i would get rid of any weeds, add planting of what you already own to the sloped areas on either side of the steps, add a garden edge and cover the flat areas with gravel to maintain the parking... new owners will have their own ideas

Don’t paint bricks

Weed and prune garden and paving. Niece some plants to other side of step to hide the rough concrete. Don’t get travel in. Declutter and clean including gutters. None of this should cost money unless you need labour to help tidy up garden and maybe some mulch in the new garden area to left of steps. But keep the area small say 2 m wide where concrete edge issue st verandah and curve in to bottom of steps. New owner will want to put their stamp on house to their taste so leave it to them. You just want to get through sale.

Very cute little home, where is it located?
Definitely don’t paint the house, the bricks give it a country cottage charm.

Leave the front driveway shrubbery for privacy if you are on a tight budget, it won’t deter people but it is begging for symmetry next to the stairs. Clear the immediate little plants and add grass to the right side of the stair case. Transplant your agapanthus either all the way along the patio with a simple garden edge and mulch to make it look tidy. Fresh grass makes a huge difference at the entrance. Two white pots with nice lavender at the bottom of the stairs and beside the doors will help draw people inside.

We just painted all the bricks on our house and everyone of those people who told us ‘ don’t paint the bricks!’ Has come back and said ‘ wow! That looks really good!’. So go ahead and paint the bricks! We just used Taubmans professional undercoat which covered the darker bricks beautifully and then their exterior acrylic paint. With your dark windows, lighter walls will work well. As for your landscaping, the comments above are much what I would suggest. Keep the greenery to the right of the stairs, prune and tidy it all, mulch well. The flat area would look much better with fresh grass or gravel. The sloped area on the other side needs planting but use what you have and then gravel or grass the flatter areas. Don’t forget to pressure wash the pathway.

Hi wendyec, I said “ do not paint the bricks” because of the following reasons, not because painted bricks don’t look good. Mylongtermhome has said they have already overcapitalised with changes to the home, and need to sell to relocate. Painting the bricks will look good, but it is not a necessary expense that would be recouped, nor a job that can be done quickly at this time of the year. It needs clear, warmer weather. I think painted bricks are much better than rendering and look wonderful with the correct house design.

Even the realestate person has said to “stop spending money on the home”.

Don’t paint to sell. Power wash the bricks and pavers. As above keep the existing shrubbery to the right. With your free mulch put a thick layer over the sloped and flat ares inc where you currently park. Add symmetry by two large pots panted with something cottagey and in flower for the sale period. Before buying or adding any plants see how well the layer of mulch looks, it may be enough to get you through the sale.

In my experience with buying and selling many properties, you will get a much higher number of prospective buyers actually coming to view the property if it looks fresher, lighter and more appealing in the realestate ads. The cost of paint if you are prepared to do the work yourself is always justifiable as it translates to a quicker sale and usually a better price. If you need to sell asap and cannot wait long enough to paint it or need to pay someone else to do the work, then that’s a different story. I agree that the weather isn’t ideal for painting now although that depends on your location.

Sorry to hear your news having to leave your lovely property, as above I would Karcher to clean paving and brick stairway. Grass turfs are very affordable and quick I would use on left side of stairs looking at the house. It appears that you already have some rocks on that side which I would move to the RH side which appears to have a lot of gravel to make this an Asian inspired rock garden. The house looks lovely as is from the photos so why waste time and money painting. good luck