If you’re in the process of buying a home, you may have certain must-haves on your checklist. You might want central air, a new roof, or an inground pool, but what about what’s on the inside of the home?
According to a recent survey from Michigan Bulb, homeowners are placing more importance on the exterior of a house than what you might think. In fact, over 90% of respondents said landscaping has an impact on their decision to buy or rent a home.
In this article, you’ll find a breakdown of what Americans are saying on the impact of landscaping on a home’s value and their decision to purchase it. There are trends that involve the mindset of people to spend most of their money inside or indoors, but there are people around that absolutely want to spend some money on landscaping. This is a sense of pleasure for some people. People that love greenery and nature are more decent as compared to the others.
1. The inside of a home can always be fixed, but you may be stuck with its exterior.
While outdated wallpaper or stained carpets can be ripped out and replaced, you’re more often than not stuck with the lot size and landscape of a property. A hilly, rough terrain can be limiting, and a small backyard may be less than ideal.
Nearly 70% of the surveyed respondents said that they would still consider a home that is outdated or in disrepair if the outside is beautifully landscaped. And for 65% of respondents, a landscaped front yard is more important than a landscaped backyard. The response of different age groups to this question is different as per their personal choices and experiences. These days the price of properties has become so high that homeowners like to buy limited space that is less expensive.
2. Landscaping is adding more value to your home than you may realize.
While landscaping preferences vary across genders and generations, there’s one thing respondents can agree on: landscaping is a good investment. 97% of respondents said that a landscaped yard adds value to a home. It adds value to your home in 2 ways. First of all, it definitely makes the home more beautiful and secondly, if you ever make the plan to sell your house, it will be a lot bigger advantage than you think.
Moreover, Americans are continuing to add home value through landscaping—But it’s a costly endeavor. According to the survey, more than 40% of Americans say they have added thousands of dollars to their home’s value through landscaping, and the number is even higher for Baby Boomers, at 54%.
The biggest indicator of a low-value home across the board was a home’s grass. 40% of respondents say a yard with overgrown or little to no grass indicates a lower value home. These are the people out there that love the nature and greenery so they give more weight to that aspect of the house. In addition, 24% of Baby Boomers say a bare or crumbling patio space suggests a low-value home, and 20% of Gen-X respondents say little to no plant life is their low-value home indicator. It may be time to hire a landscaping company if you’re thinking about selling!
3. Beauty and recognition of Landscaping
Most of us do not recognize the fact that the outside or the exterior of the house is that or the same important as the inside or the interior of the house. If you someone for the 90s your house, they will love garden or everything related to the landscaping. The landscaping is like the basics of any of the houses. The trees and grass are great to reduce and filter the air and water. These trees and grass particles capture the smoke and dust and purify the air. It is estimated that only a single tree can remove as much as 26 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air everywhere. This is such a big advantage. A single tree can supply enough oxygen to as many as 4 people. All of it proves the importance of landscaping.
The other aspect of landscaping is beauty. When it comes to natural beauty nothing should be more prioritized. It is a fact that the grass lawn keeps the impact of coolness as compared to the bare soil, cement, or maybe the Asphalt. It simply reduces the need for air conditioning when there is grass around the house. So, it not only make your house look more beautiful. Another fact is that the trees in your lawn or backyard can create a good healthy shade in the summer months, they reduce the glare from the windows and also the overall temperature around them.
4. Practices and preferences vary across generations.
Not everyone has the same opinions on landscaping. Some generations emphasize it more than others, and our practices vary with age.
The older people or generation of the 90s generally tend to give the landscaping more importance and weightage while the younger generation tends to do it less. This depends upon the personal preference of any person and it wholly depends upon the choice and nature of someone.
Millennials, who are buying houses in droves, are especially interested in the size of a home’s yard. According to the survey, 59% of Millennials are looking for a large yard to the landscape. In addition, 3 in 4 Millennials will still consider buying an outdated or rundown home if the yard is already landscaped.
By contrast, Baby Boomers are more likely to prefer a house with a small backyard that requires less maintenance, but the differences don’t stop there/ 31% of Gen-X respondents are most put off by dying or dead plants, while 30% of Gen-Z say patchy or dead grass isn’t attractive in a yard. 28% of Baby Boomers find weeds to be the unsightliness garden element
You can find the full report and all of the insight here. Happy home buying!