Anyone catch June Fletcher's article today on AOL about how landscaping helps sell a house?  It doesn't reference our buzz words like curb appeal or my own "surviving the drive by" (Hey, this is Jersey, you gotta a problem wi' that?) but this article does offer some good numbers to waft about with sellers.  <even if they are a bit regional>

Here's the article:-

http://realestate.aol.com/article/improve/_a/selling-houses-by-the-yard/20070830162109990001

Here are some highlights:-

"In Palm Beach County, Fla., homes with colorful flowers and tall palms typically sell for 10% to 15% more than those without these features, according to agent Nancy Macaluso.  That's why she'll often lug huge potted plants to the homes of clients whose greenery needs a boost."  [Been there, sista.]

"A lot with trees adds about 7% to a home's price." says Kathleen Wolf, a researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle.  [Can that be?]

"Poorly maintained lots can also be as big a turnoff to buyers as bare ones, says Joy Brillante, an Austin, Texas, real-estate agent, even reducing the perceived value of the property. She recently represented a buyer who paid $249,000 for a home with a tangle of brush and trees. When the new owner trimmed them back, she discovered a lake view. If the seller had cleared out the yard, Ms. Brillante estimates that he might have gotten as much as $10,000 more for the house. "Nobody knew the view was there," she says."  [LOVE stories like this]

Good eh?

Despite her English heritage, Juliet Johnson is responsible for a great many dead plants in the luxury real estate market of NJ, where she home stages Essex, Union and Morris counties.