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When preparing your home for a house viewing, you might not consider sprucing up your garden, but this should be a real priority.
Here’s how you can get it right…
Preparing your home for house viewings so you can sell it quickly is part and parcel of selling up. After all, no one wants to put their life savings into something that they can’t see themselves living in.
Your conveyancing solicitor in Norwich, Newcastle, Newquay, or wherever you live, will be able to help you with the practical side of things. Your estate agent will likely advise you on sprucing the interiors up to make them appealing for intended buyers. But what about the garden?
This will be a key element of the buyer’s decision to purchase, so it’s important that you prioritise making it look perfect for their visit. In this article, we’ll be advising you on some top tips for doing just that. Take a look…
Mow the Lawn
It might sound obvious, but we often get so used to how our gardens look that we forget what an outsider might think of it. So, something as simple as a mown lawn could make the difference between someone snapping up your home or not.
With any luck, you’ll already be a dab hand at mowing your lawn, and should have one easily accessible in your shed. But, if you’re not so keen on maintaining your lawn, be sure to borrow one off of a neighbour, family member, or friend to ensure the sale goes through quickly.
Trim Back the Hedges
Similarly, it can make a world of difference if you trim back any hedges surrounding or within your garden. This can stop it from looking too dishevelled, like a maze of overgrown greenery. Simply dig around for your hedge trimmer, or borrow someone else’s, and ensure your hedges are trimmed back and even for the perfect look.
Power Wash the Patios and Decking
When people buy a house, they’ll be thinking about the practical side of living in said property, including where they’ll put their feet up on a sunny day. This is where decking and patio comes in handy, and the prospective buyer will want to see somewhere inviting to pull up their deck chair.
Continuous maintenance and cleaning of these spaces is something most homeowners will do regardless. However, to give it that extra face lift, try power washing it to get rid of the grub and grime. You might be surprised at the sparkling stone or wood hiding away underneath!
Clear Everything Away
When buying a home, people don’t want to be thinking about the lives of the people who live there now; they want to be thinking about their future in the house. Children’s playthings and pet’s toys can get in the way of forming these ideas. So, be sure to clear them all away so the lawn is clutter-free, making it look larger and more of a clean canvas.
Similarly, any broken or dilapidated garden furniture should be seen to. Whether you fix it and clean it up, or remove it from sight, is up to you. Just be sure to make the area look as inviting as possible so the prospective buyer can look forward to forging their own memories here.
Finally, don’t forget about your recycling bins! If you don’t clear them away, at least make sure they’re neat and organised, and are clean of grime and bad smells.
Remove Weeds and Leaves
No one wants to look outside and see a garden overgrown with weeds and leaves. Not only can this look uncared for, it can make the garden seem like a lot of work for prospective buyers. So, be sure to remove anything of this nature with a rake or a broom before viewings.
Ensure All Plants Are Well-Kept
Now that we have all the simple stuff out of the way, what else can be done to your garden to give it a new lease of life? Well, you need to think about giving that neglected flower or vegetable patch a once over before parading it in front of any buyers.
If you’re a green-fingered gnome, you’ll know how to make these areas look good as new. However, if you’ve put up with a barren wasteland this whole time, why not consider purchasing potted plants to fill those spaces with colour throughout the viewing period?
Simply head to the local garden centre, buy some complementary flowers, and pop them in the ground – simple!
Organise the Shed
Most houses will have a shed at the bottom of the garden; somewhere to store all the bits and bobs for making your garden and house shine. That said, the shed itself usually gets neglected and can become a bit of a storage space.
Why not use this opportunity to have a big clear out, so when your moving day comes around, you’ll have much less to pack away? This should then encourage buyers who have a peek inside the shed to envision their own garden and household junk in the space.
Clean Water Features
A water feature can be a gorgeous addition to a garden, that is if it isn’t overwhelmed with slimy, green debris. Although it might be a selling point, the water feature might look like a burden if it’s unkept. So, give it a good scrub prior to the viewing to make it something people can’t refuse.
Let’s Sell Your Home!
As you can see, when it comes to house viewings, there’s more to think about than just the house itself. You also have to think about how your house looks on the outside, including your garden.
These ideas should help you on the way to prepping your garden for the viewings. We wish you luck on your moving house journey!