In 2008, the housing market crashed and sent millions of Americans scrambling to build value in their homes that were worth much less than what they had been originally purchased for. The housing market, once propped up with speculative spending, a “too big to fail” mentality, struggled to find its bearings, plunging double digit percentage points.
Americans were stunned by this, as it took to hurt one of their prime investments for their future–a home. With housing prices falling, Americans lumbered into one of the worst recessions in American history–some said the worst since the Great Depression from 1929 to 1933.
Americans scrambled to find the money to stay afloat. Millions of people were laid off from their jobs. Unemployment, at its height, reached over 14%. The country’s economy was having trouble producing enough income for families to afford basic necessities. Young people–college students–graduated into an economy that offered little for their degrees.
The Fed Chair, Ben Bernanke did what he could to halt the progress of the housing market’s downward trend. It threatened to bottom out, with mortgages that were worth more than the house itself, and with owners of the houses forced to pay more for the houses than they were worth. Bernanke raised interest rates in an attempt to stymie spending.
Americans struggled through that time. Under President Obama, the housing market and the overall economy slowly began to renew incomes, spending, and general employment. Families struggled a little less with bills and discretionary expenses while young people, college students, found job opportunities in the workforce.
With the housing markets rebounding, today Americans are enjoying a peace and prosperity economically that they haven’t enjoyed in close to a decade. Under President Trump, the unemployment rate has fallen to around %2 and the creation of jobs has been steadily increasing for the past year.
Manufacturing jobs are being brought into the United States, the Silicon Valley explosion is still occurring a little more slowly than before, and BitCoin is growing at an exponential rate under the speculation of the promise of digital currency. Homeowners are at an increased advantage under the new rules issued by the Fed Bank.
Today, homeowners face a decision that could not have been foreseen in the depths of the Great Recession. Housing markets have rebounded and with them the rise of property values back to their original value. Americans can now sell their home for a little below or above the property value they were originally listed at.
Homeowners who list their homes on the market today have more opportunity to sell at a rate which is a little below, even, or slightly profitable than in years past. Homeowners face the possibility of moving to another home with little consequence to their pocketbooks. This is an asset.
Homeowners who choose to put their house for sale may face a distinct opportunity: Increase the value of a home by renovating. Some may decide to renovate the kitchen or the bathroom or other areas inside a house, but they may be unaware of another possibility: renovating the yard.
According to surveys and studies:
- Landscaping can bring a 100% to 200% return on investment come selling time.
- Spending 5% of the value of the home on landscaping can give a resale value of 15%.
- A quality landscaping job can bring up a building’s resale value by 14%.
American homeowners face the challenge of finding the right landscaping companies that offer the services of landscape lighting, landscape patio design, landscape grading, landscape planting design, and landscape walkways, among other landscape services. Finding the right quality landscaping contractors greatly influences the final work.
American homeowners would do well to stay away from individuals purporting to be landscape designers but have little skills or people to refer for their work to show. References are critical in making this process. Ask them for some people who they have worked for and have those people either vouch for them or show them the work.
The landscape contractor should also know landscape design techniques. Common landscape design techniques include raising or lowering a level. Common landscape design techniques also include general rooting out of rocks and bushes. Less common landscape design techniques involve rooting out trees.
With the American economy rebounding, find the right landscaper to sell your home.