In the midst of the highly-anticipated selling season, a Mid North Coast expert has offered tips for helping sellers prepare their property’s exterior for market.

TAFE NSW Agriculture and Horticulture Head teacher, Geoffrey Turner, has offered the following suggestions for preparing a property to be more appealing to prospective buyers:

• Address lawn areas that need attention: You can aerate your lawn, fertilise it and water it with recycled water, which will make a big difference to growth.
• Keep tabs on current trends: Look at current trends and how some people are now looking more towards succulent plants that are low maintenance and require a low amount of water. They’re quite trendy at the moment.
• Use plants to solve problem areas: Fix your shortfalls such as overlooking neighbours or busy roads by planting-out your gardens with trees or shrubbery that will grow to provide a screen and privacy.
• Re-mulch the garden: Adding new mulch is aesthetically pleasing and good for retaining moisture in the soil during drought periods.
• Keep it modern: Are plants getting old and woody? It might be a good idea to replant to suit the style of this time and period to make things more appealing.
• Tidy up: Remove any unwanted shrubbery and trees that might be hiding features of the property.

Local real-estate agent from McGrath Estate Agents Nathan Owen, said professional landscaping will add value to any property.

“Research indicates that good landscaping can add around 5 per cent to the value of a property and it doesn’t take a lot of work or money to achieve this.”

Geoffrey said “When watering your garden, use recycled water and keep in mind with summer fast approaching and no significant rain in sight, it’s more important than ever that everyone helps preserve our most precious resource no matter where you live, in Bondi or Broken Hill, Bega or Boorowa.”

Various TAFE NSW courses can also be studied online, when and where it suits students, via TAFE Digital. For more detail on TAFE NSW courses, face-to-face or online, visit www.tafensw.com.au or call 131 601.

Media contact: Sarah Lievore, TAFE NSW Media Officer, sarah.lievore1@tafensw.edu.au