How To Budget For Landscaping
REM # A619
By Ilyce R. Glink
Summary: An owner of a new construction home wants help determining the budget for new landscaping. Ilyce has heard 10 percent of the purchase price should be allotted to landscaping a newly-constructed house. She suggests you should find a landscape contractor who is willing to develop a plan that you can implement in stages.
Q: We moved into a new construction home last year. We received the basic landscaping package by the builder. It isn't that great and we have been talking to a few landscape designers. Our house costs $350,000 and they are all telling us that our landscape budget should be $30,000 to $40,000. This seems high.
What are you seeing in the market? We want to increase the beauty and hopefully
future value of our home.
A: I've heard 10 percent of the purchase price should be allotted to landscaping
a newly-constructed house as well. However, if 10 percent goes to the kitchen,
and 5 percent goes toward the master bath, and another 10 percent goes toward
the basement -- well, pretty soon you can see you'll need about 200 percent
of your budget to build the home.
What you should do is find a landscape contractor who is willing to develop
a plan that you can implement in stages. For example, in year 1, you might plant
trees or you might dig out and plant a flower bed. In year 2, you might add
a fence. In year 3, you might plant the beds that run alongside the fence.
If you're into gardening, it might make sense to pay someone to develop a plan
for you, and then you can tackle various parts of the garden over the years
as you have the funds and time available.
Forking over $30,000 to $40,000 to plant a garden might make your home's exterior
really pop. However, it's unlikely you'll recoup your investment within a year
or two. If you had to sell suddenly, you'd probably lose money.
I'd rather see you take your time, live in the house, and decide slowly what
kind of landscaping will make you happy.
Ilyce R. Glink’s latest book is The REAL U Guide to Bank Accounts and
Credit Cards. If you have questions, write: Real Estate Matters Syndicate, PO
Box 366, Glencoe, IL 60022 or contact her through her website www.thinkglink.com
© 2004 by Ilyce R. Glink. Distributed by Real Estate Matters Syndicate
NOTE: This column is distributed by Real Estate Matters Syndicate, PO Box 366, Glencoe, Illinois, 60022. This column may not be resold, reprinted, resyndicated or redistributed without written permission from the publisher.
Quit Claim Deed Transfers Property Taxes
Quit-Claim Deed Question
Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure Will Hurt Credit Rating
Elderly Homeowner Has High Expenses
Home Inspection Contingency Essential To Deal
Link to This Article
Like what you've read? Spread the word! You can link to this article
from your website by copying the following code and adding it to
a page on your website:
Copyright ©2001-2007. ThinkGlink, Inc.
All rights reserved. Reproduction of material from any www.ThinkGlink.com pages without permission is strictly prohibited.
Site designed by Walker Sands Communications
