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Landscape Financing – a Guide to Paying for the Yard of Your Dreams

Landscaping is all too often overlooked when it comes to home improvement, but it is just as important to beautifying your home as a new coat of paint or a full remodel of your kitchen. Let’s face it though, a brand new yard doesn’t come cheap and while you have a wide variety of choices for putting in new landscaping, the price can get high if you add more and more items to the exterior of the property. New grass, a few trees, some bushes, all of those things can get costly and many smart homeowners turn to landscape financing to cover these expenses.

Landscaping Financing
New homes and existing homes alike will need some landscaping installed and the average retail cost of a typical landscaping job can run nearly $3,500. How much you spend is entirely up to you and the bill for your project could far exceed that number if you decide you want more than just the basics. You may also want to address both the front and backyard, which will also greatly affect the cost of the project. As your budget increases, you may start to get a little nervous about paying for the entire lump sum of the costs directly out of pocket. There are plenty of factors that could make your costs skyrocket unexpectedly.

Size of the Property
The bigger your property, the more areas that will require work. Here is where you need to get realistic about your expectations. Can you afford to landscape the entire property or should you pick and choose certain areas to maximize your budget?

Plants and Bushes
Be sure you select plants and bushes that can thrive in the climate where you live. Your contractor can advise you on which selections are best for the type of weather and temperatures that are typical for your region.

Planting a Lawn
A lush lawn can make any home look that much more inviting and beautiful. Most lawns are not very expensive to plant but the type of seed you choose could affect how much your lawn will cost. But you want to be sure you will be able to properly maintain it once the grass grows in fully.

Sprinklers
You want to ensure that your lawn and other landscaping is fully watered and maintained throughout the year. If you’re thinking that sprinklers are the way to go, you’ll be adding another $3,000 or more to the project.

Landscaping Loans
These four aspects alone could account for a landscaping budget of close to $6,000 or $7,000 if you have a particularly large amount of land. You could put all of that spend on your credit cards, but at those rates, why pay more than you have to? Homeowners are now considering landscaping loans to cover the high cost of turning the exterior of the home into the yard of their dreams. A loan for landscaping will undoubtedly come with lower interest rates, especially for those homeowners with good to excellent credit.

Financing for Landscaping
Before you look to your bank, consider seeking out landscaping financing from a lender that specifically handles this type of transaction. Landscaping loans are a niche market that the big banks may not always be able to service properly. Lenders who handle only these types of loans offer arrangements that can fit any budget and any size project for homeowners eager to improve the look of their home. A good landscaping job can also increase the resale value of the property as well and you could see a significant return on your money when you go to sell.

Matt: