Caravan Guides

How to Prepare Your Caravan for Sale

6 min read

The jobs that make a real difference to your figure, and the spending that never pays for itself.

Clean it as if you were moving out

This is the highest-return hour you will spend. Wash and dry the outside, including the roof if you can reach it safely, clean the windows inside and out, empty every locker, vacuum under the bed boxes, wipe out the fridge and leave it open, and scrub the washroom. Strip and wash removable covers. A clean caravan photographs better, smells better and signals to any buyer that it has been looked after — which is exactly the impression that supports a price.

Fix the cheap, obvious annoyances

Blown bulbs, sticking blinds, loose catches, a missing locker key, a flat leisure battery, perished wiper blades and a hitch cover that has gone brittle are all quick and inexpensive. Each one is a small doubt in a buyer's mind, and doubts get priced in. Leave the big jobs alone: replacing an awning, reupholstering, respraying panels or fitting a new motor mover rarely returns what you spend when you sell.

Get the paperwork into one folder

Proof of ownership — the CRiS registration document or your original invoice — service records, habitation service certificates with damp readings, receipts for repairs and upgrades, warranty documents, appliance handbooks and any outstanding finance details. A seller who can answer questions with documents in hand gets a firmer figure faster, because there is less risk for the buyer to price in.

Take ten photographs that do the work for you

Daylight, no direct glare, caravan clean and the awning down. One shot from each of the four corners outside, the roof if it is safe, the interior from both ends, the kitchen, the washroom, the made-up beds, the serial or chassis plate, and a clear close-up of any damage. Good photographs mean an accurate valuation without a wasted visit, and they save you answering the same questions to every enquirer.

Be straight about condition, especially damp

Tell us about a known damp reading, a soft floor panel, a leaking rooflight, a fridge that has stopped working or a repair done at home. None of it stops a sale. What it does is let us give you a figure that stands up when the caravan is inspected on collection day, rather than one that has to drop. Accuracy up front is the single biggest thing within your control.

Sort the practical details before collection day

Empty the toilet cassette and water tanks, remove all your personal belongings, gather every key including hitch and wheel locks, check the caravan can be moved or towed off where it sits, and if it is in storage give the site written authority to release it. Notify CRiS after the sale, cancel insurance and storage, and keep your signed paperwork and payment confirmation.

Want a figure for your own caravan?

A free valuation visit costs nothing and commits you to nothing. We come to the vehicle wherever it is kept, anywhere in the UK, and explain how the figure is reached.

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