First impressions matter immensely. Thus, a property owner should never neglect the landscaping of their investment property. A real estate agent getting a property ready for sale spends time, energy, and effort making the most of a property’s curb appeal to entice a potential buyer to buy for the highest possible price. A rule of thumb is that a realtor who invests 1 dollar in curb appeal improvements will gain their clients $3 in return at closing escrow.
Similarly, a property manager should counsel his clients to invest time, energy, and effort in sprucing up their rental property exterior landscaping to help attract more potential renters or keep the ones they have. The art of providing just enough curb appeal and just the right balance of attractive landscaping while maintaining a fixed maintenance budget can be achieved through education, experience, and common sense. Experienced property managers should be able to create a plan for their owners at no additional expense.
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Long-Term Landscaping Planning for Your Portfolio of Properties is Key
An experienced property manager can help clients improve their exterior landscapes with the right balance of attractive components while not breaking the bank. A proper mix will help the owner keep the property rented while reducing the monthly maintenance and costs. For example, although lush, cool, beautifully manicured green grass is beautiful.
Installing and maintaining grass is not as cost-effective as keeping a small patch of grass with another drought-resistant groundscape like gravel, bark, mulch, and wood chips. These other ground cover alternatives also help keep moisture in the ground to reduce water consumption. An experienced property manager can evaluate and help an owner make some design changes to improve aesthetics and reduce maintenance costs.
Trees, Trees, and More Trees
Besides the property’s building, a well-thought-out scattering of trees is the most valuable asset a property exterior can have. Mature, gorgeous, and sky-reaching trees can also help reduce cooling costs for a rental property, making the property more attractive to rent. If your investment property lacks trees, consider having an arborist or landscape architect suggest different species of trees and locations to plant them on the property to maximize their possible benefits.
Seven (7) Ideas for Low-Cost Landscaping
When you have an opportunity, you should get together with your property manager and try to implement a long-term plan for landscaping improvement and maintenance, with the goal being to improve aesthetics and reduce maintenance costs. The following list includes some low-cost ideas to think about and brainstorm with your property manager:
1) City Tree Program – Some cities and towns give away trees for property owners as long as the owner follows certain guidelines;
2) Look for Sales – Wait until the end of the growing season to go shopping for trees, shrubs, soil, and mulch because the retailers that didn’t sell all their inventory will be looking to get rid of these items at a discount;
3) Demolished Buildings – Look around your neighborhood for demolition sites, as there are often free bricks or other building materials that can be used in your landscaping designs;
4) Work Your Existing Plants – Educate yourself to help keep and shape the trees and shrubs you already have to give them new life and vitality or relocate them.
5) Buy Small – Buy smaller-sized plants, shrubs, and trees less than larger ones.
6) Make Your Own Compost—You can easily build and maintain a composter on your rental property, where you or your gardener deposit all of the ground clippings, waste, and leaves. This compost will eventually produce fertilizer, which is one more thing you won’t have to purchase.
7) Use Drought-Resistant Plants—Not only is a ter scarce, but it is getting more expensive every month. Hence, a collection of drought-resistant plants is important for long-term maintenance cost reduction.
