house improvements to sell

coldnwet

I am considering selling my house within the next year or two. It needs quite a lot of jobs doing to ite.g re-plastering/new kitchen/ new carpets... but can anyone tell me which jobs are really worth doing in order to improve the value. Thanks.

BitterAndTwisted

Very few projects around the house will actually increase the value but an awful lot of buyers are unimaginative or can't be bothered to do any jobs themselves. A sensible buyer will just deduct from the asking-price the value of whatever projects need to be done, the not-sensible ones with no imagination or energy will want to see the place in pristine condition, presented like a show-home.

At the very least, I'd sort the plastering and get the place redecorated in a neutral shade right before you put the house on the market.

If you are thinking of putting in a new kitchen, I wouldn't go for any wacky finishes or strident colours which a buyer may want to rip out as soon as they move in. Same with bathrooms, really.

lovethymini

Depends on a lot of factors. If it's in a desirable area where demand outstrips supply you should be able to sell the house easily without doing anything.
If it's in an area where there are many on the market as well as yours when you sell, you could try and sell it as is;- in need of some refurbishment.
In general, people are put off by poor quality diy jobs, so if you're going to make the effort and put yourself out to improve the house, and spend money, make it worthwhile.
Perhaps you could concentrate on one room like the kitchen and go from there.

Milliewilly

If its priced right it will sell regardless of works needing doing. I would get an Estate Agents opinion. After all any work you do may not be to the new buyer's tastes anyway.

knithryn

As a househunter, the issues that put me off are...
dodgy electrics/plumbing/heating
unsound walls or roof
poor condition of windows
bad plasterwork (ie coming off the wall in chunks, or will do so when wallpaper is removed)

If the kitchen is in 'reasonable' condition ie usable then that's fine as I will probably change it anyway
Same for the bathroom

I'm also put off by houses which have been refurbished and where the vendor thinks this adds value. To me it doesn't.
I can paint walls myself. I can see past worn carpets.
It might make a house sell faster, but in my opinion it's not worth paying for someone else's style.

kmmr

I think you should do whatever makes it clear that the buyer could just move in and live there, even if there is still other work to do. So I'd suggest you sort the 'boring' stuff like wiring and even plastering, but leave 'fun' things like kitchens.

But that might be just me. I like to think I can add some value, but can't be bothered with the serious stuff - so I like to see that I can justify a shiny new kitchen and maybe painting to make it 'mine'.

As a random idea, if you are able, look at getting planning permission for an extension if possible, or just a few new floorplans if you can find a nice cheap architect or architectural technician to do a few plans for you. As BitterandTwisted says, buyers can be amazingly unimaginative, so a new floorplan or layout can really get their imagination going and make them see how the house could work for them.

marcg

How bad is the house at the moment? Friends of mine bought a Victorian house at a reasonable amount below that of similar houses due to awful patterned wallpaper. Everything else needed doing too (as with the other houses they viewed) but the wallpaper was just overbearing. We got 25 litres of B&Q economy white emulsion and painted everything - skirtings and all. Looks miles better and they are now taking their time properly redecorating, room by room.