Whether you are investing sweat equity or hiring professionals, if you are marketing your home or plan to, boosting your home’s curb appeal through relatively cost-effective landscaping can be one of your best marketing tools. Utilizing a home equity line of credit to enhance the first impression on buyers – whether you do it yourself at the cost of several hundred dollars for shrubs and landscaping products, or whether you hire professionals for a few thousand to give your property a makeover – is an effective way to leverage the money already invested in your home over time, and to gain a better return on your equity.
Canadian Real Estate Magazine reports that, “(t)he No. 1 investment you can make to a property when selling or renting is curb appeal.” Guelph, Ontario property manager, Roxane Bernhard, notes that “(i)t is far less expensive in the long run to invest in good flower beds that yield returns each year than the [to purchase] one classified ad to generate traffic at the property.”
“A perennial mixed flower bed will have an initial cost of about $200 to fill a 10-foot by 10-foot area after mulch and layout,” says Bernhard, while “(a) basic classified advertisement for one week can cost the same.” The flowers are a one-time investment that last the whole season, while an ad will expire each week. “Property owners with a larger budget can outsource the job to landscapers, pavers and roofers who can completely revamp the housefront so that it appeals to potential buyers.”
Whether it is sweat equity you are investing, or if you want to use a secured line of credit to hire professionals, investing some of your current home equity to market your home in what has become a buyer’s market will pay dividends. “In today’s tough market,” note the writers at Canadian Real Estate, “a little extra effort goes a long way in helping investors sell their property.” “And,” they note, “for those willing to wait until after the summer to do improvements, there could be [additional] financial benefit as well.”
Investing your equity to build more home equity makes sense as we head into a cooler real estate market in the last half of 2010.
