Any homeowner in the Lima, Ohio area will naturally strive for the highest sale price when selling their home. There are various things that can help increase what buyers are willing to pay for your house. Most sellers are aware of the obvious strategies to boost their sale price, like fresh paint and refinished floors. However, far fewer know that problems with trees on their property can potentially lead to a lower sale price, effectively limiting your profits.
Below, we’ll discuss some common tree problems in Northwestern Ohio, how to spot them before you sell, and how to use tree maintenance in Lima to maximize the sale price of your home.
Typical Tree Problems in Lima, OH
Before you decide whether or not tree services would help you fetch more money for your property, it’s helpful to understand the most common issues you might need to treat.
Insect Infestations
Some of the biggest threats to trees in Ohio are invasive pests. Unfortunately, Allen County is home to numerous insects that can destroy your trees rapidly. Most notably, the emerald ash borer, the Asian longhorn beetle, and the gypsy moth are all at large in Lima and the surrounding cities.
All of these insects can kill a host within just a few weeks, so monitoring your trees for symptoms of damage can go a long way in keeping them healthy and safe.
Tree Diseases & Fungi
Additionally, there are several diseases and fungi that infect trees commonly throughout Ohio. Powdery mildew and anthracnose are among the most hazardous to your trees, and infected specimens can meet an untimely death in a matter of months. These ailments can also spread easily to nearby trees, so containment and treatment are crucial to limit the potential impact on your property.
How to Stop Tree Problems Before They Become Severe
Monitoring your property for these tree problems at all times is vital in Lima because of their prevalence and severity. Issues that go unnoticed or are left untreated will often result in tree death, putting your property and family at risk of damage and injury from toppling trees and falling limbs.
Educated buyers are likely to notice tree problems when they view your property. If they see budding issues or poor tree care, they’ll know they’re signing up for paying for tree removal after closing or potentially putting their own family at risk of injury.
Below are a few tips for catching tree problems as early as possible. Completing these steps and letting buyers know that you’ve taken all of these actions is a great way to show them you care about their safety after moving in, and it might make your home more attractive than other options on the market.
Monitor Your Trees
One of the simplest ways to catch developing problems quickly is to monitor your trees. Most pest infestations, tree diseases, and fungi will trigger physical changes in your trees. Once a month or so, walk your property and look for changes.
You might notice holes in the bark on the trunk or large limbs from boring insects, spots or mold on the leaves from fungi or infection, wilting leaves, dead branches, missing bark, discoloration in the canopy, leaning trees, and exposed roots. All of these can be signs of a tree problem, and they should trigger you to call in an arborist to diagnose and address the issue immediately.
Mulch Around the Trunks
Trees get all of the water and nutrients they need from the ground, so mulching around the base of your trees is a great way to keep them healthy. A mound of mulch helps keep the soil below moist for the root system, limits grass growth and competition for resources and keeps landscaping tools that can damage the protective tree bark away from the trunk.
Call In a Specialist for Pruning
Finally, you should have a professional prune your trees at least once a year and just before listing your property. Pruning not only helps your trees combat insects and diseases, making your property safer for buyers, but it will also make your trees look more appealing. Improving curb appeal is an excellent way to boost the sale price of your home!
How to Get the Highest Sale Price With Tree Problems
Having tree issues in Lima doesn’t mean that your home has to be sold for less. In fact, you can use tree issues to your advantage and potentially get a higher sale price from buyers. Below are three ways to boost your selling price even if you have tree issues.
Be Honest With Buyers
Above all else, be honest with buyers about your tree problems. Being upfront and telling potential buyers about issues will establish you as a trustworthy seller. You may unveil an issue they didn’t notice, but doing so will help ensure them that there aren’t other, more serious problems with your home. Many buyers will likely shrug off a small tree removal bill post-closing if they believe that will be their only additional expense.
Call In an Arborist
The best thing you can do to keep your trees healthy is call in an arborist to diagnose and fix issues- and doing so can also help you secure a higher sale price. You should happily inform prospective buyers that you’ve been proactive and hired an arborist to care for your trees. Most will see this as a sign of good faith right before the sale takes place and assume that any problems are being taken care of.
Pay for Removal
Finally, paying to remove any problematic or dangerous trees before selling your home could increase your final sale price significantly. If a buyer sees a dead tree threatening to do tens of thousands in damage to their future home, they may turn away from the sale. Even if they don’t, they’ll very likely be willing to pay less because they know they’ll have the removal expense themselves after closing.
You might pay up to around $2,200 for tree removal in Lima, but you stand to earn even more than that by showing buyers that their new home is safe from immediate harm.
