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Selling Outdoor Projects That Enhance Home Values

Yardwork That Pays for Itself

When homeowners start working on their yards this spring, many of them will likely tackle projects they hope will improve the resale values of their homes.

The National Association of Realtors surveyed 2,000 real estate agents, who ranked the top remodeling projects for outdoor elements based on the resale value those features add to a home.

An overall landscape upgrade, including shrubs, planters and a stone walkway, is the No. 1 project for helping close a home sale, according to survey respondents.

However, the survey shows that seeding lawns and standard lawn care, with fertilizer and weed control, provide the highest return on investment. In fact, homeowners could get back triple what they spend for standard lawn care.

Applied to Retail:

This spring, keep in mind that real estate agents will be recommending ways to improve homes’ chances of selling. Your staff should be ready to help homeowners with product suggestions for those projects.

If customers mention they’re prepping homes to sell, have your workers ask if they have considered the top three yard projects that helped real estate agents sell homes in 2016. Indoor work could tip off your employees that a conversation about curb appeal might also be appropriate. Your staff can then talk about landscaping and lawn care.

Challenge employees to bring up those value-enhancing yard projects and use them for add-on selling. A homeowner who is building a new deck may also need weed killer to spruce up a lawn, or shrubs for landscaping.

 

About Kate Klein

Kate is profiles editor for Hardware Retailing magazine. She reports on news and industry events and writes about retailers' unique contributions to the independent home improvement sector. She graduated from Cedarville University in her home state of Ohio, where she earned a bachelor's degree in English and minored in creative writing. She loves being an aunt, teaching writing to kids, running, reading, farm living and, as Walt Whitman says, traveling the open road, “healthy, free, the world before me.”

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