How much does the landscaping effect your decision to buy?

CanadianGurl

Just curious as we're in the buying and selling stages. And also thinking for in the future for when we go to sell the home we are buying now, and how much work to put into landscaping if we only plan to be there about 10 years.

Does the landscaping of a home effect your descision on a home's value and whether or not you would buy it?

Dr.Loretta

"Only" 10 years? For that length of time, I'd be landscaping for my happiness, not for potential resale value.

We bought a house on a rocky, weed-strewn hill, so for us it wasn't a dealbreaker. We certainly hope the extensive landscaping we've done since then will add some value to the home, however.

CollegeGrrl219

I could care less if the lawn is brown or what kinds of flowers are planted, but if there were a huge jungle of brush, running bamboo, or any sort of hill, I'd keep looking.

*Chicken*

Yes and no. I don't need to have my yard completely done (I like to play in a little dirt) but I don't want to have to do a major overhaul either. My husband's house had zero landscaping and since I've moved in we done quite a bit.

hoping4septimus

it absolutely played a role in our decision to purchase. We live in a neighborhood where all the yards have very nice and interesting landscaping. Every house has a hedge row along with annuals and then plants closer to the house. Landscaping should be 5-10% of the value of your house.

dirtyred

Good landscaping adds value to your house; poor/no landscaping decreases curb appeal and some buyers won't even bother looking at the interior of your house if the outside looks crappy.

skiergrl

Landscaping was a pretty large factor in deciding what house we bought last year.  We love to be outside and having an outdoor space that is attractive and functional was a major factor in choosing a home. 

Was the landscaping perfect?  No.  We have done a ton of work and I'm know we'll continue to do work on the yard (the previous owners were in their late 80's and had let some of the landscaping go), but the bones are good. 

 

mam677

Didn't really factor in for us at all. The house we live in now has a huge dirt backyard where only a few of the hardiest desert plants and two small trees have survived. I've grown almost accustomed to the bare look so landscaping/xeriscaping just doesn't influence my buying decisions.

kylara111

For me, the more jacked up the yard is, the better!  That means I can buy plants to my heart's content.  Seriously, you should have seen the disaster my property was when we moved it - a muddy mess with no plants or even a lawn.  All I could see was possibilities.

I'm sure the frightening condition of my yard deterred buyers but if there's a house that doesn't have a ton of landscaping and just has a basic lawn, that seems to be fine for a lot of people.

DysonWife

I would actually want as blank a slate as possible, saves me time tearing it out before I do what I want.

The_Quiet_One

It really didn't factor in for us at all.  We honestly had been in the house a couple of months before I took a good, hard look at just how pathetic the landscaping was.

We're planning to be here at least ten years, so I'm landscaping for *me*, not future buyers.  We're putting in trees for privacy and I'm completely redoing the front of the house.  What we're planning, though, will leave the property in better shape than when we moved in, so if we sell in the future, we'll have helped ourselves and the investment will be worth every penny.

hayleydeee

Dr.Loretta:

"Only" 10 years? For that length of time, I'd be landscaping for my happiness, not for potential resale value.

Agreed!