How to Be a Prudent Home Buyer: Tree Edition

The home buying process can be stressful, especially in cities like Madison where housing availability is competitive and buyers need to act fast. Home inspectors play a key role in helping buyers understand the condition of a home before it’s sold. Home inspections often reveal unseen costs before a buyer commits to buying the property, but too often properties are sold that have significant tree issues that remain unseen by the buyer. If you have done significant tree work, then you already know that it is highly specialized labor that can be costly.

In a perfect world, a home buyer would have an arborist accompany them while they browse homes for sale, consulting on potential tree care costs associated with each property and flagging costly tree issues. If such a practice were standard, buyers would not be surprised by big tree care costs such as large or multiple removals, challenging access points for tree work that will increase price, or expensive pathogen or insect issues that will need treatment for multiple years. Unfortunately for now, getting a good arborist that can attend a last-minute home viewing is not always practical due to the fact that most companies schedule jobs weeks in advance.

However, there are a few things you can do to make sure you’re not blindsighted. First, ask the seller everything you can about the landscape. This information will vary from person to person depending on multiple factors, but most people either do a lot on their property or they simply don’t. Ask the seller for records of any treatments or pruning the trees have received since they’ve lived there. Ask them if they have any records from the owner before them. Sometimes you’ll end up with years of information that you can pass on to your arborist, which can be priceless information about the state of the tree at the time of sale. If you’re in the shopping around process, have your realtor (if you’re working with one) ask them for records of care. Most sellers that have invested money in tree care are happy to pass on information that helps a buyer continue caring for their trees.

Second, LOOK at all of the trees. The first thing a good consulting arborist will do when assessing a tree would be to walk completely around the tree, looking up and down assessing all tree parts visible from the ground. You can do this with some success too, to a lesser degree of course. Look for anything that stands out, most people are better at noticing this stuff than they give themselves credit for. Obviously dead trees will require removal, and while you may not know what the cost would be, at least you know that it is a cost to anticipate that warrants further research. Look at the leaves and ask yourself if everything looks normal. If you are looking at homes during the growing season when everything is leafed out then make note of any areas where the tree is bare or thin. Is the foliage appropriately colored? Are there any leaves on the ground?

Look at the branches, are the tree branches growing into one another? Do you see a cavity at the base or anywhere else on the branch? Healthy branches have generally uniform bark and come off the stem with an attachment that is “U” shaped.

Look at the stem and tree base, do you see any cavities? Is there bark sloughing off? Are there cracks or mushrooms? Does the base have a nice, gradual root flare where the stem transitions to the roots? Do you see any weeping wounds?

If you find anything unusual or several things that are unusual that means you’ll need to call an arborist to consult on the health of the tree. While this post isn’t meant to be your only guide, it is meant to bring your attention beyond the home and into the landscape. Making notes of anything that stands out and asking for more information is the best way to be a diligent buyer. You might not get every bit of information you need but you’ll be well ahead of other buyers that haven’t even taken a minute to look at the trees or the surrounding landscape. If you see something that makes you nervous, that may be your sign to look at another property or try to get an arborist to advise you before you purchase the property. Our arborists are here to answer any questions you might have about what to look for to be sure you’re inheriting healthy trees. Additionally, we can help you set up a protocol for care if you inherited some tree work. All properties need tree and shrub care, and we’re here to help you through it all.