Nice people thread part 4 - sugar and spice and all things

LydiaJ

Pastures - I'm so sorry it's all being so horrendous. Wish there was something I could do to help.

lemonjelly - Glad you're OK.

Today I took my kids to visit my parents. We stayed later than intended, and left at about 11.30pm. It usually takes us about an hour to get home. We got about half way and had to stop and the services for DD to go to the loo. While we were there I got a text from my dad to say I had left my handbag at my parents' house, with my wallet in it and everything else important. There was no real option but to go back for it. Got back on the motorway and carried on to the next junction, turned round and headed back again. Went another 16 miles and ran into a blockage. A caravan had overturned and the motorway was a car park. Sat there for 35 minutes (and caught up with a couple of pages of NPT on my phone ) and crawled for another 5 min before we got going again. Made it back to collect the bag without further incident and picked it up without disturbing them - he'd left it in the porch for me, and I've got keys so could let myself in to get it. Arrived home 2.23. Sent kids to bed, brought in anything valuable/perishable from the car, went to bed, and am just catching up with the nice people before going to sleep.

Last time I tried to have a lie-in somebody sent me a text at 7.30. Have put phone on silent-and-not-vibrating this time.

lostinrates

I hope lydia is still asleep!

I'm doing some work with ''members of the public'' this afternoon. I have nothing suitable to wear so I'm going to look odd which, given my role this afternoon will raise some eyebrows. And I've decided I'm better with scruffy dry hair than wet hair.....chances are I'll be in a car for a while and needing to see out: condensation from damp hair would be a bad thing!

lostinrates

My dogs have plums in their mouths. I gave the plums a fair chance, they are mature trees, but the plums are simply not terribly nice. They are on the destruction list now, but we'll keep them for a few years. The dogs will be upset when they are cut, they adore the plums.

Doozergirl

lostinrates wrote: »

My dogs have plums in their mouths. I gave the plums a fair chance, they are mature trees, but the plums are simply not terribly nice. They are on the destruction list now, but we'll keep them for a few years. The dogs will be upset when they are cut, they adore the plums.

I wish ours was bothered about something healthy. He has an unhealthy obsession with cake. LOVES homemade cake. He ate half a lemon drizzle that I'd lovingly made the other week and thought I'd put far enough out of the way Sat staring at me when I was trying to finish off a baked cheesecake yesterday. And he's not a begging dog, though he pretends to sleep under the table at meal times so he can hoover anything that falls from DD.

Lydia, you are a dirty stop out.

PN, I am glad at least you are still walking the planet as I was worried about you. Still worried about you but glad you checked in. Keep safe and fed x Pot Noodles or something similar in the hospital?

My car is just out off warranty. Went to get it fixed, have so far parted with £420 and only one/two of the problems is fixed. Another £350 on Tuesday will hopefully solve the problem or I will weep. The garage we took it to (H's idea) ended up servicing it as part of trying to fix it (fair enough, there was petrol in the oil etc) but it's frustrated me because I've paid for that now but still get my servicing free from the dealer and I am going to have to ask them to service it again to keep the full dealer service history! :wall: I think if it had gone straight to the dealer, it may have (or may not have) cost as much but I'd have a courtesy car and probably a working car by now. Looking at train fares for London tomorrow now as H's car costs about £90 in diesel there and back! Anyone know the cheapest combi from Birmingham to London?

PasturesNew

Question, probably for Doozer.... what's the best/quickest way to sell a house for the best price when it's very dated:
1] As is, do nothing, live in it with minimal furniture (it'd need living in for security anyway)
2] Strip out the carpets (minging), strip wallpaper off and splash white paint everywhere so it looks dated but clean/doable?
3] Other

?

Buyer'd need to really update it, think "git house" with coloured suite, 70s kitchen and what old people call a sunroom, but we'd see more as an OK lean to. Really needs full rewire, rip out backboiler, new combi, probably new rads/heating system; new kitchen, new bathroom; lots of newer double glazing and probably the lean to's demolishing and PP for a whole open plan extension with big patio doors (like the neighbours).... so not something we'd be considering.

Time probably won't be the best, probably Sep/Oct, so going into winter.

Doozergirl

a) Leave it. Definitely leave it. You won't change the value by doing little things. Clear it of genuine clutter but furniture is good so people can see what fits. Make it clean, clean, clean. Clean really does reduce people's perception of what needs doing and will get you a better price on the sliding scale of minging-gleaming. Not on the scale of outdated-gorgeously modern, obviously.

September is the perfect time for home type people who want to be in for Christmas and people back from holiday mode and focussing on practical things. Not good for second homes, no doubt but is there much of a market for that at all atm?

tomterm8

Er, do you want to maximize the selling price? Because if olds are in a retirement home, then some part of the value from selling the home might be appropriated? In which case, maximising the selling price isn't always the best thing to do if it involves spending money?

If not, I think it is often best to do a benefit / return on investment. Replacing carpets, giving it a lick of paint is good if you are living there but won't really return the money, but if you have the money replacing old kitchens / bathrooms and doing it up may be worthwhile.

misskool

Leave it as its.

We bought an old-person house and slowly changing it to what we like. the price wasn't top notch but it was right in everything else for us.

LydiaJ

lostinrates wrote: »

I hope lydia is still asleep!

Yes thanks. DS was up early as always, but DD and I slept until nearly 10.30, when she had a bad dream that woke her up and then she woke me up, but that's OK.

PasturesNew wrote: »

Question, probably for Doozer.... what's the best/quickest way to sell a house for the best price when it's very dated:
1] As is, do nothing, live in it with minimal furniture (it'd need living in for security anyway)
2] Strip out the carpets (minging), strip wallpaper off and splash white paint everywhere so it looks dated but clean/doable?
3] Other

?

Buyer'd need to really update it, think "git house" with coloured suite, 70s kitchen and what old people call a sunroom, but we'd see more as an OK lean to. Really needs full rewire, rip out backboiler, new combi, probably new rads/heating system; new kitchen, new bathroom; lots of newer double glazing and probably the lean to's demolishing and PP for a whole open plan extension with big patio doors (like the neighbours).... so not something we'd be considering.

Time probably won't be the best, probably Sep/Oct, so going into winter.

My parents have this issue too. The're on the waiting list for a sheltered flat and have been discussing with an EA what they should do about selling their house. It was last "done up" by the person before the person before them, who ripped out the original victorian fireplaces and put in 1930s ones. They've had it since 1959. It needs completely new heating, wiring, windows, insulation, the lot. There are even 3 rooms (5th bedroom, study, separate loo) that still have the wallpaper that was there when my parents bought it, and while the rest of the house is at least clean and cared for, the kitchen is definitely minging, as they no longer have the energy to continue their life long battle with its rising damp.

The EA said do absolutely nothing to it. The only people who are going to want to buy it are people who want to do a lot of work and are intending to gut it, so don't bother. He said the houses that achieve good value for sellers are the ones that are totally ready for buyers to move into, and the ones that need everything doing to them, because those are the categories with enthusiastic buyers. Houses that have had some stuff sorted but not everything tend to be harder to sell, so if you do a partial sorting out, you tend to find it's only increased the sale price by less than you spent doing it.

Pastures, you have enough on your plate without trying to redecorate a house for sale. Particularly since you've told us you're not a talented decorator. Don't take that on, in addition to everything else.

ETA I agree with Doozer about the suggestion of getting it clean.

tomterm8

One thing that might really increase your sale price is getting planning permission for an extension (don't do the work yourself), but it sounds like you want to sell it quick?