What to fix before you list this spring

Spring is listing season in Christchurch. The gardens wake up, the light comes back, and the buyers who've spent winter browsing online start booking viewings. So if you're thinking of selling, where should you actually spend your prep time — and where is it money wasted?

Spend where it shows

• Tidy the street appeal: mow, edge, mulch the gardens. First impressions happen from the car.
• Fix the obvious niggles: sticking doors, cracked panes, dripping taps. Buyers read them as 'the rest isn't looked after either'.
• Freshen the paint: a light, neutral top-up in the high-traffic rooms costs little and lifts everything.
• Get a professional clean — windows especially. You'd be surprised how much light it lets back in.

What you can skip

Don't renovate to sell. A brand-new kitchen or bathroom almost never returns its cost at sale time — the buyer either wanted to do it their way, or they're not paying a premium for yours. Put that money into pricing the home sharply instead. The right number will out-earn any renovation every time.

Buyers don't pay for your renovation. They pay for the home's potential — and for the feeling that it's been loved.