For those looking to sell their home, the outside space – i.e., everything on the other side of the front door – is one of the most important things to get right ahead of a viewing. This is not only because a home’s outdoor appearance forms the first impression a viewer will make, but also because a home’s outdoor space has serious value adding potential.

When it comes to all the external factors that can make or break a home’s value, realtors tend to classify certain elements as “external obsolescence”, which refers to external factors a property owner cannot influence. Thankfully, the immediate outdoor space of any property does not come under this category. 

The Importance of the Gardens (And Realtors) 

The front lawn and the back yard are naturally the two areas that an owner can have a great deal of influence over. At the very least, presenting your garden well (i.e., mowing the lawn and ensuring all the vegetation looks attractive) is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to boost home value. Beyond this, homeowners often get into more expensive territory, considering whether large garden installations or external home decoration will boost the value of the home by an amount greater than is spent on the renovation.

This, as it happens, is the central calculation that needs to be made. Will I spend more beautifying my garden than the amount of value it will add? CityHome Collective, a real estate brokerage in salt lake city specializing in luxury homes, say that it will, more often than not, require the expertise of a professional realtor in order to calculate this accurately. This is because all these features affect value, but they do not do so uniformly across all time. Deference needs to be paid to current market trends and, for this, you need a realtor. 

Driveway or Garden?

Of course, when we talk about the outside space of a property, we are not always talking about gardens. In fact, it is precisely in this area that one of the biggest questions facing home sellers presents itself: should I have a driveway or a garden here? Driveways are practical for those who own cars and garages, and they certainly don’t have to be dull utilitarian features. Driveways can in fact be very elegant.

If this is a decision facing you then, again, the expertise of professional realtor will be invaluable – especially because this is actually one of the biggest questions facing home developers in relation to the ever-fluctuating property market. Which will boost value more, a driveway or a garden? To work this out in your own case, knowing the general benefits of each is the place to start.

Benefits of a Driveway

There are two eternal benefits of a driveway. The first is the provision of a guaranteed parking spot for the home owner to come home to every night. This is always a part of its value-adding potential. The other factors all depend on the driveway itself. Is it pretty and well-integrated into the surroundings? If so, there will be value added to the property. 

Benefits of a Garden 

The benefits of a front lawn entirely depend on what it looks like. In some cases, a poorly kept or unsightly lawn will actually subtract value. Accordingly, when making your decision between a driveway and a garden, you need to consider what the garden looks like – or could look like with some development. 

Ultimately, the driveway versus garden debate is all about offering either convenience or curb appeal to a property. In most cases, you will want some combination of both.