Houses for sale need appealing backyards

There are numerous factors that can make homes for sale highly sought after, but one that often gets overlooked is the backyard.

Most home sellers understand the importance of kerb appeal, as the front of a house is what potential buyers will see first. This leads many sellers to upgrade their front yards, ensuring a healthy, tidy lawn for prospective buyers to focus on.

However, imagine you visit a home, fall in love with its lush front yard and are then greeted by an overgrown jungle of dead grass in the back.

Besides being turned off, you might also feel like the seller was trying to cheat you by showing the most visible part of the home in good condition while the rest is in disrepair.

In fact, this could lead potential buyers to be suspicious of every other part of the home – worried that the seller is trying to pull a fast one without disclosing other potential problems.

For this reason, as well as the simple fact that most home buyers will be drawn to a property that has a nice backyard, it’s a good idea to make use of the following backyard clean-up tips when selling a home.

Keep it simple

While an overgrown, unhealthy backyard may be the worst – a high-maintenance, time-consuming backyard might just be a close second. Of course, a gorgeous backyard with plants galore and intricate topiaries is fun to look at, but most home buyers are signing up to purchase a home, not a greenhouse.

For this reason, when you’re looking to move, focus on keeping things as simple as possible for the new owners to deal with. A clean, green backyard doesn’t have to be fancy to catch peoples’ eyes.

Put on a show

A green square of grass and an empty stone patio don’t do much to ignite the imagination. However, if you go out of your way to create a tableau for buyers to focus on – a backyard barbecue, a gorgeous glass-topped table for card playing, a game of horseshoes in the grass – it might help them imagine how they too could take advantage of such a great space behind their home.

Save your green

Regardless of what changes or upgrades you make, try your best to keep your wallet as green as your lawn. As with any renovations for houses for sale, you should keep in mind that it’s not smart to spend a fortune on a property you’ll soon be leaving behind.

Article first appeared on, and is courtesy of, raywhite.com.

Photo Credit: angela7dreams via Compfightcc