Sacramento Real Estate Blog

So we all know we’re after curb appeal. Home buyers don’t know it but they decide within the first two minutes of looking at a home (sometimes mostly from the outside) if they are interested in going in or not. And so, home sellers must pay attention to curb appeal. What’s curb appeal? Simply put, curb appeal is how the house looks from the outside, or, the sidewalk and landscaping plays a big part in first impressions for any one.

If your home is set to impress its potential home buyers, the landscaping must be impeccable. This does not mean that you have to get a professional and spend thousands of dollars on landscaping, but it does mean that you should pay extra attention to detail and remember the outside of your home as much as the inside. Grass isn’t just grass!

First, it must be Green!

If you are one of those people who like to water the garden and spend hours outside enjoying digging in the dirt and fertilizing, first of all, I’m jealous. But secondly remember that the potential home buyers might not feel the same way. Most people don’t have the time or energy or simply aren’t interested in spending time in the garden.

They do want a thriving lawn however and some plants that look nice year round. Be sure to have sprinklers. Not only will it be an amenity that should add some extra value to your home, automated sprinklers will guarantee that your property remains green even when you are moving or are away for a week or so, which can happen when you are looking for a new home or have already moved into one. These might be times when you don’t have those extra hours to relax watering the lawn and yellow blotches in it will take away from the curb appeal of the home. An additional benefit in the hot Sacramento real estate summer is that your lawn will look happy (and your home will look cared for) when compared to the bank-owned homes out there and stand out from the competition!

Neat & Tidy wins Buyers

If you have lived in the home for a while chances are you have had fun with your backyard and front yard. You may have been so excited to have a patch of ground you can call your own (if this home was your first, especially!) that you may have grown anything you came across on your strolls through nurseries and perhaps even The Home Depot. I know because I was like that. Anything new that seemed to look good got planted. Sacramento is also forgiving to a lot of plants that seem to need just water and sunshine and as a result almost all kinds of plants do well so it’s easy to go berserk.

When it’s time to sell the home however, you are entering a whole new world. You don’t want your potential home buyers to say they like the home but the garden will need a complete overhaul because it’s messy. Or that they think it might be too much work. Or - oh, God! - do those rosebushes come up? When it comes to selling your home, think like a home buyer. Keep it tidy, neat and green.

Draw Attention to It

If you have a wonderfully maintained and easy to manage landscape, it can sometimes be easy to miss. If it is in the backyard, don’t put your dog there and have the home buyers see it just through the windows. Any amenities and anything beautiful in your home that is going to stay must be showcased. So open the curtains wide to the garden and take the dog somewhere else. Ideally, invite the home buyers outside. In the backyard, this could mean a barbecue or patio area in the middle of where you want them to look or in the front or side yard, it could mean a quiet reading bench or bird bath with a path leading to it. Showcase your garden as you would your favorite china!

Remember the Neighborhood

It’s important not to do overdo it however. It’s always important to remember the demographic of the area. There’s a law in real estate that is called the Principle of Conformity and it says that the home most like the others in the area has the highest value and properties that diverge too much from the others in the neighborhood lose value as a result of their differences. While this does not mean that you should try and make your home a cookie cutter of all others, it does mean that you should give some attention to who your potential home buyer might be.

Sometimes it’s a good idea if you are considering putting your home on the market to take a drive through the area and see what the other homes look like. Better yet, search the MLS and find homes that have already sold for what you would consider a reasonable value that were owner occupied. Your Realtor® can provide this information as well. Borrow some ideas from them. Are they low maintenance with mainly rock? Are they indulgent and extravagant? Do they just have a lawn? You might not want to stray too far from the pack in this regard.

Some Ideas for Sacramento

Lastly, here are some plants tested by me that do well in Sacramento and manage to stay neat and tidy and also look great. Geraniums are always perfect, especially in borders. They do well in the area and are hardy to the occasional freezes. Bougainvillea is a lovely plant and is a wonderful accent to a home but plant it only along a south facing and protected wall. That way, it can get some heat from the wall even in the winters and survive. Honeysuckle is very easy to grow in Sacramento along a fence, but it must be pruned hard every spring. If you’re not a good pruner, don’t bother with honeysuckle. Same with jasmine. Pink jasmine is a lovely creeper, but it must be pruned and needs lots of sunshine. Avoid hard to care for plants like tropicals and orchids.

This is part of a top five series for homebuyers and home sellers. Be on the lookout for more top fives in the weeks and months ahead!