Most sellers spend five minutes tidying the van and taking photos on their phone. The buyers who walk away from their inspection are rarely thinking "nice van, wrong price" — they're thinking "something doesn't feel right here." That feeling almost always comes from small, fixable things the seller never noticed because they'd stopped seeing them.

This checklist covers what to actually do before your van goes to market, with the same level of detail a buyer will bring when they show up to inspect it.

This consistently catches sellers off guard. Caravan tyres look fine right up until they're not, because the deterioration that matters happens inside the rubber, not on the surface. A tyre can have perfectly good tread depth and still be dangerous.

The date code is on the sidewall — look for the DOT stamp and find the last four digits. The first two are the week of manufacture, the last two the year. So "1819" means the 18th week of 2019. Industry professionals generally recommend replacing caravan tyres in the 5–7 year window, with 10 years as an absolute maximum regardless of condition. Caravans stored outdoors age faster due to UV exposure and heat, and the tyres on a van that sits unused for long periods often deteriorate faster than those on a van that travels regularly — the rubber hardens and the bond between rubber and steel belts weakens even when it's just sitting still.

Check the spare too. A spare mounted on the rear of a caravan and exposed to sun can age even faster than the fitted tyres.

Water damage is the single most value-destructive issue in the caravan market. Buyers are increasingly aware of it and many arrive with a specific inspection process. If there's water ingress — current or historical — they will likely find it.

Check every corner of the roof, all window seals, the area around the roof vents, bathroom walls, and any cabinetry near external walls. Look for soft spots in the walls (press firmly — solid is good, any give is a red flag), discolouration on ceilings or upper walls, swollen or warped cabinetry, and a musty smell that lingers after airing.

If you find anything, you have two options: repair it properly and document the repair, or price it in and disclose it upfront. What you cannot do — ethically or practically — is ignore it and hope the buyer misses it. The buyers who miss it during inspection sometimes discover it six months later and come back with legal questions.

Run through every electrical and gas appliance before listing day, not on the morning of an inspection. Fridge, stove, oven, microwave, air conditioning, diesel heater, hot water system, all lights including exterior, every power outlet, the awning motor if it has one, and the TV aerial if it's included.

Things that stop working during an inspection — appliances that should work but don't — create immediate doubt about what else might be wrong. Fix issues before listing or adjust your price and disclose them. Don't discover them with the buyer standing next to you.

Buyers build a mental picture during an inspection. Every loose handle, cracked trim panel, broken latch, and torn flyscreen adds to a subconscious tally that either builds or erodes confidence. None of these individually lose you a sale. Together, they create an impression of a van that hasn't been looked after — which then affects both the offer price and the buyer's willingness to proceed at all.

Spend a weekend doing a walk-through specifically to find these minor issues. Fix anything that takes less than an hour or costs less than $50. The return on that investment is disproportionate.

Not a quick wipe-down — a proper clean. Exterior wash including the roof and awning, all windows inside and out, every surface inside including the backs of cupboards and under the bed. Remove every personal item. A van full of someone else's belongings looks smaller and makes it harder for a buyer to mentally move in.

Pay specific attention to the bathroom and kitchen. These are the areas buyers scrutinise most closely after the roof and walls. Grout, taps, the inside of the fridge — these tell a story about how the rest of the van has been maintained.

Having documentation ready is a small thing that creates a noticeably positive impression. Buyers who are serious will ask about service history, appliance manuals, and purchase records. Being able to produce them immediately signals that you're an organised seller who has looked after the van.

Useful documents to have on hand: original purchase receipt, any service or maintenance records, appliance manuals, warranty cards, weight certificates (if you have them), and registration papers.

The most common friction point in a caravan sale isn't finding a buyer — it's the handover going wrong because one party didn't understand their paperwork obligations.

In NSW, you need to submit a Notice of Disposal through Service NSW within 14 days of the sale. This protects you — without it, you remain potentially liable for fines, toll notices, or other offences that occur after the van has changed hands. The process for transferring a caravan in NSW follows the same steps as any registered vehicle transfer. Facebook Marketplace You'll need the buyer's full name, address, and licence number, plus the sale amount. Do it the same day as handover.

If the van is unregistered, the buyer takes responsibility for re-registering it — but document the unregistered sale clearly and keep a copy of everything.

A van that's hard to access, poorly lit, or crammed into a tight storage space is harder to sell. Before inspections start, make sure the van is positioned so a buyer can walk all the way around it and open all the external hatches and doors without obstruction.

Have everything switched on before they arrive: fridge running cold, awning extended if possible, lights on inside so the space feels lived-in rather than dark. Have gas bottles connected. Buyers who arrive to a van that's ready to demonstrate rather than one they have to prompt you to turn things on in are buyers who feel more at ease.

Decide your minimum acceptable price before your first enquiry arrives — not during it. When a buyer makes an offer, you need to be able to respond from a position of clarity, not pressure. Know your ideal price, your realistic price, and your walk-away number, and stick to them.

It also helps to have a short, honest answer ready for the questions every buyer asks: how long you've owned it, how far it's travelled, what if anything has been repaired, and why you're selling. Buyers who feel like they're getting straight answers are buyers who trust the seller — and that trust is what turns an inspection into a sale.

Every item on this checklist points toward the same thing: a buyer who shows up to your inspection should be able to find nothing wrong that you haven't already told them about. Not because you've hidden anything, but because you've done the work to know your own van properly before you put it on the market.

Vans that sell quickly aren't always the best-spec or cheapest. They're almost always the ones where the seller has made it easy for a buyer to say yes.

At Boondock, we help caravan and RV owners across Newcastle and the Hunter prepare and sell their vans without the stress of managing the process themselves. If you're getting ready to sell and want to talk through where your van sits in the current market, we're happy to have that conversation.