Trees provide value, but is it wise to pay more for them?
Oct 26, 2022Marketwise
By Pat Kapowich | Published: October 20, 2022 | For the Bay Area News Group and its flagships The Mercury News and East Bay Times
Q: This is regarding your column — “When the value of tree shade is key to a buyer” published online on October 13, 2022, in The Mercury News and East Bay Times — about the removal of shade trees:
The buyer’s agent representing us is top notch, or so we thought. He thinks we should buy a house because it is a good deal. That is not the point. The next-door neighbor said the city removed the mature city trees. The city trees removed were not native to the Bay Area. The city trees planted in the 1960s became hazardous. Falling branches and roots tearing up sidewalks were common. Now the street has city trees that are 5 to 6 feet tall.
We like a house in a neighborhood six blocks west priced 20 percent higher. It is a smaller house. We checked with the city arborist, and he said the city trees on that street “although not native to California, do not become a hazard to citizens or sidewalks.” That was reassuring. There are shade trees on the property, too.
Is it prudent to stretch our purchasing power for a property in a tall-tree neighborhood?
A: It is prudent. The data have shown that trees add value. Not just to the subject property but the neighborhood and city. A must-read is the 2010 Pacific Northwest Research Station study titled “Calculating the Green in Green: What’s an Urban Tree Worth?” It states: “For nearly 30 years, Forest Service scientists and their collaborators have been exploring the economic links between urban trees and a suite of environmental and social amenities, including cleaner air, moderated storm runoff, sequestering of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), higher property values, reduced energy consumption, and improved human health.”
The property, with its neighborhood lacking a mature tree canopy, is deeply discounted for a reason. It is hard to sell. It will be harder to sell in the future. Plus, the quality of life would suffer in the warmer months.
Conversely, studies show properties with mature tree-lined streets sell with fewer days on the market. That is a fact. Homes benefiting from urban tree canopies also sell for more. The quality of life with a home under an urban tree canopy can be priceless in summer. The shade is moving on the sundial. Buy the home under a canopy before it is off the market for decades.
Questions? Or are you or someone you know navigating life’s transitions? Let lauded negotiator Pat Kapowich make your next move easy. Visit Kapowich’s website for free area housing data, insights and trends. Or put his artful blend of specialized credentials, decades of experience and endorsed skill set to work for you. Kapowich instills confidence when buying, selling, relocating or resizing homes. Do not just make a move — make the best move. Contact him today, Realtor Pat Kapowich, a career-long consumer-protection advocate.
Office: 408-245-7700; SiliconValleyBroker.com
[email protected] Broker# 00979413
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