Building a fence - Worth it?

[Johann Harshman]

This is my first flip and everything is going along nicely and far under budget (so far!)... I'm debating whether it is worth the time and money to build a privacy fence in the backyard. 

Details: 

ARV is $150k, house across the street was flipped 2 months ago and is nearly the same except that it has a fence in the back. The homeowner built the fence AFTER it was purchased, so it wasn't part of the original flip. The neighbors in the back yard of my property are great on the right side (nice looking yard, easy on the eyes). The neighbors yard on the other side of my property is quite unsightly (trash, broken lawn mowers, tall grass.. the works)... The neighborhood is okay, but this neighbor might have the most unsightly yard on the street.

My question is - Due to the comp across the street now having a fence, do you think it will help me get asking price if I put a privacy fence up in my back yard? 

I'd be getting a killer deal on the fence due to having left over materials from another construction project at my parents property (they're letting me use their extra mat.) but it will still cost me at least $500 in extra lumber/supplies/labor but is it worth this? 

I can provide some pictures tonight. 

[Whitney Hutten]

@Johann Harshman   Great question!  I feel having a privacy fence attracts a higher end tenant and keeps the neighbors for being such a huge impact on your rents.  The tenant can have their pets and kids in the yard and not be concerned about peering neighbors or anything unsightly (we did just that on our personal property and I feel like I have a private oasis).  

That said, I don't have fences at all of my properties for the very reason of pricing.  However, my B+ properties all have privacy fences...