Private or Privet?

My new neighbor has a team of men working from sunrise to sunset on his front garden across the street and it's transforming his property into a wonderland. What was once an overgrown "fixer" on a massive scale is steadily turning into one of the nicest homes on the block. Bought last year by a talented young contractor and his lovely wife, it was originally conceived as a "flip" project, but I'm delighted to report that they decided to keep the home for their growing family (they just had baby number three). Suffice it to say that I couldn't be more pleased to welcome them to the neighborhood. Any improvements they make to their property only serve to increase the value of mine!

To say the garden was overgrown is an understatement to be sure . . .

The entire lot (and it's easily 10,000 sq') was covered in wild privet and ivy that blocked the light to the windows and left nothing exposed but a broken walkway and a sad, sagging front porch. So dense was the thicket that deer camped out to sleep during the day, and the elderly woman who pilfers tin cans from the neighborhood recycle bins used the heavy bushes as a hiding spot for her overstuffed Hefty bags of booty, to be collected later by car.

While my neighbors' house represents an extreme example of how important the curb appeal of a home can be, the most frequent struggle we have with Sellers regards their foliage and our desire to either cut it back or, better yet, remove the offending blockade altogether. Let's just call it a battle between PRIVATE OR PRIVET.

"But it creates great privacy," is the most common response.

"I'm sure it does," I counter, "but we're not selling trees, we're selling your house, and Buyers need to see it in the photos. Moreover, the growth blocks the sunlight coming into the rooms, and what Buyers respond to most is natural light. With no overhead lights in many of these rooms, your house presents as dark, and it would benefit from more light!"

"But these trees have been there since we bought the home," say the Sellers. "I hate to cut any living thing down."

That's obvious (I don't say), but sometimes (I think to myself) clearing overgrown foliage is the better choice, especially if top-dollar is the goal.

And so it goes . . .

Sometimes we win these battles and sometimes we don't, but as the Sellers have usually moved out and privacy is no longer an immediate issue, I'm stymied that it matters so much to them - but it does!

The thing is, we're blessed in the East Bay as one of only seven Mediterranean climates in the world, plants typically thrive in our soil, and as such, can grow to great heights (and do). However, there are also a fair number of varieties that are invasive species, such as privet, which, left untended, will take over entire yards. Additionally, they have a bad habit of dropping black berries and seeds throughout the garden so that "starters" are quickly shooting up throughout the beds. As the Brits cheekily commented during the private estate tours Jill and I enjoyed earlier this summer: "they're thugs" (and so they are).

Let me reiterate that whether you're nostalgic or not regarding the plants/trees/weeds that surround your home, anything that's failing, half-dead, sunburned, diseased, hanging over the rooftops, overgrown, dangerous (ie: low branches that are head bangers), blocking doors, or clinging to windows, really needs to go. You've hired us for our expertise, so let's ensure that the home is as inviting on the outside as it is on the inside. Transforming homes and gardens is our forte, so please take advantage of our skills.

​We promise, we'll replant with more appropriate shrubs, bushes, flowers and ornamentals. Having brought hundreds of homes to the market, we've developed a keen sense of what it takes to sell a property, and we won't let you down. Let's remember that the goal is to move potential Buyers from the online photos, across the threshold, and into the home. They won't do that if they aren't inspired or compelled by the website. In this Internet age, the online presence of your home is everything. Let's not stop short at the garden; it's the first thing people see, and I might argue, potentially the most important.

In other words, let's make sure no one is missing the "forest for the trees!"

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