Investing in landscaping for single family LTR

[Joe Christoff]

I was listening to this episode of the BP podcast that discussed which renovations & improvements for flips and BRRRRs are the best to add value to a property. One of the items that was mentioned was landscaping and that 100% of the time this is something that is invested in. This was in the context of adding value when selling a property, and it got me thinking how this translates to LT rentals.

I have a 3/2 single family LT rental in a C class neighborhood in the Charlotte, NC metro area. My thinking is that as long as the yard looks like a yard and can function as a yard (ie. junk-free, has grass & dirt), then it doesn't make much sense to invest heavily into landscaping like re-sodding or other projects. For this specific property, my current assessment is that while there is definitely improvements that can be made to the landscaping, for the neighborhood it doesn't make much sense to invest in it.

Curious what others have experienced when it comes to attracting tenants in relation to investing in landscaping for LT rental properties.

[Wyatt Wolff]

Keep it clean, maybe seed if it needs it (sod is expensive), and put in a few low maintenance bushes. Other than that, unless you want to do the landscaping periodically yourself or pay someone to, I'd keep it simple and functional.