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Most home buyers believe they focus on the interior features of houses more than the landscape, but the truth is, that buyers will not get out of their car if the front landscape lacks interest and upkeep.  The landscape should arouse the buyer’s interest and lure them inside to view the interior.

To get the highest return on your landscape dollar, utilize the principles found in Landscape Design Psychology.  Landscape Psychology is based upon scientific research into the effects that the landscape has on home buyers.   These proven idea’s will help your home sell faster, and for more money, by working on buyer emotions and senses.

The Power of Color

Coordinate the colors of your flowering foliage.  Consider your selling season and plant flowers that perform well during that period.  Use plants that support your atmosphere and climate.   Also, use no more than 3 colors to give continuity and form to your landscape.

   Colors also have psychological power.  Green suggests freshness, coolness and vitality.   White shows up at night and conjures feelings of cleanliness.   Yellow is the first color our eye processes, so a spot of yellow by the front door will draw the eye to your entrance.   Red, yellow and Orange are all Hot colors, which excite and pick up the mood of any weary house hunter.

About.com: Landscape is a great website for the average homeowner.   The site provides idea’s and advice from professionals including a plant selector, great photographs, color scheme screener, DIY tutorials and helpful tips about hedges, fences, sidewalks, lawns and more.

Another great resource for help in creating an outdoor paradise can be found at HGTV.   

The Power of Smell

Realtors advise sellers to bake cookies or burn vanilla candles before showings or Open Houses because a comforting and pleasant aroma has the power to influence minds and moods.

In addition to color psychology, smart home owners give thought to the use of scents when planting a landscape.  They take advantage of the power of smell, especially near pathways and entry doors, that provoke a desired emotional response.  

     A few inexpensive and easy to grow suggestions that add a touch of scent to any landscape include lemon scented geraniums, jasmine, rosemary, lavender, basil, roses, hostas, honey suckle, gardenia or heliotrope.   In addition to providing months of enjoyment, many of these plants perform in a vareity of places such window boxes, planters, planting beds, hanging baskets or pathways.

When it comes to selling homes, a smart psychology landscape design can give you a huge advantage over your competition.   If buyers feel good while they look at your home, you will sell it quickly and for top dollar.

Home sellers or rehabbers who are considering a move   should focus their efforts on the home exterior for the highest pay back.

Remodeling Magazine, in cooperation with Realtors in 65 markets, issue their 20th Annual report of “Cost versus Value”.  The report named 6 home improvements that return greater than 80% of the cost, and of the 6, only one featured an interior upgrade.

The 6 improvements with the greatest returns are:

1. Siding Replacements using fiber cement materials returned 88.1% of the cost.
2. Wood Deck Addition returned 85.4% of the cost.
3. Midrange Vinyl Siding Replacement 83.2%.
4. Minor Kitchen Remodel return 83%.
5. Midrange Wood Window replacement 81.2%.
6. Upscale Vinyl Siding 81%.

Projects at the bottom of the cost recovery scale included home offices (57%), back up power generator (58%) and adding a mid-range sunroom (59.1%).

The remodeling report results verifies our belief that curb appeal is a crucial element for sales success in today’s real estate market.  

In a highly competitive environment, home sellers should take an objective look at their house from the street to determine if the look is one that welcomes or turns buyers off.

Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net homes for sale blog.  Please let us know topics that interest you.

     When you create an advertisement about your house, use only good photo’s.   Because 90% of all home shoppers begin their home search on the internet, buyers rely heavily on photographs to get a feel for the property.  This means the pictures you post of your home will likely be a buyers first impression. 

When selling a home, the time it takes to get a proper camera angle and lighting of the property will be well rewarded.  Home ad’s with good photographs receive 50% more hits and traffic than those with poor photo’s, or worse case, no photo’s.

In looking through the hundreds of homes for sale on InfoTube.Net, I find that most sellers do an excellent job of photographing their property.    I decided to showcase a few examples of “good and could be better” ad’s that I saw today for your review.  I hope these examples encourage you to look at your home ad and to make changes, if your ad doesn’t present your home in the best light.

Exceptional ad’s opt for a closeup angle of the property exterior, emphasize the entry and show off ammenities that buyers are interested in.   They  make sure that cars, toys, overgrown landscape or other distractions do not block the view of the house and emphasize close up details of tile, fixtures, etc. versus taking a shot of a blank wall or half a toilet.

Some ad’s are simply too dark .  In this example, the seller did an excellent job of photographing and describing the interior room views, but unfortuately the internet shopper may never see the inside photo’s.  The seller placed the dark photo of the front exterior in the first position, which is the only photo that appears in the home search screen.  This seller would benefit from retaking their picture with the sunshining on the front.  They can also edit it in a photo shop program to bring up the light and show off the house details and landscape.  A good example of how a seller can use the sun to highlight the exterior can be seen here.

A frequent problem I see is the photo is taken from too far away.   This often results in views of city sidewalks, streets, vacant lots or other details that distract the viewer from actually seeing the property.   This seller would benefit from moving the mini-van blocking the drive and focusing in on a close up of their home.

In conclusion, take a look at your InfoTube Home Ad from the view of a home shopper.   Does your ad emphasize the house, the neighborhood and the ammenties?  Have you used close ups to showcase detail work?  Have you removed all obstacles that distract from the views?  If not, you may want to take a new picture and present your home in way that will better attract a buyers interest.

Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net and Best Of Luck on the Sale of Your Home.   We are here to help.

What is Curb Appeal?   It is the first impression of a house as seen from the street.     

How can a do-it-yourselfer on a limited budget improve the curb appeal of their home?    Simply, add some color and life to the landscape. 

Any doubts??  Seeing is believing.   Even a bit of mulch thrown around existing plants helps this home show better.

When selling a home, little compares to the value that colorful plants and fresh mulch can add to the curb appeal.    An attractive landscape not only showcases pride of ownership, but plants are one of the few options that can instantly improve bad architecture or distract from a neighborhood eyesore with little to no expense or effort.

Take a Look at the Before and After pictures below.  You can immediately see the huge difference that colorful plants, mulch and a few dollars can make in the appearance of these homes.   

If you are convinced that improving the appeal of your property is a “must do”, adding color and tiding up your landscape is as easy as a stop by your local nursery.   Unless you know what plants to choose, arm your a picture of your present landscape.  Ask the experts what plants they recommend for your needs, then dig in.

If you want to learn about suitable plants and great idea’s, before visiting a local garden center, check out www.garden.org    Garden.org is a non-profit resource from the National Gardening Association.   The website is easy to use and features fun and helpful tools including: Plant selection screener; free seed swap; pest and weed control solutions; and much more.

A great website resource for detailed and reliable information about tree’s is www.arborday.org .  The website offers tree selection and identification, tips for pruning, fertilizing and placement.  They also give away Free Tree’s.   Become a member and receive 10 free flowering tree’s to use in your landscape, give as gifts or  plant randomly to improve the enviroment and beauty of your community.  The website also has fun and educational programs and give aways for schools and children.

Before Exterior Shot of Home For Sale

After Picture of the Exact Same House. 

Which home would attract you if you were shopping for a home????  Which home would you pay more to live in???   Exactly, and so would a prospective buyer. 

In today’s competitive housing market, curb appeal is more important to buyers than in the past.   If your home landscape is overgrown, it is time to trim, or better yet remove those old shrubs.  

It’s free, easy to do and will help your home sell faster and for more money.

If you are one of thousands of homeowners who have decided to sell your home, then do it now.  With more foreclosures and dropping prices predicted through the foreseeable future, there will not be a better time.

While our present housing market may not seem like the best time to get rid of a house, houses are selling.  If you need to sell, put my proven home-selling experience to work and start packing.

Pricing Game or Crying Game??

• Stop the insane practice of dropping your price a little trickle at a time.   The more times you drop your price, the more desperate you appear.  Buyers naturally assume everyone in town has seen your house and has crossed it off their list.  
• SLASH your price one-time and blow your competition away.   Go look at homes similiar to yours in your neighborhood.  Immediately drop the price of your home 10% less than your neighbors.  Buyers will come.

MLS Listing Power for by Owners:

• Take advantage of the MLS system for less money than a one-time classified ad.  The MLS sells 99% of all broker represented property and it will work for you, too.   The MLS system automatically sends your home listing information to millions of home shoppers each month, making it the most cost effective way to market your property, regardless of your location.  
• Put your home on the MLS today.  Visit www.why6percent.com or speak with a real live person by phoning them at their toll free line 1-800-381-9496, during normal office hours.   Why 6% is one of the MLS listing pioneers and has helped thousands of people sell their homes since 2004.

No Junk.  No Clutter. 

• You wouldn’t sell an old used car in a filthy condition with junk piled all around would you?   Then why would you try to sell a home filled with clutter?  Find a place to pack and store your personal stuff before you show your home to anyone. 

Curb Appeal.   The Munsters or the Brady’s?

• In years past, that purple front door and two foot tall weed patch you call a front yard may have not prevented a sale.   That is certainly not the case today.   Buyers are attracted to neat, clean and inviting.   With thousands of homes to choose from, buyers will simply drive by the house that looks like no one cares about it.   Show some pride of ownership and manicure your lawn and shrubery.  Fresh paint and inexpensive bedding plants that add color are also ”can’t go wrong” solutions.

If you hired the wrong Broker, Fire Them. 

• According to Realtor statistics, 90% of all business is done by the top 10% of brokers.  Given that brokers do not discount their listing fee’s based upon experience or success, hire a top producer.   Why pay 6% to an inexperienced or lackluster broker, when the same money will buy a pro??  Remember that brokers are salesmen.  If you have decided to pay thousands of dollars to have a broker handle your sale, hire the one who has proven they know how to work, and fire the one who doesn’t.

Thanks for visiting www.infotube.net.  If you have any questions about your sale or purchase, please contact us.  We have real estate experts standing by to assist you.