Elevate your outdoor living spaces – and your home’s value.
“Homebuyers are interested in livable, open spaces that are both stylish and earth friendly.”
Next to energy-efficiency, no other trend is changing the landscape of home design more than outdoor living features. Not only do these improvements maximize your family’s home life, they also dramatically increases the home’s value in the housing market. If you are looking to turn your home into a future money maker and a buyer’s dream, these are the 5 best outdoor features for adding value to your home.
Landscaping & Gardening
Nothing improves the curb appeal of your home more than quality landscaping and gardening. According to national averages, it will also improves your home’s value by 10-20%.
If you are a certified green thumb, you will find much joy from this investment. However, we don’t constitute proper landscaping as simply throwing a tree and some flowers in the ground. We love go-getters and do-it-yourselfers, so if you are willing to put much of your time and energy into properly designing, learning, and installing, go crazy.
If not, we highly recommend hiring a professional landscape company. Proper landscape design is highly complex, so hiring experts who understand its complexity is crucial to getting the maximum value out of your budget. Additionally, proper installation will ensure your landscaping lasts and functions properly. We have seen far too many DIY landscaping projects lead to a wad of cash down the drain.
New Patio
A patio feature quickly transforms your backyard into an elaborately decorated, outdoor living experience. As the outdoor living space trend, especially brick-inspired, continues to evolve into a staple, the addition of a new patio is becoming a major selling point for buyers – and they are willing to pay for it. Depending on the size and features, some patio features are now being considered an extra living space – significant increase in home value without tax increase.
Trends
- Stamped concrete. By stamping concrete with the look of expensive stone, such as brick, cobblestones, or slate, you are able to add significant visual improvement with increased cost savings.
- Pavers. Although slightly more expensive than stamped concrete, brick paver patios allow for a timeless look and increased resale value.
Outdoor Fire Pit or Fireplace
For many of us, some of our greatest memories involve congregating around a fire with family and friends. We talk about life, look to the stars for questions and their respective answers, and realize how trivial the real world can be.
Whether it’s a few hundred dollars for a brick fire ring or a few thousand for a luxurious outdoor fireplace, the atmosphere surrounding these features has led to a extremely high demand among homebuyers. When combined with your new patio, you can expect to see a substantial increase in resale value and an average of 150% return on investment.
Pergola
Great for defining your space and providing moderate shade, pergolas are the best way to give your outdoor living area the feel of an ‘outdoor room’. They also allow for the opportunity to add greenery, lights, and a curtain to keep bugs away on summer nights.
Lighting
Illuminating and accentuating your outdoor living space is becoming increasingly popular, and increasingly easy to do. Couple this with improved solar lighting, and the possibilities are endless.
When considering what route to take with your lighting, remember to focus on subtlety. Lighting should be used to accentuate and create a comforting atmosphere, not to overpower. The ambience created by quality lighting features is worth every penny spent. Homebuyers think so too.
Your home is an extension of who you are. Our guide is here to encourage you to express yourself, add some entertainment to your family life, and get the most out of your investment.
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