Increase Your Home's Value -- Plant Some Trees

Want to increase your home's value? Then consider doing some landscaping -- and focus on trees. That's the ticket to increasing your home's value quickly according to Money magazine's April issue. Here's a summary of the piece:

If you've spent any time at all reading about real estate here or elsewhere, you probably know that attractively landscaping your yard can be one of the most cost-effective ways to boost your home's curb appeal. But you can plant all the geraniums you want -- at the end of the day, trees are what will set the tone.

And a warning goes along with this:

And no aspect of your yard is trickier to get right, or potentially more expensive.

I would have linked to the article, but I can't find it online yet (the magazine just came out). Check the magazine (page 62) for more information and details.

I've written before on the value of gardening/landscaping and noted that "landscaping can increase townhouse and condominium values by 5% to 15%." It's a pretty good investment if it's done correctly, but probably something you don't want to do on your own unless you have some experience.

If you want to read more on home-related money issues, check out these posts from Free Money Finance:

• The 3 Worst Reasons to Buy a House
• To Pay or Not to Pay Off Your Mortgage
• The Hidden Costs of Homeownership
• How to Get Rid of Private Mortgage Insurance

Comments

[fivecentnickel.com]

Amen to that. I'm a huge tree fan (and tree snob) and that's been one of the most difficult things about living in new construction (we had our house built about 4 years ago). That first summer/fall I spent much of my outdoor time planting trees. A few things to think about... Many of the most 'popular' trees suck when it comes to longevity, robustness, etc. They're popular because they're cheap (for the builder) and they grow fast. Unfortunately, fast growth often correlates with poor branching structure, weak wood, etc. My best advice on this is to do your research, and to also try to select trees that are native to your area, as they'll tend to be hardier in your local growing conditions. I went so far as to remove a couple of non-native trees (Bradford and Cleveland pears, which are the bane of suburbia) and replace them with native specimens. The only downside for me is that we're now moving, and I won't get to see my 'babies' grow up (then again, I have plenty of real babies to keep me busy).

[Terri W.]

When I was looking for houses this go around with my realtor, she very quickly surmised, "You won't even look at a house that doesn't have lots of mature trees, will you?"

She was right.

[Anna W.]

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[Ryan]

Although this may be true, it does not work as well in hurricane prone areas. People see trees as a danger to thier house.