La Jolla Real Estate: La Jolla Luxury Homes

People are looking for new ways to sell their La Jolla homes. If you drive around town, you will notice that most of the La Jolla homes for sale are using one of the oldest tricks in the book, curb appeal. Don't let your yard sabotage the success of selling your La Jolla home. Will your landscaping pull in buyers or make them drive on by? Outdated or extreme styles, high-maintenance features and invasive or overgrown foliage can kill interest. Read about these different scenarios before putting your home on the market.

For homemaker Sue Wildrick, it was the koi ponds that killed the deal.

While the house she and her husband looked at in Denver last winter had its appeal, its elaborately bricked-in backyard and large network of fish ponds seemed like too much work. "It was a little overwhelming," Wildrick says. And it provided little room for the family to play games or throw a ball to their dog. "We would have probably had to take some of that stuff out."

These days, elaborate patios, outdated or high-maintenance landscaping and invasive plants and trees can kill buyer interest in a home almost as quickly as an outdated kitchen or orange shag carpeting, according to landscaping experts and real-estate agents.

"Landscaping often makes the difference between a prospective buyer getting out of the car for a closer look at the house and simply driving on by," says Cynthia Bee, of Solscapes Landscape Design in Salt Lake City.

Indeed, agents say, good landscaping can provide more bang for your buck than almost any other home improvement -- provided it's done right.

A few dos -- and 6 don'ts

Buyers today expect landscaping that's easy to take care of and water-wise, and offers benefits like shade or privacy, says Bruce Butterfield, research director for the National Gardening Association.

A pot of bright annuals by the front door isn't going to do it for most discriminating buyers.

"There's really a trend towards landscaping that is both functionally and environmentally correct," Butterfield says. "You want to have the right plants in the right place."