Auckland · 2026 Edition

Selling Your House: What to Fix Before You List and What to Disclose (NZ 2026)

Before you list, fix the small things every buyer’s inspector will find, get a price on the bigger ones before you decide what to do, and disclose what you leave. A priced list lets you choose between fixing, reducing the price or simply telling buyers the cost.

Most sellers ask us the same thing: “What should I fix before I sell?” The honest answer is less than you think, as long as you know what the rest would cost. This checklist sorts a house into three lists and shows how to get the middle one priced before you spend a dollar.

The short answer

	List 1: fix	List 2: price and decide	List 3: disclose and leave
What goes on it	Small, cheap faults a buyer’s inspector will write down	Wet areas, cladding, roof, structure	Known issues you have chosen not to fix, and dated but working rooms
What to do	Fix them before the photos	Get a price range on each item, then choose	Tell your agent and lawyer, and have the price ready for buyers
Who does the work	You, a handyman or one trade	A builder, if you go ahead	Nobody

For each item on the middle list you can fix it, take it off the price, or leave it and give buyers the cost. You cannot weigh those up without the number.

Why a pre-sale report helps

A pre-sale building report is an inspection you pay for before you list. A buyer’s inspector will go through the house anyway. If you see the list first, you make the decisions in your own time.

Two things to know before you order one:

• It lists problems, not prices. An inspector tells you what is wrong.
• What it finds becomes something you know. You cannot un-read a report. Talk to your agent and lawyer about how its findings are shared with buyers. We cover this under what you must tell buyers.

We do not do building inspections. Use an independent inspector for the report, then bring the report to a builder for the prices.

List 1: usually worth fixing

These are the small faults that fill the pages of a building report and make a sound house read like a neglected one.

• Dripping taps, running toilets and slow drains.
• Cracked window panes, sticking doors and windows, loose handles and latches.
• Holes and dents in walls, and tired paint in the rooms buyers see first.
• Mouldy or missing silicone and cracked grout around showers, baths and basins.
• Blocked or leaking gutters and downpipes.
• Loose deck boards, steps and handrails.
• Blown light bulbs, and extractor fans that do not run.
• A house wash, clean windows, swept paths and a tidy section.
• The paperwork: consent and compliance documents for any changes made to the house.

Settled.govt.nz, the government’s home buying and selling guide, gives much the same advice. It says low-cost cleaning, touch-ups and repairs can make a big difference, and that leaks, damaged retaining walls and broken drains should be fixed: see preparing your property for sale.

List 2: price it first

These are the items where a guess can be badly wrong in either direction. Do not start the work, and do not drop your price, until someone has put a range on each one.

Item	What we have published	Where the figure comes from
A tired or leaking bathroom	A like-for-like refresh is $17,000–$27,000. A full renovation runs $27,000–$37,000 for an ensuite or main bathroom.	Bathroom renovation costs Auckland
Cladding leaking at one or two places	A targeted repair is usually $15,000–$60,000. A weathertightness investigation to find out costs $2,500–$5,000.	Recladding warning signs
Cladding failing on one wall or one side	A partial reclad is usually $40,000–$120,000.	The same guide
Cladding failing across the house	A full reclad is about $166,000–$466,000 for most homes, depending on house size, storeys and cladding.	Plaster homes: repair, reclad or sell?
A roof at the end of its life	Replacement: concrete tiles $15,000–$25,000, metal $18,000–$30,000, membrane $20,000–$35,000 or more.	Auckland renovation costs 2026
Exterior paint that has gone too long	$10,000–$40,000, depending on how much preparation the house needs.	The same guide
Structure: piles, floor movement, framing	No published range. It depends on the house.	A Price Check gives the range for your house
Old wiring or old plumbing	No published range. It depends on the house.	A Price Check gives the range for your house

The bathroom and full reclad ranges are the ones our Instant Estimate gives, and they include GST. The others are printed in our Auckland cost guides, which do not state GST. All of them are a starting point, not a price for your house.

Should you fix a list 2 item? Often not. Settled.govt.nz tells sellers to think carefully about major renovations, because you may not get your money back on big jobs such as modernising a kitchen or bathroom before selling. We agree, and we will not tell you a repair adds a set amount to your sale price. Ask your agent or a registered valuer what a repair may do to the price. Our part is telling you what it costs.

List 3: disclose and leave

Some things are better left for the next owner:

• A dated kitchen or bathroom that works. It is a matter of taste, and a new owner may pull out whatever you put in.
• A big list 2 item you have priced and chosen not to do.

What moves an item from list 2 to list 3 is a decision, not silence. Tell your agent, and have the price range ready for buyers who ask.

What you must tell buyers

This section is general information from official sources, not legal advice. Your lawyer and your agent are the right people for your sale.

If you sell through an agent. Settled.govt.nz says your agent is legally obliged to share material information about the property with prospective buyers, including any known issues, and that vendors also have obligations under standard sale and purchase agreements. See selling with an agent.

The Real Estate Authority (REA), which regulates agents, sets out the rule in its principles of disclosure. An agent does not have to go looking for hidden defects, but “must disclose known defects to a customer” (rule 10.7 of the agents’ Code of Conduct). The same guidance says:

• the agent should talk to you first and agree what will be shared and how;
• a problem does not have to appear in the marketing or be announced at open homes, but buyers should have the information before an offer is drawn up;
• if you do not agree to a problem being disclosed, the agent may have to walk away from the listing.

Earlier reports count. REA’s guidance on weathertightness issues describes a Tribunal case in which an agent was found at fault for not telling buyers about an earlier building report that had found weathertightness problems, even though a later report was clear. Where a house has been repaired, the same page tells agents to ask for evidence of the work.

If you sell privately. Settled.govt.nz says you need to share all relevant information with buyers. Its examples are weathertightness issues, boundary issues, unconsented alterations and the impact of proposed developments. It warns that knowingly failing to disclose may put you in breach of your agreement with the buyer, so the sale could fall over or the buyer could seek compensation in court. See selling privately.

How to get your list priced

Option	What you get	Cost incl GST	How long
Instant Estimate	One ballpark range for a whole project. It does not price a report item by item.	Free	Online, in minutes
Building Report Price Check	Every item in your report priced as a low–high range, marked urgent, soon or cosmetic, with the trade it needs. For a seller it is written as fix before listing, or disclose.	$199 Standard · $299 Next working day	2 NZ working days, or the next working day
Seller site visit	We look at the items on site with your report.	$199. Free when the fix list is clearly $10,000 or more and you want us to do the work.	By appointment

The Building Report Price Check needs a building report to work from. It also notes what the report could not see and ends with one summary page. The clock starts when your report is received and confirmed. The next-working-day option is limited to one per NZ day, subject to availability.

It is a desktop study priced by a Master Builder with a quantity surveyor (QS, the person who measures and costs building work), using prices from our own Auckland jobs. It is not a quote and not a building inspection. We are not an independent valuer or an independent QS.

No report yet? The free Instant Estimate gives a ballpark for one whole project, such as a bathroom. For the full list, get the inspection first. All our reports are on the cost planning reports page.

On the fee: “If AVR does the work within 12 months, your report fee comes off the contract. It counts only against a signed contract and is never refunded as cash.”

Timing before the listing date

1. Get the report first. Order it before you commit to a listing date.
2. Price the list. Allow 2 NZ working days for a Standard Price Check, or use the next-working-day option if the date is close.
3. Decide with your agent. Sort each priced item into fix, reduce or disclose.
4. Do list 1. Book the trades early.
5. Ask for a programme on anything bigger. Wet-area and cladding work needs several trades in sequence. Get the builder’s programme in writing before you fix a listing date around it.

If the bigger work will not fit, that is an answer too. The item moves to list 3, with its price.

Related: Plaster homes: repair, reclad or sell? · Recladding warning signs · Auckland renovation costs 2026 · What building report repairs cost · Inspection, price check or site visit?

Selling and repairs FAQs

It is usually worth it if the house is older, has plaster cladding or has not been inspected for years. You see the list before buyers do. Remember that what the report finds is then known to you, so talk to your agent about how it is shared.

Known defects need to be shared with buyers. REA’s rules require an agent to disclose known defects, and settled.govt.nz says private sellers need to share all relevant information and may be in breach of their agreement if they knowingly do not. Ask your lawyer how this applies to your sale.

It depends on the size of the job, and you cannot judge that without a price. Small faults are nearly always worth fixing. For large items, settled.govt.nz warns you may not get your money back, so price the work and ask your agent or a valuer before you commit.

Small repairs are quick. Bathrooms, roofs and cladding take much longer because several trades follow one another. Ask the builder for a written programme before you set a listing date.

A Building Report Price Check costs $199 including GST, or $299 for the next working day. A seller site visit is $199, and it is free when the fix list is clearly $10,000 or more and you want us to do the work. The online Instant Estimate is free.

Yes. We are a design-and-build renovation company and a Registered Master Builder, and residential contracts of $30,000 or more carry the 10-Year Master Build Guarantee. For a short list of small jobs, the Price Check names the trade each item needs so you can go straight to that trade.

It comes off the contract if we do the work. “If AVR does the work within 12 months, your report fee comes off the contract. It counts only against a signed contract and is never refunded as cash.”