Selling your home? Clean these 5 things outside first

Buyers decide how they feel about a house in the first few seconds. Before they walk through the door, before they read the listing, they have already formed an opinion from the photo and the drive-up. If the outside looks tired, they walk in expecting the worst.

The good news is that street appeal is one of the cheapest things to fix. You do not need to repaint or re-landscape. A proper exterior clean can make a place look years younger for a fraction of the cost. Here are the five things worth sorting before the photographer turns up.

1. The driveway and paths

This is the first thing anyone sees and the first thing that gives away a neglected home. Oil stains, black spotting and green growth read as run down even if the house is spotless inside. A clean driveway instantly makes the whole property look cared for.

2. The house exterior

Render, cladding, brick and weatherboard all collect a film of grime, cobwebs and mould over the years. You stop noticing it because it happens slowly. A soft wash of the walls brings the colour back and takes that dull, grey layer off. In the listing photos the difference is night and day.

3. The roof

A streaky, mossy roof shows up badly in drone shots and from the street, and buyers read it as an expensive future problem. A soft wash clears the growth and makes the roof look sound, which it usually is. It just needed a clean.

4. The gutters and fascias

Overflowing or grimy gutters are a small detail that switches on a buyer's alarm bells. Clean gutters and fascias look sharp in photos and quietly tell people the home has been looked after.

5. The windows

Clean windows let more light into your interior photos and make the inside feel brighter and bigger. It is a small job that lifts every internal shot, and it matters at the open for inspection too.

Timing it right

Book the clean in before the photographer, not after the sign goes up. You want the place looking its best for the photos, because that is what pulls people to the inspection in the first place. If you are on a tight settlement timeline, a single visit covering driveway, house, roof and windows gets it all done in one go.

We work with homeowners and agents across south-east Melbourne to get properties photo-ready, and we can usually turn a job around quickly when a listing is on the clock.