To those selling in these difficult times Part Deux. AKA sellers support network!

sonastin

Well I exchanged contracts with my buyer this morning so it is pretty much confirmed I have to be out by next thursday :j

Unfortunately my solicitor can't let me exchange on my purchase at the moment because there are still issues with it. He asked for the building regs certificates for the work that had been done (good). Some certs were available (good). One final sign-off was missing (not good but I can arrange it so we can live with that). But in doing this, the council have realised that there was never a building regs plan submitted for the extension to the garage (needed one in this case) let alone approval or final sign off. Seems like the council are getting pretty twitchy and are looking to carry out whatever enforcement is open to them. :eek:

I'm leaving it in the hands of my solicitor but I just don't know what can be done here. On the one hand, the vendors have repossessed an unsellable property so its in their interests to agree to whatever needs doing to put it in a position where I can sell it. They have already agreed to pay for the council's regularisation application costs. But on the other hand, I am pretty sure that the council aren't going to approve it in the state it is currently in. I was planning to put right a lot of the things wrong with it anyway but in my own time. If it needs doing now and there's no guarantee that there will be approval when it is done, I can't buy the property until it is done and I can't see the vendor paying to put right the previous owners mistakes. :eek:

So looks like I'm going to be homeless next Thursday Well back at my mother's, but by the weekend homeless might be starting to look more attractive. :rotfl:

Still, at least the selling part is nearly over. Now I've just got to find somewhere to store this lifetime of clutter that I don't actually have time to sort through now

rosered100

oneandonlypurplegirl wrote: »

- The bathroom needs renovating (new suite) which I estimate would cost around £500. For a property worth around £75k is it worth me getting this done, or just put on the market as is?

If you could do it for £500 or even less it might be worth doing. If I looked at somewhere that the bathroom needed doing I would drop about £2k off my offer. A buyer costs in getting someone else to do it plus the inconvenience so always overcompensates for the price. Remember that plain white suites are best.

Chyna-s

We had to change ours (still had an avocado suite!). Managed to get a lovely looking one for £150 at B&Q (end of line) and spent about £50 on tiles. OH removed and replaced though so money saved there.

not_loaded

oneandonlypurplegirl wrote: »

…would appreciate if anyone has any advice on the following:
- The bathroom needs renovating (new suite) which I estimate would cost around £500. For a property worth around £75k is it worth me getting this done, or just put on the market as is?
- When should we engage with solicitors etc - after appointing EA or before?
- Re mortgage, should we book appointments to discuss our options now, or after putting the property on the market?

At your £75k price level it’s tricky. Some people will want a finished house, or close to finished I suppose. Are you sure the bathroom suite can’t be tarted up? It’s surprising what a good limescale cleaner etc, can do. (not wishing to be rude, don’t take offence…) Then tart it all up with bright towels and accessories?

I would research the solicitor and get quotes, but not agree it yet. Just be ready. There’s loads of advice about that on here generally.

Mortgage similar - start doing the groundwork so that you can get AIP when you’re ready. EAs will want you to have that, or they’ll pester you with their offerings.

oneandonlypurplegirl wrote: »

Its all so overwhelming - but need to sell to be nearer to work. I've scoped out the competition in the local area. There's around 4/5 properties for sale and they don't seem to be moving. We have the added benefit of being one of only 3 properties in 1/2 mile radius that has a garage (and none that are for sale), and our back garden is not overlooked by any other properties. The downside is that my property needs a new kitchen and we simply can't afford to fit one. I'll start saving now so that if its still for sale in 12 months I can afford to fit one.

Re the kitchen, same as the bathroom? Super clean and tart it up?

I’m not suggesting you try to deceive viewers, just make the best of it. Some viewers will not be worried anyway, thinking that they’ll throw some money at it to change it. Others will want to stick with the current situation, at least for a while.

Otherwise focus on some kerb appeal and house doctoring generally?

hth

NEH

sonastin wrote: »

Well I exchanged contracts with my buyer this morning so it is pretty much confirmed I have to be out by next thursday :j

Unfortunately my solicitor can't let me exchange on my purchase at the moment because there are still issues with it. He asked for the building regs certificates for the work that had been done (good). Some certs were available (good). One final sign-off was missing (not good but I can arrange it so we can live with that). But in doing this, the council have realised that there was never a building regs plan submitted for the extension to the garage (needed one in this case) let alone approval or final sign off. Seems like the council are getting pretty twitchy and are looking to carry out whatever enforcement is open to them. :eek:

I'm leaving it in the hands of my solicitor but I just don't know what can be done here. On the one hand, the vendors have repossessed an unsellable property so its in their interests to agree to whatever needs doing to put it in a position where I can sell it. They have already agreed to pay for the council's regularisation application costs. But on the other hand, I am pretty sure that the council aren't going to approve it in the state it is currently in. I was planning to put right a lot of the things wrong with it anyway but in my own time. If it needs doing now and there's no guarantee that there will be approval when it is done, I can't buy the property until it is done and I can't see the vendor paying to put right the previous owners mistakes. :eek:

So looks like I'm going to be homeless next Thursday Well back at my mother's, but by the weekend homeless might be starting to look more attractive. :rotfl:

Still, at least the selling part is nearly over. Now I've just got to find somewhere to store this lifetime of clutter that I don't actually have time to sort through now

Congratulations! :beer:

Though pish about the extension, why do these things always come to light at hte last moment....

What about ringing removal companies for quotes for storage or if you can do it yourself self storage?

With regards to new bathrooms and kitchens oneandonlypurplegirl, we're in the same boat it needs a new kitchen and bathroom. Personally we're not going to hcange the bathroom from the old avocado suite as with ours it's a case of if we spend the money and hten someone buys it they may rip it all out becuase they want a shower room. If we take the small bath out someone may rip it out to put one back in you can never win.

With the kitchen we've deicded to replace the kitchen doors to make it seem better...If your cupboards and draw shells are sound then this is one option....

The old addage only makes changes to your property that will add value ring true here....

oneandonlypurplegirl

not_loaded wrote: »

At your £75k price level it’s tricky. Some people will want a finished house, or close to finished I suppose. Are you sure the bathroom suite can’t be tarted up? It’s surprising what a good limescale cleaner etc, can do. (not wishing to be rude, don’t take offence…) Then tart it all up with bright towels and accessories?

Thanks for the advice - and no offence taken!

We 'tarted up' the bathroom when we moved in - from a hideous brown/pink affair to totally white - new flooring, painted walls and tiled around the bath and sink. Apart from the suite, it all looks lovely and new. The suite itself is in a good condition, but its old and is a pale green colour (not quite avacado!), I personally love the suite because it breaks up the 'totally white' feel of the room, but I know what buyers are like with non-white suites.

We've just done up the living room, back kitchen, all three bedrooms and are currently re-doing the hall. I think I'll wait until everything else is completely done, then reconsider if the bath suite needs ripping out and replacing.

oneandonlypurplegirl

NEH wrote: »

With regards to new bathrooms and kitchens oneandonlypurplegirl, we're in the same boat it needs a new kitchen and bathroom. Personally we're not going to hcange the bathroom from the old avocado suite as with ours it's a case of if we spend the money and hten someone buys it they may rip it all out becuase they want a shower room. If we take the small bath out someone may rip it out to put one back in you can never win.

With the kitchen we've deicded to replace the kitchen doors to make it seem better...If your cupboards and draw shells are sound then this is one option....

Re our kitchen...its a nightmare! Is a small space that the previous owners 'attempted' to fix. When we moved in there wasn't even any gas supply connected to the hob! Being middle of winter when we moved in, we got a gasman in to fit central heating and gas cooker straight away without even considering renovating the kitchen. If I'd been thinking straight I'd have gutted the kitchen before moving in, negating this issue now.

The cupboard doors in the kitchen are new, but attached to old home-made cupboards, but these generally look ok - its just the set-up of the room. There is an old fireplace which we have boarded up, and a big ugly 'hole in the wall' above this which used to house the boiler which was removed when new gas was fitted (now hidden behind a cupboard door). This all needs knocking through to widen the kitchen, and to do that will involve moving the gas pipes, plus total renovation of the cupboards.

I reckon in all this would cost no less than £9k which we wouldn't recoup in the sale price.

Blodwen

sonastin wrote: »

Well I exchanged contracts with my buyer this morning so it is pretty much confirmed I have to be out by next thursday :j

Congratulations! The stress of selling is nearly over, you must be so relieved!

oneandonlypurplegirl wrote: »

- The bathroom needs renovating (new suite) which I estimate would cost around £500. For a property worth around £75k is it worth me getting this done, or just put on the market as is?

- When should we engage with solicitors etc - after appointing EA or before?

- Re mortgage, should we book appointments to discuss our options now, or after putting the property on the market?

Its all so overwhelming - but need to sell to be nearer to work. I've scoped out the competition in the local area. There's around 4/5 properties for sale and they don't seem to be moving. We have the added benefit of being one of only 3 properties in 1/2 mile radius that has a garage (and none that are for sale), and our back garden is not overlooked by any other properties. The downside is that my property needs a new kitchen and we simply can't afford to fit one. I'll start saving now so that if its still for sale in 12 months I can afford to fit one.

Welcome to the thread. Re. bathroom and kitchen - your bathroom sounds fine to me, and tbh personally as a buyer I would rather pay a bit less for a house with an ok bathroom that I could live with for a while and change to my taste at my leisure. Plus you never know what buyers might like - the second bathroom in the place I want to buy has a green suite which the vendors said needed changing because of the colour, but I quite like it. Maybe see how it goes once you're on the market and see what viewer feedback is like? Same goes for kitchen - as long as it is liveable I'd be thinking about how I would change it to suit my own tastes (assuming that it is priced accordingly). It doesn't seem worth changing it in your case as (as you say) you would never recoup 9k.

Blodwen

Nothing going on here *sigh*. Realised today that it's a week since I rang useless EA and he promised to get my RM stats to me ASAP as "it only takes 10 minutes to do". Of course I have heard absolutely nothing from them. Am definitely going to give notice to end at 16 weeks - if they argue I'll just tell them I won't take any viewers for the extra 2 weeks so they'll be wasting their time and money. That will take us to late Sept so hopefully we won't have missed the boat with the seasonal pickup in the market (if indeed there is one this year ). Oh someone slap me for being so pessimistic!!

Vixstar

What's everyone's opinion on de-personalising your property eg taking down all pics and ornaments?