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By Alyson McNutt English, FrontDoor.com | Published: 7/10/2008
An inviting garden can make your home stand out, especially in an urban setting.
Here are five features that can give your listing a little more pizazz:
A Backyard Oasis
When Will Csaklos and Susan Harrow went house-hunting in the San Francisco Bay area, they weren't expecting their quest to take a year. But the couple just couldn't find anything that felt right to them -- until they discovered a small home in San Rafael, Calif. But it wasn't the structure that sold them on the property; it was the backyard.
"When we saw this house and the garden, the first thing we both said is 'this is such a sanctuary,'" Harrow says. "Neither of us had any gardening skills whatsoever, but we felt something for this home that we hadn't felt in a year of looking at other homes."
That feeling of being wrapped in a green oasis can be a huge selling point, especially for people in a city environment, says Amanda Lopez, Realtor and Eco-Broker with City Life Realty in Baltimore, Md. But she cautions that some buyers who are initially attracted to the space may be scared away by the idea of tons of maintenance.
"It can be breathtaking at first, but then buyers start to wonder how they're going to take care of a beautiful landscape," says Lopez, who advises homeowners to either find a local landscaping company they can refer buyers to for garden upkeep, or simply create a beautiful space that is also easy to maintain.
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