Home buyers often arrive at house showing or open houses with long lists of their top priorities for the home they are seeking to purchase. Usually, these lists revolve around kitchen updates, flooring preferences, or layout designs. Most people also consider the overall condition of the interior and exterior of the home, being sure to look at siding, windows, and roofing.
What a lot of potential home buys may forget to consider, is the landscaping surrounding their home. There are many factors on the exterior of a home that can greatly affect the interior.
As a landscaping company, we have helped many surprised home buyers face unexpected issues or damage to their homes caused by external factors. Luckily, most landscaping problems you run into can be easily mitigated and solved by our team, but it’s never fun to be surprised by such problems.
We have gathered our top areas to consider when it comes to landscaping before you buy a home to help prevent homebuyers from surprise damage or extra projects. Here’s what you should consider about landscaping before you buy a house.
Look For Large Trees
Be aware of any large trees on the property, especially those that are close to the home or even tower over the home. The health of these trees should be considered when purchasing a home. A sick or dying tree is more likely to fall in a storm or other catastrophic event causing major damage to your home and endangering your family.
The root systems of trees in proximity to your home should also be considered. Roots systems can travel great distances underground which could affect your foundation. They can protrude out from the ground causing safety hazards throughout your yard.
Look For Invasive or Poisonous Plants
Depending on the condition of the landscaping of any potential home you may purchase, invasive or poisonous plants may be hard to spot. Take some time and do some research to be aware of what is common in your area and find out what it looks like. Being aware of issues like this, can help keep your family safe until you can have it removed.
Look For Water Drainage
Be aware of the slope and grade of the property you are considering buying. If the slope of the yard leads away from the home, you will likely be safe from major water damage or any residual effects from past water damage. If the slope of the yard leads towards the house, you will want to be on the lookout for water damage and further assess how water is drained away from the property.
Look For Patio Pavers and Concrete Steps or Walkways
Paver patios and outdoor steps can be really nice features to the outside of a home if they are installed correctly and maintained properly. Check for cracks in concrete and pavers, uneven surfaces, or roots and weeds coming through pavers. These would all be signs your patio may need some work.
Check out our blog post on restoring and maintaining older patios for more information. (add link)
Look For The Experts
When making an offer on a home or if you have had an offer accepted, it is best to call in the experts. Most home buyers choose to have an inspection done on their potential new home. A home inspection will catch a lot of the common ways landscaping can affect a home.
Depending on the condition of the landscaping you may even want to seek advice from a landscaping company in the Dayton, Ohio area to further assess the scope of work needed in your new backyard.
The good news is, with the right help, most of these landscaping issues can be solved and ultimately don’t need to be deal breakers when considering buying a new home. It’s only when these things go unchecked or ignored that they could be a big problem or cost you a lot of money further down the road.