Selling - how much of a financial hit for a house in need of improvement?

MulberryPeony

I'd be looking at getting around £20k off. More so because I can handle bathroom or kitchen needing urgent attention but not both. If you put a new bathroom in for a couple of £k then most people will think "I'll knock £10k off for a new kitchen and bits and bobs".

I think a hole in the sink would ring alarm bells for me though. If you've neglected something as simple to replace/fix as that I'd be seriously worried about the structural stuff you haven't been bothered to fix too.

olly300

MulberryPeony wrote: »

I think a hole in the sink would ring alarm bells for me though. If you've neglected something as simple to replace/fix as that I'd be seriously worried about the structural stuff you haven't been bothered to fix too.

I would agree with fixing the hole in the sink by replacing the sink (they aren't expensive) however the rest of the stuff is not a problem if it's usable and clean.

A badly put in new kitchen or new bathroom that has to be removed is more hassle to a buyer than a old properly fitted one. I had to remove my kitchen because the previous owners put in a new kitchen badly. They also put in new tiles in the bathroom which I again had to remove due to the bathroom layout. Luckily the tiles were easy to remove as they didn't put them on properly.

They didn't make any more money from putting in the new kitchen or putting tiles in the bathroom, it just cost me hassle in removing it.

phoebe1989seb

I agree that you should consider replacing the sink/drawer front as a priority and also look at giving everywhere a lick of paint......otherwise you should definitely be marketing as 'in need of decoration/improvement'......

That said, we always buy 'project' houses and our previous character property had not been touched since the 1980s despite it changing hands three or four times since then. When we bought in 2007 we thought the price we were paying reflected the work required, but after spending around £40k on high-end hand built kitchen units, granite worktops, new high spec bathrooms, rewiring, landscaping, complete redecoration etc etc we actually lost money when we sold last year.

Admittedly we were in a very slow-moving area where the demographic was retired couples wanting small modern bungalows, whereas our house was 5 beds and 400 years old. We were lucky to secure a sale within two weeks - our buyers loved all we'd done and only planned to change some wall colours, so weren't intending to rip it all out......but our EA said what we'd done had merely made the house more attractive and thus more saleable, rather than worth more

It goes to show that the area as well as the type of property/potential buyers is an important consideration when making these decisions......

lizards

Thanks everyone, that's all really good feedback!

I think it's safe to say we'll update the sink and drawer regardless. I think we may even still have the original drawer front somewhere although it's not in the best state of repair! The hole in the sink is a rust hole at the top near where it joins the work surface, so the sink remains fully functional which is partly why it wasn't replaced, as we were always going to get a new kitchen "one day" so there seemed little point.

Painting is a bigger issue as we're so rammed in even with decluttering that it would be quite a major undertaking to move furniture around etc. There's just nowhere to put anything in some rooms and still have enough of a gap to squeeze in a paintbrush/roller. So maybe that might be something we'd look at doing if we didn't sell quickly.

"In need of updating" sounds fair to me!

Again, thank you!! I was thinking around 5-10K myself so it's good to know I'm not too far off what many of you also think. I totally agree it will depend on the market.. we're lucky in that it seems reasonably good round here from what I can tell and from speaking to some local estate agents, who admittedly would be biased!

Hoof_Hearted

If the house looks good, it will be much easier to sell. Many people are dazzled by a decent kitchen and bathroom, a lick of paint and a cheap carpet. We spent weeks preparing our house for sale and it certainly paid off. With you house you are limiting your market to buyers looking for a bit of a project.

lizards

With three small children and a ridiculously cramped house and nowhere else to stay, it's a massive undertaking to replace the bathroom and the kitchen which is why we'd far rather take the financial hit right now. Of course if it doesn't sell after several months we'd need to look into it again but that's a risk we're willing to take especially as there aren't many houses of this type for sale locally at present, and those that are seem to be going quickly.

[Deleted User]

I think u have already made the decision to replace the sink and fix the cupboard only, and review again if the house isn't selling or isn't selling at the price you want.

However, one point I do feel a need to make.., if the house is so crammed you can't contemplate painting it.., maybe u need to look at decluttering again. Get a friend round to cast an eye over the place.., their detached view might make u look at what you can do without with fresh eyes. If worst comes to worst.., u can put items in storage. I think people will find it easier to contemplate buying a 'tired place' but not necessarily a place that seems smaller than it actually is because its jam packed.

To play devils advocate however, is it worth considering going on holiday for a couple of weeks and getting someone in to do the bathroom, with heavy penalties for not finishing in the two week period (one would assume that if you can afford to upsize u can probably afford a holiday)? The only thing u really really have to have in the bathroom is the toilet (you can wash at the kitchen sink for a couple of days if needed).., and that could be replaced within an hour, if u can't get away from the house. With the kitchen, u could just get someone in to replace the worksurfaces, sink and cupboard doors. Its probably a day's work. Its going to cost far far less than the £10k less u are thinking of accepting compared to other similiar properities in the area.

ash28

I can only speak from my own experience - we sold our house at the end of July last year and moved in October.

Our neighbours on both sides had properties up for sale before us.

We lived in street where once people moved in they didn't often move out and we had been there almost 20 years. Our neighbours slightly less - about 15 years each.

Our neighbours to one side had their house on the market a year and had a couple offers around £30k below asking price and on the other side took an offer of £30k below asking. Both houses, like our own were a bit tired, needed a bit of decorating and cosmetic improvement. They put them on the market as they were, expecting the location and the local schools to sell their houses for them.

All of the houses are similar but not the same, in the southeast (Thames Valley) so not cheap. Houses were in price range of £350k to £400k.

Our house had an old but reliable boiler and older style fusebox. The boiler and other gas fixtures had a gas safe test carried out anyway.

Before we put ours on the market we -

decluttered and decluttered again - after 20 years and 3 kids you don't half collect some cr*p.

redecorated 3 of the bedrooms

replaced 3 bedroom carpets

replaced down stairs toilet and had the floor tiled and pipes boxed

replaced bathroom suite and had walls and floor tiled.

decorated utility room, kitchen, living room and dining room, room behind garage and hall stairs and landing.

replace felt on flat roof extension - it was sound but was coming to the end of it's useful life.

We set ourselves a budget of £6k for the work and materials - fortunately our daughter's friend's husband fits bathrooms for a living and we got the work done at mate rates.

Same with the flat roof - we have a friend who is a roofer who did the work for us.

The rest we did ourselves - apart from the carpets.

We came in well under £6k and the sold at just under the asking price.

I have to admit it did look pretty good (I nearly changed my mind and stayed) and sold within 3 weeks. We had gone to the US for a month and woke up on our first morning to a text from the EA saying we'd had an offer.

Our neighbours on one side to this day cannot understand why our house was on the market for more than theirs, sold at the price it did and why their offers were over £30k less. The other neighbour accepted an offer of £30k less and had moved by the time we put ours on the market. I tried to explain but either they didn't want to know or they genuinely believed the house would sell itself at the price they wanted for it.

liz-paul

An Estate agent will give you a good idea of the current value and also value when 'tarted up'. Most EA's will do a free valuation for you. I would have thought that kitchen & bathroom needing replacing along with some painting and carpets would knock off at least £15,000 for the hassle factor and the costs involved. But, I am NO expert! When we sold our house (nearly three years ago) my hubby changed our bathroom (not everyone can do this themselves though) and we painted our kitchen units. We had a hideous dark wood 80's kitchen with lots of 'twiddly' bits. Hubby removed the twiddly bits and we rubbed down and painted the whole fitted kitchen. It deffo took some time, I did bits in the evenings and while kids were taking naps etc, but it was so worth it for us! It really changed the look of the place along with some other jobs we did.
I would strongly recommend removing some of your clutter if you can. We packed up everything we could and put it in the attic, at my MILs, in storage etc. Makes a massive difference. As you say though, you can always put it on the market as is and if it doesn't sell for what you want then make improvements down the line.
Good Luck!!!

MulberryPeony

deannatrois wrote: »

However, one point I do feel a need to make.., if the house is so crammed you can't contemplate painting it.., maybe u need to look at decluttering again. Get a friend round to cast an eye over the place.., their detached view might make u look at what you can do without with fresh eyes. If worst comes to worst.., u can put items in storage. I think people will find it easier to contemplate buying a 'tired place' but not necessarily a place that seems smaller than it actually is because its jam packed.

What deannatrois said.