For BuyersFor SellersHome maintenance tipsReal Estate April 16, 2010

Make More Money Selling Your Home, Part 3, Clean Up Your Yard

Want to Make the Most Money Selling Your Home?  Clean up your yard. I spoke about planting flowers previously, now I’ll talk about having your yard looking good.

Bad looking lawn

Unsightly looking lawn hurts a home sale.

You’ve heard of a “bad dye job”?  This is a bad lawn job.  This lawn exists in front of home for sale, a home that has a sign in front of it!  Seriously.

If you were a buyer, what would you think?  Would this lawn make you question how well the home is maintained?  Would you question whether the owners cared for their home?  It leaves a terrible impression.

Preparing for your lawn when you're selling your home

A green lawn that's ready to go

This is the front yard of another home.  The yard is not fancy, but it looks well taken care of, creating a nice first impression. It doesn’t raise any red flags about maintenance, but instead helps a buyer focus positively on the home, rather than creating a negative feeling from the “get go.”   Help buyers get out of their car to see your home.  Make them want to come inside, not drive away.

Unkempt corner of a yard

A yard should not look like this when selling a home

The yard above should look more like the one below.  Some homeowners neglect the little back corners of a yard.  There can be some simple, inexpensive fixes, which make the corners of the yard look neat and organized.  Gravel, bark, and some edging, whether it’s bricks or stones or something else, give it a finished, neat feel.  None of these materials cost a lot of money.  They can be somewhat labor intensive, so the choice would be to pay for it and do it yourself or hire someone to do it for you.  It would depend on your budget, time, and energy. If you’re a do-it-yourselfer, this video form the DIY network gives some basic tips for ‘greening”  your lawn.

This yard helps to sell the home

A Nicely Organized Corner of the Yard

Regardless, you need to clean up your yard to make the most “green” when selling your home.