Questions, suggestions or comments are welcome.

Contact Faith at (612) 618-5244 or by email 

First Impressions that Sell

Paying a little attention to your home's curb appeal before listing your property will pay off. Most people make their decision whether to buy or not within the first 30 seconds. Making sure your garden looks its best from the car to the front door could lead to a higher selling price. Everybody responds to a garden; people also respond negatively to a neglected space.

First, take a look at what's already there. If it's overgrown your best investments would be in cleanup, pruning and cutting things back to make it feel more open and clean. It won't look like as much of a headache to potential buyers. Consider adding some plantings that provide the most coverage without requiring a big investment. Buy the biggest size available from the nursery so the plants have immediate impact when they go into the ground.  

For shady areas, I like Golden Glow dogwood, big yellow hostas and ferns. For the sunny garden, consider fragrant, showy things like roses and Russian sage. Annuals like impatiens and petunias are a good way to add instant color, but limit them to planters and window boxes as they can be too "commercial-looking" when they are overused.  

If you have enough time, prepare for a seasonal explosion of color to coincide with your target listing date. If you know in the fall that you are going to list your property in the spring, you should plant bulbs, snowdrops, grape hyacinths, tulips and/or daffodils.

This is a "Before" look from a customer of mine.