3 Outdoor Spring-Cleaning Tips to Help Your Home Sell Faster 

When potential buyers come to view your house, the first thing they see is the home’s exterior and the surrounding landscape. Unfortunately, if the outside is disorganized, cluttered, or unkempt, this may affect your chances of receiving an offer from the right buyer simply for what it suggests about the inside. That’s why it’s critical to make a good first impression by taking some time beforehand to prepare your home’s exterior, refresh your outdoor living spaces, and tame your landscape. Optimizing your outdoor space in these ways draws buyers in and makes them excited to see what awaits inside. So, today let’s dive further into 3 outdoor spring-cleaning tips to help your home sell faster so you can get the most out of your listed property.  

?1. Prepare Your Home’s Exterior  
 

Considering it’s the first time this potential buyer is coming to your home, you want to ensure you’ve prepared your home’s exterior and that it is just as thoughtfully put together and organized as the inside. Thankfully, there are many simple things you can do to achieve a clean, streamlined exterior look. Start by cleaning the outer surfaces, including your windows, garage door, and pressure washing your siding (if applicable). Check your patio and window screens as you do this, fixing any small holes as needed. Next, make sure that any noticeable spots needing some paint are touched up with plenty of time to dry before their arrival. Then, as you walk the perimeter of your home, this is the perfect time to double-check that all your exterior lights are working and replace any that have died. You’ll also want to clear off and clean your walkways for easy entry access, and once again, depending on what your walkway looks like, that could mean sweeping, scrubbing, or pressure washing. 

One thing that many people often forget when they’re spring-cleaning their home and preparing it for sale is to clean out their rain gutters! Although it may not be something the buyer immediately notices, you don’t want clogged rain gutters that could cause structural or drainage issues during the selling process. So, grab a ladder and a pair of gloves and clear away the debris in your rain gutters before it becomes a larger issue. Lastly, consider the unique factors of your home and think about ways you can add some vibrancy to its exterior. Maybe it’s planting some flowers in those planter boxes you never used or repainting your mailbox – remember, your goal is to make the exterior as inviting as possible to draw potential buyers in! 

2. Refresh Your Outdoor Living Spaces 
 

The next spring-cleaning tip is to refresh your outdoor living spaces to make them more attractive for potential buyers and create a space they could envision themselves living in. Although not all homes come with outdoor living spaces, many do, which means it’s an important factor to consider when staging the outside of your home for a viewing. Plus, having livable outdoor space adds more useable square footage to the house, which is advantageous to you during the selling process. So, to begin, sweep your porch to get rid of dust and then, depending on the materials, either scrub or pressure wash it to get the remaining built-up grime off. Now you can bring your porch furniture out of storage, clean them off, and set them up. If you don’t already have porch furniture, consider investing in an inexpensive set or borrowing from a friend so you can stage your home in a way that shows each space is optimized for living.

As you do this, you’ll also want to clean and maintain your BBQ area. Check for anything that needs to be fixed, replaced, or updated, because there’s nothing worse than a potential buyer pointing out these small details you’ve overlooked or neglected. If you have a firepit, clear out the old ash and tidy around the area to increase visual appeal – maybe even chop and pile some wood to go the extra mile. Lastly, an extremely inexpensive yet effective way to refresh your outdoor living space is to consider adding mood lighting above the seating areas. Depending on your setup, you might have to get creative with hanging them decoratively, but this is a pro-tip to help your potential buyers more easily envision themselves relaxing in this space after a long day. With every decision you make regarding your outdoor living space, remember that the goal is to create a welcoming, inviting, and cozy environment to enhance buyer excitement and help sell your home faster. 

3. Tame Your Landscape 
 

So, you’ve prepared your home’s exterior and thoughtfully cleaned and arranged your outdoor living space… meaning you’re done, right? Well, unfortunately, the last major outdoor spring-cleaning tip you need to tackle to help sell your home faster is taming your landscape. Of course, this will look different for each home, but, in general, you will want to ensure your lawn is mowed regularly, your trees are properly pruned, and you’ve addressed any unsightly weeds growing in places they shouldn’t be. Other than this, if you have a garden, you’ll want to spruce up your garden beds, remove weeds or other debris from the area, and check how your sprinkler system is working (if applicable). 

Something that many homes have that requires regular attention and maintenance is fencing. You should double-check that your fencing is intact, not in need of any repairs, and has been recently painted or treated to give it a fresh feel. Don’t underestimate the power of a renewed fence! Most potential buyers aren’t looking to do this type of work for themselves upon possession, meaning it can be an easy task on your end that significantly increases the chances of selling your home. Plus, a secured fence is a huge selling point for buyers with children or even animals like dogs. Lastly, if you’ve worked through all these tips but there is still random clutter or debris lying around, you either need to throw it out or find a place to safely store the items away from the sight and mind of your potential buyers. Although it can be challenging, try to now see your home for the first time again. Anything that distracts your eye or draws you out of how beautiful your home is needs to go immediately to help you sell your home more efficiently. 

Final Thoughts 
 

Overall, being deliberate about how you stage the outside of your home, including the landscape, outdoor living spaces, and overall visual appeal of the home’s exterior, is critical to helping you sell your home to the right buyer faster. Remember, your buyer wants to envision themselves comfortably living in your home, and it’s distracting if there are things to be fixed, debris, or just general disorganization going on. Although some people are looking for a fixer-upper, many people would prefer to not have to deal with these small tasks immediately upon purchasing a house. So, ultimately, these basic maintenance tips will help boost curb appeal, leave buyers with an excellent first impression of your home, and hopefully stimulate some offers to help sell your home faster! 

If you still require further guidance regarding the staging and selling process of your home, or if you’re looking for an experienced realtor in the Golden Horseshoe region to represent you as a buyer or seller in your next home transaction, be sure to check out my featured listings and do not hesitate to reach out to me directly!