{"id":62,"date":"2026-09-12T17:04:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T17:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/?p=62"},"modified":"2026-09-12T17:05:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T17:05:47","slug":"why-homebuyers-should-get-professional-landscaping-advice-before-buying-a-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/field-stories\/why-homebuyers-should-get-professional-landscaping-advice-before-buying-a-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Homebuyers Should Get Professional Landscaping Advice Before Buying a House"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Evan Le, Founder of Neat & Tidy Landscaping and Editor of American Landscaping Journal<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You and your wife are finally ready to buy a home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’ve been renting for years. You’ve saved up a down payment. Financing is coming together, and you’re ready to stop paying somebody else’s mortgage and start building some equity of your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fantastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it’s your first starter home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you’re moving from a condo or townhouse into a detached house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you’ve already built some equity and you’re upgrading to the bigger house in Bellevue, Burien, Renton, Seattle, or somewhere else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever stage you’re at, there’s one part of the home-buying process I think people seriously underestimate:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The landscape.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

People inspect the roof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They inspect the foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They check the electrical panel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They look at the plumbing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They calculate the mortgage, taxes, insurance and utilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then they walk outside, see some grass, shrubs and trees and think:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ll deal with the yard later.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s where I think buyers make a mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because you’re not just buying a house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’re buying everything growing around it too.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
Beautiful Yard – Bothell WA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Landscaping Is an Ongoing Cost of Owning a Home<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A yard isn’t a one-time purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It grows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawn grows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The weeds grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shrubs grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trees grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaves fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mulch decomposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeds germinate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blackberry comes through the fence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivy spreads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything keeps moving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ignore the landscape long enough and eventually you don’t have a maintenance project anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have a restoration project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s when the price changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So before buying a house, I think homeowners should ask a very basic question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is this property going to require from me every year?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not just financially.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In time too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because you’re going to pay for landscaping one way or another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You either pay somebody with money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or you pay for it with your time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time or Money. Pick One.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is probably one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned running a landscaping company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s always a cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can have essentially zero contractor cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do everything yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s completely reasonable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy a mower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy a hedge trimmer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get some hand tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn how to prune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pull your own weeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rake your leaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Load your own yard waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Figure out where you’re taking it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can save a tremendous amount of money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But now you’re paying with Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe that’s fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some homeowners genuinely enjoy working outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But maybe you have two kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you have a demanding job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you’re taking care of aging parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe both you and your spouse work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you just don’t want to spend your limited free time pulling weeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Would you rather spend four hours cleaning garden beds or take Junior to the park?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s no correct answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is a trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time. Money. Space. Maintenance.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You need to understand that trade before buying the property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More Yard Means More Maintenance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This sounds obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I don’t think people really calculate it when they’re shopping for homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s take a typical residential property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might have a front lawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Front garden beds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A parking strip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two side yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A backyard lawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More garden beds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A patio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shrubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hedges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every one of those areas requires something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawns need mowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garden beds need weeding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shrubs need trimming or pruning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trees eventually need work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaves need cleaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waste needs hauling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edges need maintaining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe mulch needs replenishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe irrigation needs attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe there’s a slope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe there’s a retaining wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe access to the backyard is terrible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything adds something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now compare that with a townhouse with a tiny courtyard and a few shrubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s simply less landscape to maintain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s not necessarily better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you want a huge backyard where your kids can run around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But understand what comes with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More landscape generally means more maintenance.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
Low maintenance yard with Bark – Seattle, WA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Not All 5,000-Square-Foot Lots Are Equal<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is where homeowners really need to look beyond square footage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You could show me two properties with approximately the same lot size and they could have completely different landscaping costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One is relatively flat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simple lawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few appropriately sized shrubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Easy access from the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing particularly invasive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s a pretty straightforward property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other is on a hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are 30 mature shrubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A huge laurel hedge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

English ivy climbing several trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blackberry along the back fence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Narrow access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stairs everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No easy way to get waste from the backyard to the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Same general amount of land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Completely different landscaping problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a contractor, I look at that second property and immediately start seeing labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see hauling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see how many workers it might take.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see what might become difficult five years from now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A typical homebuyer may simply see:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beautiful mature landscaping.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s why another set of eyes can help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slopes Can Completely Change a Property<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I would pay particular attention to slopes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A hillside home can be beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might get an amazing view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might have more privacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might have a large property that feels surrounded by nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But landscaping on a slope can be brutal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now everything has to move uphill or downhill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workers have to maintain their footing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wheelbarrows become harder to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equipment access may become limited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waste still has to make it from wherever we cut it to wherever our truck is parked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even mowing can become difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve looked at properties where a homeowner wanted us to maintain a lawn on a significant hill and we’ve respectfully declined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not because grass is complicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the site made a basic landscaping task unnecessarily difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And sometimes homeowners get frustrated hearing that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe they’ve already called several contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe everybody keeps telling them the same thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At some point, though, the property is the property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hill isn’t going away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s something I would want to understand before<\/strong> buying the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look at What’s Actually Growing There<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is another reason I recommend getting someone knowledgeable about landscaping to look at a seriously overgrown property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A homebuyer sees green.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A landscaper starts identifying plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is that a normal hedge?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is that running bamboo?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is that English ivy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is that Himalayan blackberry?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there Japanese knotweed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s climbing those trees?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s coming through the neighboring fence?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s growing on the slope behind the property?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is that beautiful greenbelt actually dominated by invasive vegetation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These things matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve dealt with mature bamboo where removal becomes excavation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve dealt with blackberry where the homeowner clears their property but remains surrounded by blackberry outside their property line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve dealt with mature ivy where years of growth have created an enormous amount of vegetation to remove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those aren’t reasons to automatically reject a house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They’re reasons to understand the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think About Access Before You Buy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Access is one of those things homeowners rarely think about until somebody has to perform work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where do we park the truck?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do we get equipment into the backyard?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there a gate?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How wide is it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are there stairs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can we use wheelbarrows?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can machinery reach the work area?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How far does the waste have to travel?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can materials be delivered near where they’re being installed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This stuff matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine installing several yards of gravel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a truck can deliver near the installation area, that’s one job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If every pound has to be shoveled into wheelbarrows, moved through a narrow side yard, taken down stairs and spread by hand, that’s another job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gravel didn’t change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The property did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that’s going to show up in the price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
Bark installation after English Ivy Removal – Newcastle, WA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Landscaping Prices Scale With the Property<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

People sometimes want one universal answer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much does yard maintenance cost?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There isn’t one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A basic lawn service might be relatively inexpensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A small garden bed may be manageable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A straightforward cleanup might cost a few hundred dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the same categories of work can quickly reach thousands when you add square footage, years of neglect, difficult terrain, hauling, large vegetation, poor access or invasive plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s why I’d be careful about looking at a large property and mentally budgeting:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProbably $500 to clean everything up.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or maybe it’s $5,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it’s substantially more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don’t know until somebody understands the scope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if you’re spending $800,000, $1 million or more on the house, getting that information before closing can make a lot of sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t Confuse Purchase Price With Cost of Ownership<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is where I think people sometimes get distracted by the deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe the house is $50,000 below comparable properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you found an amazing deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe the interior just needs updating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe the seller wants a quick transaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But don’t ignore a difficult property simply because the house is discounted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suppose the landscape requires a major initial restoration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then it requires regular maintenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there’s tree work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the huge hedge needs pruning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the slope needs clearing again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Individually, none of those expenses may seem enormous compared with a million-dollar home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But you’re not owning the house for three months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you’re planning to stay there for ten years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe twenty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe this is your forever home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now multiply maintenance over years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s when landscaping becomes part of the real cost of ownership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Professional Opinion Doesn’t Mean You Need to Hire That Contractor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m not saying every homebuyer needs to hire Neat & Tidy Landscaping before buying a house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m not even saying every house needs a professional landscaping evaluation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use common sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re buying a townhouse with 200 square feet of landscaping, you can probably understand what you’re getting into pretty quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you’re looking at a large, mature or heavily overgrown property and you don’t know what you’re looking at?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get another opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talk to a landscaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talk to an arborist if there are significant trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Identify the plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get some estimates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask what the property might take to restore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask what ongoing maintenance could look like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You aren’t necessarily hiring anybody to perform the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’re buying information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And information is cheap compared with discovering the problem after closing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You Can Use That Information to Make a Plan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Maybe the landscaper tells you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This property isn’t that bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fantastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe they say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cleanup will probably be substantial, but afterward the property should be relatively manageable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now you can budget for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe they tell you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That bamboo is going to require excavation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now you know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe the trees need an arborist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get them evaluated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe the slope is going to be expensive to maintain professionally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now you can decide whether you’re willing to do some of it yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you decide you still love the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s completely fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal isn’t to talk you out of buying it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal is to prevent this conversation six months later:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNobody told me maintaining this yard was going to cost this much.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
Tree trimming and bark installation – North Seattle, WA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cheap, Professional and DIY Can All Make Sense<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There’s another thing worth saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not every landscaping job requires a premium contractor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes you need somebody with a mower and a truck to handle straightforward maintenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes a smaller landscaping company is a perfect fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes you should DIY it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes you need a larger insured crew with more equipment, hauling capacity and project management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Different properties require different solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But difficult work has a market value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the project requires substantial labor, equipment, insurance, hauling, scheduling and experienced workers, eventually there’s a price below which somebody has to give something up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it’s hauling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it’s scope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it’s speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it’s customer service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it’s insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it’s simply profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That doesn’t mean the most expensive contractor is automatically the best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It means you should understand what you’re comparing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your Landscape Is Part of Your Home<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Landscaping can feel secondary when you’re buying a house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I understand why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The house is the expensive part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But think about where the landscape is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s around the most expensive asset many of us will ever own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You see it every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You walk through it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your kids play in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your neighbors see it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plants grow against the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trees grow over the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water moves through it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if you ignore it long enough, eventually you’re going to deal with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when you’re shopping for a home, spend some time outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t just admire the backyard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Study it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How big is it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How steep is it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s growing there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How many shrubs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How many trees?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much lawn?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How many garden beds?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s on the neighboring property?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s behind the fence?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there bamboo?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blackberry?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other invasive vegetation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can equipment reach the backyard?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How will waste leave the property?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And most importantly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you actually want to maintain this landscape for the next ten years?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Know What You’re Buying<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

That’s the point of this entire series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m a landscaper now, so I look at properties completely differently than I did before working in this industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don’t just see a big beautiful yard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see what maintaining it requires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And sometimes a smaller, simpler landscape is worth more to your lifestyle than an enormous backyard you don’t have time to maintain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other times the big yard is exactly what you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enjoy it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just know what comes with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because every square foot you own eventually requires some level of responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can maintain it yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can pay somebody else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can simplify the landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or you can let it grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But you can’t buy the property and pretend the land around the house doesn’t exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Field Notes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This article is based on my experience evaluating, estimating, maintaining, and restoring residential landscapes throughout the Seattle area. Every property is different. Yard size, slopes, access, vegetation, trees, invasive plants, waste hauling, and the level of maintenance a homeowner wants can dramatically change the amount of work and cost involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purpose of this article isn’t to suggest that every homebuyer needs a professional landscaping inspection or that a larger yard is a bad investment. It’s to encourage buyers to look beyond the house itself and understand the landscape they’re inheriting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A simple property may require very little professional help. A large, steep, mature, or heavily overgrown property may require considerably more time, labor, equipment, and ongoing maintenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before you buy the house, understand the landscape. You’re not just buying more space. You’re buying the responsibility of maintaining it for as long as you own it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Evan Le, Founder of Neat & Tidy Landscaping and Editor of American Landscaping Journal You and your wife are finally ready to buy a home. You’ve been renting for years. You’ve saved up a down payment. Financing is coming together, and you’re ready to stop paying somebody else’s mortgage and start building some equity … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/client-resources-washington.b-cdn.net\/site-images\/seattle-wa-bark-mulch-installation-garden-bed-with-shrubs-well-maintained-a6c0354b.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Garden Bed with Bark, Seattle WA","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-field-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65,"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62\/revisions\/65"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neatandtidylandscaping.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}