They have the grounds covered
While in escrow last fall to buy her $825,000 Beachwood Canyon home, Marzie Harris took the unusual step of hiring a landscape architect to evaluate her property after a home inspection indicated there might be problems with the yard.
The resulting report, which cost Harris $1,000, warned that the 1,886-square-foot house might flood in a heavy rain due to poor drainage, clogged gutters and patio areas that had been built too high in relation to thresholds. This year’s rains gave the 53-year-old a firsthand look at what that warning meant.
Harris is one of an increasing number of buyers -- and sellers -- who are having their grounds as well as their homes inspected. Since landscape inspections are not routine, some homeowners are left pondering to what extent and how soon they should follow up on the recommendations.
“This is a relatively new phenomenon,” said Jim Hamilton, president of the California Assn. of Realtors, who recommended that buyers with concerns “bring in an expert to look into things.”
A landscape architect evaluates the property surrounding a home, including irrigation, water drainage, the placement of retaining walls, the grading and slope of patios and the placement and health of trees, as well as planted flowers and shrubbery, according to the American Society of Landscape Architects, a trade group based in Washington, D.C.
A standard home inspection, which includes anything that will affect the building and is within six feet of the structure, is conducted in more than half the real estate transactions in this state, according to the California Real Estate Inspection Assn.
With any move into a new home, it’s a challenge for owners to prioritize what needs immediate attention and where to spend what’s left of one’s money. And clouding the issue further, unlike traditional home inspectors who don’t make recommended repairs themselves, most landscape architects both advise and provide services.
In Harris’ case, Michael Baer of Greentree Landscaping in Westwood recommended about $25,000 in repairs -- some of which she asked the seller for in credits before closing the sale.
Although she planned to have the work done, Harris, an artist and retired nurse who moved into her new home in November, didn’t schedule the repairs in time to beat the rain. She was in no rush, she said, as no previous water problems were disclosed by the sellers during escrow.
With the January downpours, Harris’ home suddenly had water seeping in at the exact three locations that had concerned Baer. “I felt overwhelmed and exhausted because I did not have all my boxes put away,” Harris said. “And then suddenly I had to deal with all of this.”
She sandbagged her thresholds and repeatedly cleared the patios’ drains of debris.
The changes Baer recommended were simple but costly, including lowering the height of one patio to create a drop from the door’s threshold, lowering another patio so there would be a natural slope to carry accumulating water to the street, adding more and larger drains to stop both patios from puddling and clearing the gutters.
“It’s not brain surgery,” Baer said. “Many of these fixes are just common sense.”
Harris estimates the damage to her home is about $20,000, including costs to have drywall, carpet and gutters replaced. She has not filed an insurance claim for fear her insurer will drop her.
This year’s record rains have made homeowners particularly aware of the potential for water damage.
“When it rains, everyone thinks, ‘What a drag,’ ” said Ron Holliman, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker in Beverly Hills. “But it’s a great opportunity to see how a house is really performing.”
Holliman said he has never hesitated to call a landscape architect to survey a property for a client during escrow. However, he added, it “really depends on the property in question. It can be a very valuable thing to do.”
A landscape inspection is particularly smart for buyers considering a home on a hillside or one with an ornate or elaborate garden, experts say.
During a recent inspection of a property in Hancock Park that had a lush garden, Baer pointed out a number of concerns that a buyer would probably miss.
These included an irrigation system that provided too much water in some areas, an improperly installed drainage system and overgrown roots from trees that were endangering the home’s foundation.
Baer pointed out ailing trees. “This tree will eventually fall,” Baer said of a pittosporum that had started to lean. “You probably have three or four years with it. That’s all.”
Baer additionally discovered oak root fungus on a wall of ficus trees that hid the next-door neighbor’s property.
“This is not good,” he said as he peeled off loose bark from the trunk of one tree -- a symptom of the fungus.
Eventually, Baer said, the ficus trees will die, leaving an ugly view of utility poles and lines.
“When these trees go, there goes the whole charm of this backyard garden,” he said. “You would want to know about this if you were buying this house.”
All told, Baer recommended about $50,000 in repairs.
Daniel Busbin is a Beverly Hills landscape architect who also has inspected the grounds of properties in escrow.
“Savvy real estate buyers should know that you are not just buying the box of the house,” Busbin said. “You are buying the real estate -- the land.”
Steve Feldstein, 42, has called on Busbin’s expertise twice.
At one property Feldstein was considering in Studio City, Busbin noticed cracking in the home’s patio areas, walkways and driveway.
On further inspection, Busbin discovered -- and a geologist later confirmed -- that the home’s backyard had been built on 14 feet of landfill. The cracking in the backyard was a sign that the home’s entire foundation was in need of replacement.
Feldstein, who works in marketing at 20th Century Fox, decided not to buy the property.
“People should avail themselves to this kind of knowledge,” he said, “because once you close on a property, it’s yours.”
Whether more homeowners will add landscape inspection to their to-do list during escrow remains to be seen. Some contend that the practice is unnecessary.
“There shouldn’t be a need for this type of inspection,” said George Harper, chairman of the California Real Estate Inspection Assn., explaining that many of the areas a landscape architect would evaluate are already covered in a home inspection. “I don’t see a need for this type of inspection unless a home is located in a specialty area,” such as on a hillside or in the mountains.
But landscape architects point out that because the values of homes have appreciated dramatically in the last few years, buyers are more willing to have these inspections to protect their investments.
“Our business has risen,” said John Feldman, a landscape architect with KAA Design Group Landscape Studio near Marina del Rey. “There seems to be no stopping in sight.”
KAA was called in 10 times last year to evaluate properties during escrow, Feldman said. The prices for their evaluations, which he called “feasibility studies,” can range from a few thousand dollars to $20,000, based on the complexity of the property. The firm will credit back a portion of that fee should the client hire it to make the repairs.
Most, he said, took the firm’s recommendations, asked the seller for credit on the purchase of the home and made changes.
But Feldman recalled one client last year who learned that his dream of tearing down a house and rebuilding in the Hollywood Hills would cost millions to replace soil, construct retaining walls and install new roads up to the secluded property. The client decided not to buy.
“Ultimately,” Feldman said, “our study showed the buyer that his dream was just not going to realistically pan out.”
Sometimes it’s a landscape inspector who saves a homeowner from making aesthetic mistakes.
Katie Moss, a landscape designer who works out of her West Los Angeles home, recalled a client who was buying a home in Stone Canyon. The buyer, she said, wanted to rip out what appeared to be dormant plants in the backyard. They turned out to be lilacs not yet in season.
“They had no idea what they were looking at,” Moss said. “In the spring when the lilacs bloomed, they were spectacular. They had the equivalent of hundreds of dollars of cut lilacs a week. They were thrilled.”
Allison B. Cohen can be reached at a.cohen@ix.netcom.com.
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Be prepared -- before it rains
To protect a home and yard from water damage, Michael Baer, a landscape architect with Greentree Landscaping in Westwood, offers these tips:
* Keep all gutters and drains clear of debris.
* Hillside areas above a home should be planted with a ground cover. Leave any weeds or natural growth from summer in place to help hold soils in during the rainy season.
* Make sure retaining walls have “weep holes” to vent moisture that accumulates behind them.
* Consider installing a swimming pool overflow device, which will drain off excess water through a pipe to the street during heavy rains. This will prevent chlorinated water from spilling onto the landscape, damaging foliage.
* If you have a sump pump, which removes rainwater from the basement, make sure it’s in good working order.
-- Allison B. Cohen
