Curb Appeal Economics and Petunias
Economics of the mighty petunia touch each of us. Research reports, analysis, impact papers, and pounds of publications have yet to label it the “Petunia Impact,” but let’s call it what it is. Our communities all appreciate the economies of petunia curb appeal.
For most of us, our home is our largest investment. That personal investment easily transforms into a community investment. Communities with tree lined streets and “Leave It to Beaver” exteriors call to all of us. Capital degradation, or decline over time due to neglect, may quickly do the Detroit spiral. The whole community may start to slide leading to lower demand, lower prices, scared off investors, diminishing local tax revenues, lack of city services, and population loss.
Who is the petunia trying to impress in order to improve curb appeal? First comes to mind the nosy neighbor or judgmental in-law. More frightening than either of those are insurance inspectors, lenders, code inspectors, and HOA board members. The most important person is yourself, performing maintenance to enhance your personal economic situation and the value of your investment.
Curb appeal “Petunia Impacts” are real. Slogging through pounds of publications, you will find words like societal impacts, market dynamics, and the psychology of first impressions. Even with no plans of moving, curb appeal is a community endeavor. There are many small improvements that will elevate your investment into the range of blue-chip stocks or even gold. Good maintenance and a pretty picture create increasing value.
A home with high curb appeal always stands out. Curb appeal demonstrates a well-loved home. Looking good from the street will equate to a 7% increase in value. In a cold real estate market, that additional value increases to 14%. Certainly, this makes a refinance loan a little easier to accomplish.
Plants play an important part in curb appeal. Plants with colorful flowers are excellent choices, especially if they are low maintenance. Knock Out® cultivars of shrub roses have profuse blooms from spring to the first frost. A smaller bloomer, Drift® roses are rounded, disease-resistant shrub or groundcover forms with a lower growth habit. Shady areas call for hostas and hydrangeas. Staggering bloom cycles will make bulbs an exciting emergence in spring. Lantanas in bright colors make the perfect mailbox planting. Don’t forget perennial shrubs for continuity and long-term value. Ornamental grasses, xeriscaping plants with lower water usage, small ornamental trees, and flowering shrubs equal permanent capital improvements.
Easy, quick projects add curb appeal and value: update your house numbers, add a new mailbox, surround your porch with a short picket fence, or paint your front door. New porch furniture, like a couple of rockers and a little table for glasses of sweet tea, is a perfect resting spot. Yard lighting, a game changer in the evening, is simple with solar lights. Easily change the dynamic of the front door with new locks and hardware.
Small improvements make large impacts. For under one hundred dollars, three flats of petunias will provide an impact that may spread throughout the neighborhood. Do your part, starting with what you love, to add “Petunia Impacts” to the economic verbiage lexicon of curb appeal.
Julie Silva is a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener of Tuolumne County.
