. Real estate agents agree. Ninety-five percent of the members of the Society of Real Estate Appraisers concur that landscaping adds to the dollar value of real estate, while 99 percent said that landscaping enhances property’s “sales appeal,” increasing the actual speed of the sale.
Landscape investments are recovered fully, and sometimes doubled, via increasing real estate values.
Spending on landscape design and installation has more than tripled in the past five years, hitting $14.3 billion in 2002. And no wonder–it offers the best return on investment of any home improvement you can make.
Those trees in your yard provide more than just shade. According to a recent study by the U.S. Forest Service, trees can increase a home’s value by three to seven percent. Meanwhile, poor landscape design can actually decrease property values by up to 10-percent according to a 1994 study published in the Journal of Environmental Horticulture.
Landscaping can reduce air conditioning costs by up to 50 percent, by shading the windows and walls of a home.
In one study, 99% of real estate appraisers concurred that landscaping enhances the sales appeal of real estate
A mature tree can often have an appraised value of between $1,000 and $10,000.
Landscaping can bring a recovery value of 100 to 200 percent at selling time. Kitchen remodeling brings a 75 to 125 percent recovery rate, bathroom remodeling a 20 to 120 percent recovery rate, and addition of a swimming pool a 20 to 50 percent recovery rate.
Homes with “excellent” landscaping can expect a sale price about 6 to 7 percent higher than equivalent houses with “good” landscaping, while improving landscaping from “average” to “good” can result in a 4 to 5 percent increase.
Landscaping can add between 7 and 15 percent to a home’s value.
Landscaping may significantly reduce your energy bills.Carefully positioned trees can save up to 25% of a typical household’s energy for heating and cooling. Computer models from DOE predict that just three trees, properly placed around the house, can save an average household between $100 and $250 in heating and cooling energy costs annually…