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You might think it's too hot to work outside on your front yard during this summer's unwelcome heat extremes. However, if you're selling a home, you might want to pay special attention to your landscaping. Your front yard needs to arouse buyers' expectations and entice them into viewing the inside of your home. Home buyers think they care more about the inside of a potential house than the landscaping, but in reality, most buyers won't even get out of their car if the curb appeal lacks the promise of great features inside. Here are some quick and easy landscaping tips to get you in out of the heat fast and to get buyers interested in your home. Summer Selling and Flower Color Usually, I advise home sellers to use brightly-colored flowers like yellow and red to catch buyer's attention. However, if you live where the sun is making everything extra hot, make your home feel cooler with abundant white flowers. If you have gorgeous flowers in multi-color, don't rip them out. Just add a lot of white to tone down the exuberant warm colors. A few flats of white alyssum go a long way and this hardy plant holds up in extreme heat. Cooling Greens Add green foliage to cool down your landscaping. If you have a lot of boring dirt between plants, these brown areas look and feel parched. Also, hanging luscious ferns add a tropical flair to landscapes. Shade Add umbrellas for extra shade. You might find umbrellas at your local supermarket for better prices than at home improvement warehouses or discount stores. In our area, our supermarket and drug store has the best buy on umbrellas. Select umbrellas in cool colors; floral patterns look pretty but often have warm colors. Place your umbrellas in big pots or even in the dirt around your garden. Stage Your Garden Make your entire yard feel like it works hard to offer plenty of entertaining spaces. Set up a table and chairs in the far corner of your back yard. Add a white or green table cloth to the table setting and a vase of white flowers. Fabrics like cotton give a texture which feels cooler than metal or wood. Add water features like a plug-in fountain or simply a children's play pool. Even if you have no small children, the water looks refreshing. When you know buyers are on the way to preview your home, water. Wet lawns and foliage bring down the air temperature (unless you live in a high- humidity area). A freshly watered lawn looks greener. Set out iced tea, lemonade, and water. Offer your "guests" refreshment. Turn home shoppers into buyers. Get them to connect to your home because it feels like home. Copyright © 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher America's "Dream Home" Maker, Jeanette Fisher, offers free Home Selling Guide and free home staging information at http://sellfast.info.
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