You’re getting ready to put your home on the market, and probably have a laundry list of things to do. Clean the house, put excess furniture in storage, empty out the kids’ rooms, and generally make the house look more pleasing.

But have you given much thought to your outdoor spaces? You can quickly improve your outdoor area for a quick sale over just one weekend of work, helping bump up your curb appeal and getting more people to stop by and check out the home you’re listing.

Get an Honest Opinion

Make a short list of people whose opinion you trust. This might include your agent or broker, a few friends, and maybe some family. Ask them to come by and visit the house. Give them a notebook and have them write down the things that immediately stand out to them as being negative – the things that they see and think, “Nope – I do not like this at all.” Put those lists together and see where there is overlap – did all of your feedback say they hated the colour of your front door? The row of hedges along the driveway? The miss-matched lawn furniture? Take their opinions into account – especially if the majority rules.

Bring in Some Foliage

Grab some pretty pots and fill them with low-maintenance species of plants. You’ll want to put these around your front steps, back deck, maybe even around your mailbox. Plants – especially those in bloom – help make a house look lived-in and loved, exactly what you’re going for in helping your home sell. Ornamental grasses are a great choice for looking pretty and needing little attention, like Lomandra or New Zealand flax. Camellias produce big beautiful flowers while oleanders give you a range of colour options to choose from.

Brighten Up the Trim

Give a close look at your shutters, front door, windows, and eaves. Is the paint peeling and chipped? Is it starting to fade, or immensely dirty? There are solutions for all of these! While potential homebuyers may not notice these issues from afar, they’ll certainly notice once they get up close and personal with your house. If your paint is chipping and peeling away, scrape it off and take this opportunity to put on some new paint. Maybe even a modern new colour that will help brighten up your house and add some character to it. If the paint is only dirty, look into renting a pressure washer and cleaning it off (be careful to only use the lowest setting though; pressure washers are great tools from removing paint, and you don’t want to do that if the paint is in good condition).

De-Clutter Your Yard

Have you got loads of lawn furniture strewn all over the place? Un-housed gardening tools that are just lying around? How about kid’s toys, dog toys, unfurled hoses, or holiday decorations? These are all things that can – and likely will – turn any potential buyer off to a property. It turns into a “hard to see the forest for the trees” issue when you’re trying to admire a house, but get distracted by the clutter lying around in the yard. Take a few hours to tidy up, put things away, and get your lawn looking as pretty as it can.

Perk Up your Mailbox

If you have a wooden mailbox, take the time to give it a new stain or a fresh coat of paint. Wipe down the metal, and maybe even give it a shine. If your post numbers are rusty, dingy, or falling apart, head down to the hardware store and pick up a few new ones. You might even pick up a few pots of plants to put in the ground around the post while you’re at it. A mailbox is right at the front of the house, one of the first things that buyers get a really good look at as they pull into your driveway. You want it to look good, and make potential buyers see it as their future mailbox.