Nothing kills a house's curb appeal like moss clusters on a roof and weeds sprouting from the gutter.
Ideally you should regularly maintain your roof and prepare it for sale months in advance. The good news is a simple roof and gutter cleaning can go a long way in helping your home look it's best.
The Best Time to Treat Your Roof before Listing
If you are planning on posting your house in the spring, as many do, the best time to treat your roof is in the prior fall or winter while the moss is actively growing. Moss treatments take time to work. By spring your roof should be looking much better and no longer green.
Get Inspection Ready
Being proactive about moss is important, but it's OK to wait on your final gutter cleaning. If you clean the gutters in prep for sale, then some leaves or pine needles fall in during the process, the inspector will still report the gutters should be cleaned. Its a simple service you can come to the table with during negotiation.
Most inspectors will automatically check the "needs to clean gutters box," as well as "moss needs to be removed from the roof." Gutter cleaning is quick and easy so as long as there are not current issues of water overflowing or visible neglect from the ground, it's actually best to wait until the inspector says the gutters need to be cleaned.
Moss is a different story. Inspectors generally say the moss needs to be removed from the roof. Removed is the key word. The new buyers will be expecting nothing less than a 100% free of moss roof. Removing moss from the roof is costly and potentially damaging to the roof.
In the last minute you are left with two options. Pressure washing the roof or hand detailing the moss off with a glorified tooth bush. Both methods are tedious, expensive and may actually be too abrasive for the health of the roof. If before listing, the roof was cleared of the thick and loose moss by a gentle sweeping and treated, the inspector may be looking at some dead or dying moss. By showing them that the roof has recently been treated, it should appease them that the roof moss is under control.