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How Important is Your Lawn’s Look When Trying to Sell Your House

Are you trying to sell your home? Sprucing up your lawn for a quick sale is not that hard as you may think. Keep reading for our easy tips!


Photo: Solara Custom Doors and Lighting

So you’re trying to sell your home. Two words: deep breath. This can be a stressful undertaking but there are things you can do to sell your home easily. First and foremost, you obviously need to make sure your house is in shape to sell it. Unless you know it’s going to be a knock-down, it’s well worth your while to do some home improvement projects, particularly to your bathrooms and kitchens (which can raise the resale value). However, what many might not consider to their detriment is the curb appeal (or lack thereof) of their home. If you’ve watched HGTV, you likely know that this is the overall aesthetics of your home as potential buyers pull up to the curb. How is the paint looking? How are the shutters holding up? Are there any trees that need to come down? There are many factors that make up curb appeal, and one of those is your lawn. How important is the look of your lawn when trying to sell your home? We explore that below.

How Important is a Great Lawn?

In sum, it’s pretty darn important. The lawn is likely the first thing potential buyers will notice when pulling up to the curb—hence the relevance. However, there are exceptions. If you live in California, for instance, those looking to buy a house are less likely to be as consumed by this, as brown or at least less-than-perfectly-green lawns have become the norm due to their near-permanent drought situation. In other areas of the U.S., you want your lawn to be as green and well-manicured as possible.

Photo: Via Houzz

If you don’t have time to tend to it yourself during the sale process, outsource this to someone who will. We often talk about our love of lands like Ireland and Iceland for their lush and green countryside, so the last thing we want when trying to sell our homes is for prospects to see dead and dry landscaping. If you do live in an area that’s prone to droughts, you might think about replacing the grass with turf or even drought-resistant plans like succulents and rocks. A lot of people in California are going with the latter option, and you wouldn’t believe how polished this can look when done right. And the huge extra bonus is that there would be no more mowing the lawn!

Other Lawn Essentials

There is a lot more to making your lawn presentable than having green grass. You need to make sure your hedges are trimmed, particularly the ones that adorn walkways up to the home. You only get that once chance for the first impression. Trim your rose bushes and trees, rake the leaves, pull weeds from your well-designed garden, and simply make everything look well-tended to. You might even consider taking a photo and/or having an outside eye come over to look. Either of these tactics would ensure that you’re not missing something due to the fact that you’re walking by these things every day.


Photo: Bosenberg and Company Landscape Architects

Don’t Forget the Bells and Whistles

We all know real estate agents have their tricks. They take photos of the home in just the right light and at just the right angle. They stage the home or sometimes even have professional stagers come and do it for them. They’ll have scented candles going or even bake cookies so that the smell is inviting. So if your real estate agent is taking these great pains to make your home look as appealing as possible, you should, too.

Just as you would with a fresh coat of paint inside and tweaking bathrooms and kitchens, you’ll want to add things like pops of color to the outside of your home. Consider putting in bushes that flower and/or potted plants. Hang them from trellises and have them greet your prospects on the front porch. If you anticipate having some visits at night, highlight the best parts of your lawn and landscaping with spotlights. Any of these added touches will surely make a huge impression on potential buyers, even if it’s on a subliminal level.

So just how important is the look of your lawn when trying to sell your home? We’ll say it again—very much so! But don’t let the thought overwhelm you. You don’t have to do a complete overhaul, but you should consider some of the aforementioned tactics in cleaning up your lawn and landscaping. Once you do that, your home will surely fly off the market.

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Landscaping Tips for the Ultimate in Curb Appeal

Increase your home’s curb appeal and value with some of these easy and budget friendly ideas!


Photo: Gray Malin

You don’t need to list your home for sale to want it to look as appealing on the outside as it does on the inside but, unfortunately, too many homeowners wait until they are ready to sell to focus much on curb appeal. Wouldn’t you like to drive up to a stunning front lawn and garden when you come home after a long, hard day at work? It might not take much to get your landscaping up to par, and with a little extra effort, you can have the most stunning home on the block. Check out these landscaping tips for the ultimate in curb appeal.

Take Control of Those Hard to Manage Weeds

Have you ever wondered why the ‘hardscape trend’ has taken hold of yards all over the nation? Although they are lovely additions to landscape designs, they also serve a few functional purposes. Hardscapes, where there is no grass growing, can mean that you have less to mow every week during the spring and summer months.


Photo: Via Pinterest

Also, hardscapes can stop those ugly weeds from marring a perfectly lush lawn. They can also be used as a kids’ play area so that your little people have a mud-free area to romp in without fear of traipsing in mud after its rained or you’ve watered your lawn. Choose an interlocking paver ground covering and you have it all! No more weeds, no more mud, no more mowing, and a beautifully seamless addition to your lawn.

Decorative Lighting for Form and Function

Many homeowners choose the lighting on their property for safety and security. They want to be reassured that no one will take a nasty fall during the nighttime hours, but they also want to see if anyone who shouldn’t be there isn’t out there. Why not take advantage of the amazingly decorative outdoor lighting which has come into vogue in recent years? Use ambient lighting to showcase some of your prized plants, add solar lights to line walkways while lighting up that birdbath with rotating colors at night.


Photo: Studio McGee

Tip: Lighting up your landscaping and home will make a huge difference to your home’s overall curb appeal. Not only will it make your home look twice it’s size come night time, it will also make your home a lot more safer!

You don’t need to use those hideous spotlights either! Some homes have taken to antique light posts which resemble gas lanterns of days gone by to add a bit of character to their grounds. Others have stayed contemporary but have set all their spotlights on a motion sensor. In other words, play around a bit with your lighting so that it doesn’t look like some kind of government facility, even if you need that lighting for security. There are ways to make even the strongest of spotlights less offensive to the neighbors.

If you want to totally remake the look of your landscape, you can always hire a landscaping design house to draw up the diagram. Simply tell them which elements you’d like to eliminate, which elements you want to include, and then have a rough idea of where you envision major changes. With the latest in 3D CAD software, you can even get a visual representation of what the finished product will be. Make a few modifications here and there, and before you know it, you certainly will enjoy driving up to your home any hour of the day.