BY CAROL LEONETTI DANNHAUSER
GREAT OUTDOORS
Aili DiBonaventura
F
or many, Covid-19 changed the way to think about home. Fewer hours spent at the office meant more time to scrutinize walls, windows and willows. Less willingness to vacation or to entertain inside heightened the desire to gather outside. Combined with historically low interest rates for borrowers, the pandemic sparked an outdoor improvement boom. “People are putting a lot more stock now in having a beautiful
outside,” says Aili DiBonaventura, head appraiser at Fairfield Appraisal and a Realtor with William Pitt in Southport. The most popular splurges? Outdoor kitchens, TVs and surround sound; retractable awnings, firepits and pools. And landscaping, lots of landscaping. “The feeling is, if you’re going to be stuck at home, you might as well put in what you want.” Adding these outdoor features doesn’t come cheap. “If you put in a new pool, you’d want to landscape it and to hardscape it.” Hardscaping refers to landscaping features that aren’t alive, such as patios, arbors, columns and the like. “You might put in privacy screening with some plantings. You’d want to hide the mechanics. If you put in all that landscaping, what about irrigation? You might spend $150,000.” That’s not necessarily money that will be recouped in a sale down the road. Contrary to popular belief, adding landscaping and other outdoor features does not automatically increase a home’s value, DiBonaventura warns.
SMART LANDSCAPING INVESTMENTS
The appraiser says that the biggest mistake homeowners make when adding outdoors is not knowing when to stop. “There is such a thing as too much. As a real-estate sales person, sometimes I’ll hear people look at a beautiful garden or outdoor kitchen and say, ‘Wow, that looks like a lot of work, (or) a lot of maintenance.’ When you look at all your monthly costs, that’s a lot to weigh into consideration.” Before embarking on a landscape/architecture project, hire a pro and make a plan. “You don’t have to implement it or you can do a few things at a time.” Match your landscaping with the style of your house and property. “We’re seeing a trend toward more contemporary colonials, which are very sparse in terms of moldings and trims. The landscaping that goes with those is much more sparse as well.” While the latest gadgetry and fun furnishings might help you and your family pass time at home now, try to remember life pre-pandemic. Did you spend
THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER
summers at a vacation home or winter weekends skiing? If so, maybe your new outdoor living space will lose its luster. Once your project is complete, stay on top of maintenance. Landscaping “is programmed to grow and reproduce,” DiBonaventura says. “Keep it maintained or it will take over.” Ultimately, curb appeal is what makes a house stand out from another. “Sometimes I pull up and the buyer takes one look at the outside and says, ‘I’m not even getting out of the car,’ ” DiBonaventura says. Conversely, “There’s a wow factor when you walk up and the landscaping looks good, it’s well-maintained on the outside, and there’s a great patio in the backyard that’s not over-the-top. It tells a buyer that someone’s put thought into it.” All said, resale value needn’t dictate whether or not to do a project. DiBonaventura says, “At the end of the day, what do you want? You need to be happy. The next buyer will do what they want with the house.”
Comparing nearby projects
How much will outdoor improvements affect your home’s value? To find out, know thy neighbor, or at least their property. Regardless of how much you spend on a project, the fair market value of your home, as far as an appraiser is concerned, “is all about comparable sales.” Go online and search for recent home sales in your area. Find properties similar to yours, checking out things like square footage, number of bedrooms, baths and the like. Outdoor features like lush landscaping and posh patios might lure a buyer inside, but they won’t hoodwink an appraiser into upping the value. “As an appraiser, we look at market area analysis.” In other words, at similar homes a mile down the road, without too many glitzy features.
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