rent or sell? refurb or not? help please

all_work_no_play_no_money

hi. i need advice please.
my uncle has just been put in a home (alzheimers but otherwise healthy 80 yo) and has a fully paid for 2 bed bungalow now standing empty. he has to pay for his care. how do we best help him?????? a similar property nearby sold for £200,000 but was totally refurbed. he has savings but not huge amount. i think total refurb (20k max) and rent will be best, but rest of family say sell as is!!

our options are-

1 do we sell as is? needs new bathroom, kitchen and fusebox plus decorating

2 do bare minimum to update and sell? new bath room

3 completely refurb and sell

4 rent as is? with new bathroom & kitchen

5 rent with complete refurb? to sell at later date

thanks in advance

Annisele

Do you have power of attorney? If not, you need to sort that out first - you can't do much without it.

If you spend £20k on refurbishing it, then there's a risk that you'll only add £10k to the value. Get a few local estate agents to take a look at it and see what they think.

missile

I guess he is unlikely to return from the care home?

You will need to sort out power of attorney, this can take a while.

20K is a lot to spend on a refurb. Who is going to pay for it? Before deciding, I would get a few quotes and invite a few EA round to advise. I doubt it willl be worth the time and effort. Do you really want to fall out with the rest of the family?

I would sell it and use the cash to fund quality care for your uncle.:A

theartfullodger

Savings will disappear very very fast in care home fees.

Unless someone else wants to "loan" him the refurb costs (you'd need PoA to do that legally) it ain't gonna happen. To sell or rent you'll need PoA.

IMHO refurbs almsot always take 2-3 times as long as you 1st thought & cost 2-3 times what you 1st budgeted..

As he's otherwise healthy recognise chances are he may live long enuf to use up all the value of the place..

1st thing - look after uncle: 2nd thing - sort out insurance (blgns & contents) for an unoccupied property - not the easiest thing to arrange..

Sorry for him..

clutton_2

"IMHO refurbs almsot always take 2-3 times as long as you 1st thought & cost 2-3 times what you 1st budgeted..""

dont exaggerate

tyllwyd

I definitely wouldn't refurbish it - unmodernised houses are attractive to a certain type of buyer, and there is no guarantee of getting back the money you spend on doing it up.

When you say you are thinking of renting it out, I think you are underestimating the potential work involved, and that it is ongoing. He is unlikely to be able to get involved at all, so you would need power of attorney to manage it, which would be fine in the short term, but ten, fifteen years down the line might become a real burden. Much easier to sell the house, and get professional advice about investing the money - perhaps an annuity? - to your uncle's best advantage.

hazyjo

Pretty much agree with above. Definitely sort out PoA first. I'd sell as is. Unless you're going to do the whole house, garden, etc - top to bottom - to a good standard, it's not worth doing. And if you do decide to refurb, as said, you might still lose all that money. There's no guarantee a 'done up' house will sell any quicker than something that the developers might be crawling over - especially a bungalow that they might be able to extend up or out.

Good luck.

Jx

DannyboyMidlands

Definitely sell as is. Buyers would much rather choose their own kitchen and bathroom than have you do it for them.

ognum

First get PoA, this can take up to six months. Next work out how much money you need a month to fund his care and the on going costs. If the rent will not cover this then it is foolish to go that way because you could be forced to sell in the end anyway.
If you do let then a basic refurb should be enough, it would take a long time to recoup a full refurb, also imagine how you would feel if you first renter trashed it.

tyllwyd

ognum wrote: »

... If you do let then a basic refurb should be enough, it would take a long time to recoup a full refurb, also imagine how you would feel if you first renter trashed it.

Yes, and where would the money come from to pay for any repairs? Or if there was an urgent unexpected bill, like roof repairs?

ognum

tyllwyd wrote: »

Yes, and where would the money come from to pay for any repairs? Or if there was an urgent unexpected bill, like roof repairs?

Agree, you would need to have access to a fund of money to keep the house repaired and be prepared for void periods in tenancy.