Take a gander at our surroundings from the eyes of a buyer, even though we are neither buying or selling.

Not Selling? Still Look At Your Home From The Eyes of a Buyer...

 

Southeast Wisconsin real estate is no different than real estate in any other location;  periodically we should take a gander at our surroundings from the eyes of a buyer, even though we are neither buying or selling.

How we keep our yard and our surroundings both exterior and interior, reflects the neighborhood in which we live, and consequently the property values.  The person down the road may have his home for sale;  I may have an unkempt yard with some junk on the side, but visible from the road or by a potential buyer who is walking the area, and my junk may impact the value of my neighbor's house.

"Harumph" you may say.  How can that be?

Comparative market values, otherwise known as "comps" are cumulative.  Certainly they reflect economic conditions of the time, they reflect the area, and more specifically they reflect a neighborhood.

Given two identical homes, one which has been maintained in a well maintained neighborhood and the second in a neighborhood where there is an occasional older car someone wants to restore  "someday", which is sitting in the yard with two flat tires collecting dust, and another home where the weeds are becoming a wonderful goat patch, and perhaps another home where the facia board is chipping and flaking, which home will command the higher price?

It is not one home which creates this scenario of a neighborhood which is "run down"; it is the cumulation of homes which cause this impression.

The combination of "mess" creates the image of people not caring about their surroundings.  Buyers do not want to buy into that type of neighborhood.  If the neighborhood looks a bit "run down" today, what will it be in five years?,  they think.  And rightfully so.  Blight begins with one person not caring.

Spring is in the air and spring is traditionally a time for clean up and clean out.  Ask your neighbors to take pride in their neighborhood and get rid of the "junk" and the things which devalue the neighborhood, or just begin yourself, and offer to help an elderly neighbor clean up their yard.

So how does your junk impact your neighbor?  If he/she must price his property lower because of your treasures in your yard and those of your neighbors, when it comes time to sell your home, you will pay that price and probably more in a lower sales price, and potentially in a buyer who also doesn't care about maintaining the property, or an investor whose only interest is in the rent.

Go back and look at your home from the eyes of a buyer.  It's eye opening!

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