Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2014 · 142 posts · 44 votes
I am about to sign a contract on a home if all goes as planned and the yard front and back is complete dirt. What do I do? Spend the money on laying sod in November? If not I feel it will look terrible. It is a lower priced home ARV will be around $100,000, but I still feel it won't bring what it needs to without a good yard. Any suggestions?
I've had pretty good success with winter rye. (I'm not sure how it does in Texas). Plant it as soon as you get the property and make sure it gets some water. (I put some out in the middle of a drought and it didn't start to come up for 6 weeks because it didn't get much water). It will probably take 5 or 6 weeks to look pretty good. It doesn't grow very fast so it makes mowing easy, but it will die when it gets hot.
I've had pretty good success with winter rye. (I'm not sure how it does in Texas). Plant it as soon as you get the property and make sure it gets some water. (I put some out in the middle of a drought and it didn't start to come up for 6 weeks because it didn't get much water). It will probably take 5 or 6 weeks to look pretty good. It doesn't grow very fast so it makes mowing easy, but it will die when it gets hot.
Professional · Wichita Falls, TX · Member since 2012 · 124 posts · 70 votes
11y
If you will be rehabbing, then you have time to seed and grow. I know there are watering restrictions, but you can always buy a little water. $50 should get you several hundred gallons. Do as Mark suggested and plant something winter hardy. Just make sure your contractors aren't trampling the yard!
Bedford, NH · Member since 2012 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
11y
Not to detract from the advice about actually sowing a lawn, but to answer your original question, I have put down sod at the end of October, in New Hampshire, and it was perfect in the spring. So it is hard for me to imagine November would be a problem in Texas.
Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2014 · 142 posts · 44 votes
11y
Well, not to knock females at all. But I am all girl when it comes to GRASS and know nothing. I should sign the contract today if all goes well and it will close in about a week as I am all cash. The house needs light rehab so I would put it on the market in 3-5 weeks hopefully. So with that time frame I didn't know what would be best. The homeowner has like 4 dogs in the back and it is solid dirt, bad deal. The front almost looks the same and the yards surrounding look good which makes the home look even worse curb appeal wise. So I was needing the least expensive but best way to make it look good.
Investor · Boyd, TX · Member since 2014 · 688 posts · 467 votes
11y
This is what I am doing on my two buy and hold properties where the yards were total dirt from leveling. The day we were scheduled for some rain (rare) I hand seeded the yards heavy with Annual Ryegrass. It is $25-$35 a 50 lb bag at Tractor Supply, Home Depot, or feed stores. This came up within a week and is now about an inch tall and looking good. This really will only last through the winter since yards are mown and it can't reseed. I also mix Bermuda grass seed in with the ryegrass and will do another hand seeding of Bermuda in the spring. Once the Bermuda takes off it will form a good sod and last for years. If you have a shaded lawn then you will need to look at St Augustine or similar which I am not too familiar with.