Planning the landscaping at your rental property means more than finding your favorite plants. Boost curb appeal and keep your tenants and prospects excited about your rental by ensuring your landscaping meets their needs while matching your maintenance ideals.
First impressions matter, and the planning the landscaping at your rental property is no exception. Whether you or your team tackle landscaping yourself, you hire a professional, or the rental lease agreement puts landscaping maintenance in the hands of your tenants, each property in your portfolio may have different landscaping needs.
These tips can help you determine what kind of landscaping options are best for your property and your tenants, all while making the rental look its best. Boost ROI and curb appeal with these landscaping tips for your rental property.
Determine Your Ideal Maintenance Level:
Understanding how much maintenance your property’s landscaping should require is key before making any plans. If you own or manage single-family homes where tenants are in charge of landscaping maintenance, an easy-to-care yard is key to ensuring that the property still looks its best throughout the year.
Low-maintenance landscaping options are often preferable since some tenants are not green thumbs or will not care for the property as thoroughly. Your climate will also impact how much maintenance a particular landscaping technique will require. Some plants will flourish in specific climates; some climates will mean simply planting a traditional lawn, or particular foliage options will need constant care.
If you personally maintain the landscaping for your rental property, or you can hire a team for the upkeep, you’ll have more landscaping options available. Remember that time investment can cut into your ROI, so be sure that a landscaping option is worth the effort before committing to it.
Learn more: Low-Maintenance Landscaping for Rental Properties
Understand Your Tenant Needs:
When it comes to landscaping, curb appeal is important but functionality is also key. Understanding your tenants’ needs is crucial to provide a yard or landscaping that fits their ideal way to interact with the property. For single-family homes you have the opportunity to truly cater to your tenants’ wants and needs–particularly for long-term tenants. Do they want a yard for kids to play in or would they prefer a patio area for relaxation? Working with your current tenants to find out what best fits your budget and their needs can help keep them invested in the property and serves to attract future tenants at turnover.
Use Landscaping to Reflect Your Brand:
For multifamily residences, your property’s exterior is more than simple curb appeal; it’s a direct reflection of your brand. For this reason and many more, it’s vital to understand your brand and your ideal tenants. Having an in-depth understanding of your tenant demographic is key, and using your landscaping to further enhance your ideal tenants’ enjoyment of the space can serve to ensure lease renewals and entice future applicants.
Learn more: Branding Tips for Your Rental Business
Use Your Landscaping as an Amenity:
What specific needs does your property serve to meet? Is your rental property compelling for tenants who seek a place that is eco-friendly, pet-friendly or child-friendly? Incorporating these values into your exterior and landscaping planning can help set your property apart from the competition. Offer outdoor areas to encourage community and allow residents to plan birthday and holiday parties, potlucks or host clubs or informational meetings.
If your rental is going green and attracting eco-conscious tenants, opt for xeriscaping and native plants or use the opportunity to attract pollinators and further solidify your green initiatives at your rental property.
Learn more: How to Go Green | Tips for a More Eco-Friendly Business
For properties that offer pet-friendly amenities, be sure to provide a space outside where pets can roam and play. Creating a grassy area that is safe for pets is sure to please your pet-loving residents. General outdoor amenities like pools, parks and playground areas, or even community gardens, are all enhanced by good planning when thinking about surrounding landscaping.
Learn more: Outdoor Amenity Ideas For Your Rental Property
Final Thoughts:
Great landscaping at your rental property means more than just planting a few bushes or watering a lawn. Good landscaping requires understanding your tenants and knowing what you or your team can handle for maintenance and long-term investments. Whether you have a single property or huge portfolio, the same key steps should be taken for success.