Getting your Christchurch property ready to sell: the outdoor checklist

Buyers decide before they get out of the car

Agents will tell you the same thing: plenty of buyers form an opinion of a property between parking and reaching the front door. An overgrown berm, a green driveway and a tired fence quietly signal "this place has been neglected", and buyers then go looking for what else was neglected. Tidy outdoor space does the opposite, and it costs a fraction of what a kitchen does.

Do it in this order

Sequence matters, because some jobs make a mess of the ones before them:

• Clear and cut back first. Rubbish, dead plants, overgrown corners. A yard cleanup gets everything off the property so you can see what you are actually working with.
• Hard surfaces next. Waterblasting the drive, paths and patio throws grime everywhere, so it comes before anything gets planted or painted.
• Then cladding and roof. A house wash and, if the roof is green, a moss treatment.
• Gardens and lawn last. Mow, edge, weed and mulch right before photos so it peaks at the right moment.

Best value per dollar

If the budget is tight, spend it here. Waterblasting a driveway transforms the entry for very little. Fresh mulch on tired beds is the cheapest instant tidy going. Edging the lawn properly makes an average lawn look maintained. Clearing the gutter line stops a buyer's building inspector writing something you would rather they did not write.

The deadline is the photographer, not the open home

This is the mistake people make. Listing photos are shot early, they go online, and they carry the property for the whole campaign. Book outdoor work so everything peaks the week the photos are taken, not the week of the first open home. Lawns want cutting a day or two before, not the morning of, so the cut lines have settled.

Selling and want it all handled in one go? Andy does pre-sale tidy-ups across Christchurch: yard cleanups, waterblasting and property cleaning. Free quotes: call or text 027 787 3246.

Related briefings

• When's the best time to waterblast in Christchurch?
• End of tenancy: the outdoor jobs that cost tenants their bond
• When to stain a deck in Christchurch, and when not to

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