SELLING YOUR HOME IN WINTER CHECKLIST

Winter, it’s Cold, it’s Wet, and in the Dandenong Ranges, it’s Beautiful

If you intend selling your home in winter then there are a few jobs worth doing before you go on the market. 

Winter is a good time to sell as you have less competition plus buyers left over from Autumn who are keen to buy. 

GUTTERS, DOWNPIPES, DRAINAGE

Clean out your gutters, particularly if you are on tanks. 

It has been a dry 2025 so far and many of us have tanks that are running on empty. 

If you are not on tanks, then cleaning your gutters out of the last of the autumn leaves will help prevent your gutters overflowing when it does rain. 

Check that your gutters and downpipes are in good order.

Again, if you are on tanks then you want the water to go into your tanks and not onto the ground. If you are not on tanks then equally, you don’t want the water pooling at the base of any timber support posts. 

Is water pooling where it shouldn’t? 

Check under your house and around your house. How are your drains coping?

Is it wet under your house? If so, why is it happening? Check it out and fix it. 

HEATING

Is your heating working?

Wood fire chimneys should be cleaned out before lighting, if you have ducted heating is it working properly? Are your ducts in good order?  Animals love to get into ductwork and your heat could be blowing underneath your house rather than through it. 

Do you have a fireguard?

https://news.cfa.vic.gov.au/news/prioritise-cleaning-your-chimneys-this-winter

LIGHTING

Our days are shorter in Winter and if you have a late buyers inspection or open home then in the Dandenong Ranges in winter you may need both internal and external lights on. 

If buyers are parking on the street then please ensure they can make it safely to your front door. 

Once inside, do you have any really dark spots where your overhead lights don’t reach, or perhaps your overhead lights resemble the MCG and blind you when you walk in the room. 

Mood lighting creates a warmth, becoming an encouragement to a buyer to linger. A cosy nook with a reading light, a side table with a book or magazine, you are setting the scene, the buyer can imagine themselves there.

DAMP AND MOULD

Two words we really try to avoid. Hills houses can quickly become damp and with poor ventilation, mould is likely. 

Open the windows on fresh, sunny days, make sure your exhaust fans are working, and run the heating even for a short time each day to remove the cold that seeps easily into homes. 

Mould has become a much bigger problem and buyers are more aware of possible health risks posed by both damp and mould. They don’t want a home where they can see potentially expensive problems that need fixing. 

MUD

Is everywhere in Olinda at the moment. If buyers are going to be walking around outside then place a doormat so they can wipe their feed before tracking mud into your freshly cleaned home. A doormat in front of every external door is a good idea, they don’t need to be expensive, just effective. 

RUGS, THROWS, AND CUSHIONS

Winter in the Dandenong Ranges is wonderful to stay indoors, in front of a fire, wrapped up cosily in a throw rug, even better to recline on thick cushions to have a snooze. If you buy them in on trend colours then they will lift your rooms, making them welcoming. Again, they don’t need to be expensive. 

Checking these things out before you go onto the market, testing your heating, lights, and drainage, means you will knock potential problems on the head.

Take a read of an earlier blog from 2022 on winter in the Dandenong Ranges