Should I just sell the house as is?

Summer-Caitlin

Hi guys

Wondered if I could ask your opinion on my prospective house sale. I live in Aberdeen, Scotland and am currently looking to put my house on the market in approximately 4 months. I have recently completely renovated (replaster, carpeting, doors, paint, interior decor and furniture) the kitchen, living room and hall and am currently in the process of doing the two bedrooms and bathroom. I found out a little whil ago that my boiler (very old Apollo 30 boiler) needs to be replaced. At the moment we do not have hot water in the kitchen sink nor do we have central heating. We do have a working electric shower and we also have an immersion (for the hot water) We also have an oil filled radiator which is permanently in the living room.

My question is should I just sell as is or spend the money and replace the boiler? My concern is the upheaval and the cost. The kitchen was completely refurbished near Christmas and that is where my current boiler is. Also I am worried about the cost, as we plan on selling and moving abroad and could really use that money to set up there. I have no idea if the house would have any chance of selling without a boiler however, so I wonder what my next move should be?

Could anyone advise what I should do? I have had a quote from British Gas and they quoted £3000, way too much when I plan to sell so soon.

Thanks in advance

tek-monkey

Anybody looking to buy will want money off for the work, and the hassle. However a nice brand new boiler is a positive point.

Nosht

If you are changing boilers I suggest that you go for a combi one, currently available for about £1200 - £1500 fitted.
A second opinion & another few quotes would be worth doing.


Regards,



N.

zzzLazyDaisy

If you don't sort the water/heating out, a lot of people will be put off the house, especially people with children and the elderly or people with health problems, and probably also some busy young professionals.

It is a shame to have a house that has been fully renovated, and so might appeal to people who just want to move in with the minimum of fuss and upheaval, only for them to lose interest when they realise that there is no hot water or heating especially coming up to winter.

Summer-Caitlin

Thanks all.

I did suspect this might be the case. I have went to all the bother of having it renovated so it would be a bit of a let down to then say we don't have a working boiler. Plus they may think it is a lot of upheaval if they are just moving in. I was thinking of knocking £2000 off the price of the house to make up for the lack of boiler, but I would think it would be better if we had a working one to begin with.

Will see if I can have a look around and see if there is anyone that might fit it cheaper than the £3000 I was quoted.

JonathanA

I'd definitely get the work done before selling, especially if you are trying to sell in the winter months! Ask around friends, colleagues etc to see if they can recommend a good installer, I'm sure that you won't have too much difficulty in bettering the price you've been given.

princeofpounds

It's one of those things where it won't really help the price of the house much (it might be higher, but only more or less by what you have spent, it's not an investment as such where you will be compensated for the effort). But it will avoid alienating the customer base that don't want to do that sort of work, so may speed a sale.

g_attrill

Can it be repaired so it's at least working? Selling a house without working hot water or heating will put a lot of people off, they will certainly want it taken off the asking price, even if you price it to take account!

Summer-Caitlin

Well I did get Scottish Gas to fix it, but it only lasted temporarily as when I tried to put it on a few months ago, the pilot light wouldn't light again. Rather than fix it I would rather get a new boiler, but I don't want to get an expensive one, but a decent one so I could maybe use it as a selling point.