ROI on landscaping: a good investment for my investment?

[Patrick Allen]

Here is something that may get some debate going...

I am house-hacking a SFH in Tucson, AZ, purchased with a seller-paid downpayment on an FHA loan. My roommate and AirBNB comers-by pay my mortgage for me, so it just leaves me living for free and laying the foundation for my business. I am a buy and hold guy and want to get into small multifamily next.

I see the property as an asset, and one I don't want to put any money into unless I get a return on that money. Since I have an FHA loan, I will need to one day look into a refinance, but since interest rates are so low right now I don't think I will do this any time soon. Running the numbers leads me to believe that spending the money on the refi would be a lower CoC than saving that money towards the downpayment of another property next winter.

But let's say I wanted to do the refi: what does anybody and everybody think of doing some landscaping work to force appreciation? The home was recently flipped, and has a fully updated kitchen, flooring, covered porch; in many ways the house appears brand new. The yard, however, is not. It is the classic Arizona "low maintenance" lawn style: patches of grass, mostly weeds, and lots of very dry dirt. 

The house is on a corner lot; the road it is technically on has generally well taken care of lawns with good curb appeal. The other street is a pretty lousy one; I wouldn't want to buy on this second street unless I planned to buy the whole block and rehab it...

Some pot-stirring questions:

- Does landscaping bring sufficient value to homes in Tucson? It is technically central, but more south than north. It's off of Alvernon, around 29th St.

- Should I care about leverage and/or forcing appreciation to the property, or just on the rents? I understand wanting to be a good neighbor and appearing to be a functional adult and all that, but this isn't my home. It's my asset, and I don't plan on living here more than a year.

- If I should spend the money: what kind of landscaping gets a solid ROI? Grass? Desert-scape? Gravel?

- How much should I look to pay for it, and how would I estimate ARV?

- Any pitfalls to definitely avoid (e.g. over-developing for the market)? 

Thanks in advance!