Spring is a time when traditionally the housing market picks up. Easter will see droves of eager sellers swelling the aisles in B and Q, trolleys laden with paint. Its amazing how a lick of paint and a few trips to the dump can transform any house.
And there it stops ... this Sows ear into a silk purse routine often stops at the front door. Yet what is the first thing your potential buyer sees as they pull up outside, eagerly clutching the details from the estate agent - the front garden. Estate agents call it 'Curb appeal' - the feeling your buyer gets as they survey the outside of your house from the safety of their car. That's when you need to grab them.
The transformation of the glory hole that was the spare room into the a 'home office' or the squirreling away of all those 'useful' things into dark corners is wasted if they have just clapped eyes on your dying Christmas tree or had to duck the overgrown hedge as they approach the front door. First impressions count ... we all do it. Its an animal thing.
I notice gardens, well I would - its my job. I notice the large house in the desirable street, the one with the big corner plot and the overgrown Leylandii cutting the light out of the front room, and the 'For Sale' board. The current owners have made it 'theirs' - individual. But they are not buying it, they are selling it. It needs to appeal to a broad market.
So how can you increase your Curb Appeal. Well get an objective view for a start. A friend or neighbour will see things you have lived with. The green path, the overgrown hedge, the tired borders.
Wimbledon Gardens are happy to advise, and it surprising what can be achieved in a few short hours, a bit of colour added here a few well placed pots or planters there, a clean path, can all help to make your house look more homely and inviting to buyers.
So if you are selling this Spring, make sure your garden is helping and not hindering the sale, and good luck.
Comments
Very well written! This is an angle i am also taking this spring and I have reasearched that spending just 7% of your property's value on the garden can actually increase its value by up to 15% according to articles i have already read!
Thanks Tony. The 7% is a good headline.
im hoping to use it for an article later this spring in coast and country magazine, i certainly think it will get people thinking, i want to find a case study and get the opinions of local estate agents
Great post Rob
I hope you don't mind but I write an article in 2006 which readers may also find of interest?
Landscaping a garden to sell a house
http://www.landscapejuice.com/2006/08/landscaping_for.html
I've been sent this infographic by Autodesk. It's in US dollars and created for the US market so you'll have to take a view on it.
What do you think, is it accurate?