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How Much Should You Spend on Landscaping to Increase the Value of Your Southern California Home?

Americans are moving more than ever and on average relocate every seven years. When it comes time to sell your home, it’s important that you’re able to make a profit. Few things are worse than selling a home and losing money on it.

You’ve probably heard that investing in landscaping will help you increase the value of your property. If you’ve underestimated the impact that landscaping can make, you’re not alone.

So, does landscaping actually increase the value of your home?

Home renovations, such as landscaping and hardscaping, can increase the value of your property. But to get the most out of your investment, it’s important that you understand how much to spend and what features provide the most value.

How Much Does Landscaping Increase the Value of Your Home?

Landscaping does increase the value of your home, but the exact impact depends on a number of different factors.

Landscaping is the first renovation you should consider, as it typically adds the most value over time and takes time to accomplish. Planting trees has a big impact on the value of your home and the neighborhood because they provide shade for outdoor living areas, help to reduce cooling costs and improve the curb appeal of your home.

In Southern California, landscaping can raise your property value anywhere from 5% – 15% – even more in some cases.

Features that Provide the Most Return on Investment

Home renovations can drastically increase the value of your property, but it’s critical that you choose the right projects to invest in. Here are four of the best choices that will provide the best return on investment:

Professional Landscape Planting Design and Installation

If you’re considering making any upgrades to your home, this should be first on your list because trees and shrubs increase in value as time goes on.

When it comes to landscaping, hiring a professional is your best option. An experienced landscaping company will help you choose the right plants for your area, ensure they don’t crowd other plants or structures, and provide you with a design plan that works for your property.

Landscape design and installation can raise your property value anywhere from 12% -15%, and the ROI can reach 25% – 400%. Of course, this depends on the value of your home and purchase price.

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Paving Stone Driveways

Replacing an old driveway with interlocking paving stones not only adds curb appeal, but it also helps you sell your home faster. Some neighborhoods demand this upgrade more than others, especially if you’re in a luxury neighborhood. Potential homeowners are always looking for reasons to get sellers to lower the price, and a bad driveway is one of the first opportunities when they walk onto your property.

On average, paving stone driveways have a return on investment of 25% – 50%.

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Low-Maintenance Pondless Water Features

In areas like Los Angeles, pondless water features are a great way to enhance the look of your home. The best part is that they offer the attractive features without as much maintenance as traditional ponds.

These features are one of the lower cost items you can add, but this small improvement can be enjoyed for a number of years before the next owner falls in love with the trickling water sounds of your backyard oasis. Combined with other landscaping features mentioned above, ROI can reach 25% – 400%.

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Outdoor Kitchens and Entertaining Spaces

Built-in grills, appliances, fireplaces and pavilions are luring to potential buyers because they begin to envision having social gatherings at their new home. According to experts, outdoor kitchens typically return 100% – 200% of their costs.

This is all relative to the value of your home. Smaller homes may benefit more from a simple patio with a pre-fabricated grill island unit, whereas a larger property may see a higher ROI from a large, custom outdoor kitchen and pavilion.

How Much to Spend on Landscaping to Increase Home Value

The amount of money you should invest in landscaping to increase your home’s value depends on a number of different factors. As a general guideline, you should expect to spend anywhere between 5% – 20% of your home’s value.

Before making an upgrade to your home, talk to a landscaping designer and realtor about what features should be top priority when making improvements. They can give you good advice about what buyers are looking for in a home and what upgrades will provide you with the most ROI.

A realtor can also give you an idea of what your house would be worth if you were to make certain improvements and how unaddressed items can give buyers reason to ask for a lower price.

When you’re spending money on landscaping and upgrades, be mindful of where you’re investing your money. In Los Angeles, pools could add very little value to a home and may even detract from your home because a potential buyer may not want a pool. However, if you’re in a luxury neighborhood, pools may be a must-have feature.

That’s not to say pools aren’t worth the money. For many families with kids, pools are absolutely worth their purchase price for the years your family uses it until you sell. But it’s important to understand that not all upgrades help increase a home’s value.

Planning Ahead

Landscaping is one of the few investments that not only adds value to your home immediately but also increases in value as years go by. While interior design concepts regularly go out of style, plants grow fuller and more robust.

Plants and trees should always be your first investment if you’re looking to increase the value of your Southern California home. Trees increase in value over time, but they also take several years to grow (anywhere from 5 to 15 years), so it’s important that you plan ahead. Shrubs, on the other hand, can be full grown in far less time.

Planting trees and shrubs early, allows you to start with the basics and scale as you go, ensuring you don’t get too overwhelmed in the early stages of the process.

Finding A Landscaping Professional

Landscaping is the first thing potential buyers see when they look at your home. It’s also the source of love or complaints buyers have when making an offer on your home. Choosing the right landscaping company in Southern California to work with makes a difference whether their first reaction is positive or negative.

When searching for a company, focus on finding the right company for your needs. The lowest price doesn’t typically equate to value, and when you’re making landscaping upgrades to your home, quality is incredibly important.

A great landscaping company will help you work within your budget, outline a landscaping master plan for your home and develop a project timeline that works for you. Often, this means spreading projects out over several years.

Here at Pacific Outdoor Living, we’ve worked with customers that have both praised and cursed the decisions of prior owners. We’ve worked on many properties where we helped clients make improvements that helped them sell their current home and then worked with them to make upgrades to their new purchase. We know the features that potential buyers love and those that will get you the most return on investment.

Learn more about what we can do for you by checking out some of the renovations we’ve completed. We’d love to discuss landscaping projects for your home and which ones we feel are your property’s best investment opportunity.

At Pacific Outdoor Living, we offer a full suite of in-house design build services. To get started, contact us today or give us a call at 818.244.4000 for a free estimate.

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