68 Kellogg et al.: Tree Preservation in a Weak Land Development Market Region tent with the data used for Model C, which in- dicated that only 25% of the small lot sales were canopied, while 50% of the large lot sale were. As might be expected, overall development costs and expected return on investment influ- ence the decision about tree preservation. One developer related that for a development in the western part of the study area, he left the trees but had to trim the yield of houses by 15% (48 versus 53 homes) to get quality lots. This created a loss of gross revenue. Time is also a factor. How to design and build out the site is always a function of rate of return, with three considerations: the cost of land, the return to developer/builder, and reduced maintenance cost to governing agencies (sewer authority, municipality, stormwater directed to undeveloped areas). One of the five developers noted that while trees can be viewed as a positive, some people view them as a negative, depend- ing on their size and proximity to the house, noting: “people are afraid large trees may fall on their house,” and “there is a mix of homeown- ers who want mature trees and those who don’t.” Real Estate Agents and Homebuyers Researchers also interviewed real estate agents, who work in communities across the region, to gain insight on their experiences with potential home- buyers regarding tree preservation. Researchers asked them about trees and tree canopy in devel- opments and whether trees impact buyers’ valua- tion of properties and their decisions to purchase a property. The realtors echoed the messages about trees from the developers. Trees were described as being an attribute that prospective homebuyers desire—“everyone likes trees.” Realtors indicated that clients do not like to move into subdivisions where the builder/developer has cut down all the trees, which homebuyers describe as “dull and bar- ren.” Even when the builder/developer has put in some landscaping, such as small decorative trees or planted new young trees, having mature trees is viewed as better and more desirable by homebuyers. Agents agreed that there are some people who look specifically for properties with large mature trees. However, having “really big trees” (the kind most likely perceived as aesthetically appropriate for preservation) can create concern for some buyers. In these cases they are worried about the mainte- ©2017 International Society of Arboriculture nance and cost associated with their care and the overall yard care—“people don’t like to rake.” Some- times their concerns are in relation to safety issues, such as trees falling in storms. Agents agreed that the location of trees on a given property might impact a buyer’s decision to purchase a property. Mature trees that are close to the house raise con- cern among buyers (roots damaging foundations, limbs falling on roofs, significant raking). In gen- eral, buyers prefer trees to be located in such a way that affords them privacy, most likely in the back- yard. Privacy was characterized as being especially important in locations where properties were closer together (most notably in compact developments). In many cases, in compact developments, realtors said having trees would be good to help prevent homebuyers from feeling they were right on top of their neighbors. Surely, it is a mismatch in the findings that realtors report that consumers value trees the most in the exact context where develop- ers say they are hardest to preserve: on small lots. CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY Regarding the first research question on the influ- ence of preserved trees on sale price, research- ers learned from the analyses that the issue of tree preservation and economic value is nuanced. First, efforts to uncover a systematic relationship between tree canopy and house price resulted in a mixed set of results. Perhaps the most consistent finding was the different ways in which canopy impacted house price. The square feet of canopy had a posi- tive impact on price, while the percent of the lot covered by canopy had a negative impact. Although these canopy variables weren’t significant in every regression formulation, when researchers did un- cover significance it was typically in this type of positive (square feet) and negative (percent cover- age) format. At the same time, while this relation- ship held for the study area in aggregate, when dis- aggregated by county and by lot size, results were mixed. As the developers and realtors noted, the home sales market in northeastern Ohio is very localized, and consumer preferences for trees de- pended much on the context of the house sale. Regarding the second and third research ques- tions, both developers and realtors noted the dif- ference in perception among homebuyers about mature, preserved trees on lots versus retaining
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