Selling a home in an inflated market is easy. Chances are it will find a buyer the moment it is marketed. At any other time, it makes sense to do everything you can to make your home more attractive to potential buyers. And this includes ensuring the garden is attractive.
Luckily, there are a few ways you can make your garden more attractive without spending an absolute fortune on a landscape gardener. The tips below are quick and easy and can be done over a weekend.
Cut the Lawn
If you have less than an hour to make a difference, cutting the lawn will give you the most bang for your buck. Long, unkempt grass always looks untidy whereas a recently mown lawn looks nice, even if the grass isn’t in the best condition and there are weeds everywhere.
When you have more time available, spend a few weeks weeding and feeding the lawn, to remove problem weeds and ensure the grass is green and healthy. You might also try edging the lawn to it has nice, neat lines.
Plant Hanging Baskets and Tubs
Nothing cheers a garden up more than flowers and the best way to add instant color is by buying a load of annuals and filling tubs and baskets up with them. You can pick up cheap tubs and containers from discount stores and trays of brightly colored annuals are usually inexpensive. The only other thing you will need is a bag or two of general-purpose compost.
Mix and match colors for a brighter display and use plants like trailing lobelia and petunias in your hanging baskets. Don’t forget to water tubs and baskets more often, ideally once a day if it hasn’t rained. Containers and baskets dry out very quickly in hot weather and without water, your pretty flowers will die.
Trim the Hedges
Nothing drags a house’s image down more than overgrown hedges. Some types of hedges grow fast and need trimming twice a year; others grow slowly. If you have boundary hedges around the property, give them a haircut. Not only will they look better but lower hedges allow more light into the garden. Don’t be tempted to go too crazy with the hedge cutters, however, as a decent size hedge offers more privacy, and many buyers appreciate that in a garden.
Buy a Patio Set
Marketing a property is all about persuading someone to buy into a dream. When people view houses, they imagine themselves living there. A lovely garden can sell a home on the basis that the buyer will picture the way it lends itself to outdoor entertaining. The easier you make it for a potential buyer to imagine sitting in the garden with friends, enjoying a nice meal, and generally having fun, the more likely they are to view the property as a suitable purchase.
Investing in a nice outdoor patio set will ensure your property looks great in the marketing photos and when people come to view it, they’ll feel right at home in your garden.
Buy an attractive set, and dress it up with cushions and outdoor dining accessories. Buyers will love it.
Tidy up the Junk
Spend a day or more tidying up your garden if it’s full of old toys and junk. Remove anything that is long past its sell-by date, such as the bicycles the kids grew out of five years ago or the toys they no longer play with. For everything that’s left, find a home for it where it can be stored out of sight.
If you don’t already have one, a shed is a useful solution. Small timber garden sheds are relatively inexpensive. In addition, garden sheds are usually assembled from smaller pieces, so they can easily be disassembled and moved when you find a new home. Buy Sheds Direct has lots of garden sheds for sale, in a range of different styles. Choose a garden shed that fits your budget and use it as a place to hide toys, tools, and bikes.
Weed Pathways
Weed-infested pathways don’t look great. Buy some weedkillers and target persistent weeds such as dandelions. It may take a few days for the weedkiller to fully penetrate the roots and kill the weeds, but modern products are very effective. Once the weeds have been eradicated, tidy the pathway and fill in gaps between stones with a mix of sand and cement, so the weeds can’t return.
Do the same with any area of concrete or hardstanding, such as a driveway. It might take a few days for these areas to show signs of improvement, but it should make a big difference to how the outdoor areas look.
Spending some time sprucing up the garden will stand you in good stead if you are keen to sell your home quickly.
Remember, the more a garden looks like it needs work, the more buyers will be deterred from placing an offer.