Common Garden Mistakes When Selling a Home

There are five common mistakes that prevent houses from making maximum impact with potential buyers.

1. Not having a clear front entrance is the number one problem as it instantly puts potential buyers into a state of confusion not knowing where to look or how to appraise the property. You really need to create a welcoming entrance with an obvious front door. Painting the door in a fresh shade can help it to stand out but also try potting something colourful or architecturally shaped to draw the eye to the door. If the door is at the side of the property make sure there is a clear pathway showing the direction to the door.

2. It's a common misconception that by not having any plants or life in the garden it will feel bigger. It simply doesn't. By softening the visual lines that outline the boundaries of the garden the eye no longer can make out the perimeter of the space so it looks further afield - making it feel larger.

3. Fixing obvious safety hazards such as rotting timbers in pergolas and re laying lifting paving stones may seem like an expensive exercise especially when you are trying to sell the house but I think it better to invest some money in making the property more saleable so it moves quicker rather than dragging out the selling process accumulating additional marketing fees and risking the possibility that the property won't sell.

4. Garden maintenance is an on going job and just because you did a big tidy up at the beginning of your sales campaign doesn't mean you can forget about it all together. Remember to keep weeds away from the key focal areas, keep pathways swept and windows clean.

5. A flaking paint job can make a whole house look uncared for and it's so easy to fix. If you haven't looked after the paintwork of your house, potential buyers will read into that and think that you also haven't cared for the rest of your home. Paint is an affordable and instant way to update your house and by scraping off the old paint and applying a fresh coat or two, a house can be instantly modernised.

By Charlie Albone is a landscape designer and presenter on The Lifestyle Channel's Selling Houses Australia.

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