Landscaping's Impact on Appraisal

[Justin Shelton]

Hello Everyone,

I was wondering if anyone could speak on the impact of landscaping on getting a home appraisal? My house does need some landscaping updating, like some weed pulling and some new mulch. Nothing major like removing old tree stumps, digging out boulders, digging out hills, etc. 

I'm basically house hacking, and I want to get my house appraised so I can cash out refinance to get a down payment for another house, as well as wipe my credit slate clean. But I digress...I basically want to know if I should landscape my house more professionally before the appraisal. (New mulch, some light weeding, some new plants/bushes).

Anyone have experience in this sort of thing? And again, this is only for the appraisal, not to sell. I know that I would need it to look nice and pretty before selling, which I don't intend to do anytime soon. And I'm living in Farmington Hills Michigan if that matters.