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Best Approach to negative equity?
Comments
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i'm a technician by trade, and my husband is a handyman and our brother in law is a kitchen fitter...
all work would be done by us... through trade outlets..... we are proper deal hounds when it comes to DIY... we turned our old broken bed into a garden fence when we moved in...
it would be done on the proper cheep, the only thing outside contractors would do is the double glazing!
don't know if that makes a big difference?
the only thing I would say about doing it on the cheap is please make it look good, if I saw a house with a bedstead as a fence I would walk away!!!,0 -
Have you considered the advantages of bankruptcy & then starting again with a clean sheet?? If negative equity was only, say, £2k maybe not, but if say £50k....
Only you can decide what makes sense for yourself in your circumstances0 -
i'm a technician by trade, and my husband is a handyman and our brother in law is a kitchen fitter...
all work would be done by us... through trade outlets..... we are proper deal hounds when it comes to DIY... we turned our old broken bed into a garden fence when we moved in...
it would be done on the proper cheep, the only thing outside contractors would do is the double glazing!
don't know if that makes a big difference?
It sounds like you can add value by upgrading the kitchen, as you would only pay for the materials, not the labour. But it needs to be a good job.No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0 -
the only thing I would say about doing it on the cheap is please make it look good, if I saw a house with a bedstead as a fence I would walk away!!!,
lol... maybe i didn't describe it well.... it's not like a divan sunk in concrete... it was a modern fourposter, and we have just re-purposed and weather coated the timber used in the main construction, then added a reclaimed banister handle, and bound the joints with natural rope... it is honestly a professional job, i was just highlighting our attitude to waste more than anything0 -
theartfullodger wrote: »Have you considered the advantages of bankruptcy & then starting again with a clean sheet?? If negative equity was only, say, £2k maybe not, but if say £50k....
Only you can decide what makes sense for yourself in your circumstances
Not sure how good an idea that would be!!!!
If the OP wants to move to a bigger better home, then being BR wont help them achieve that.0 -
If you have got work that obviously needs doing, I'd be inclined to do it. My feeling (from when we tried & failed to sell last year) is that people are either looking for a house in a total state to do up, or they are looking for something that looks smart and finished, with no work to do (even if it isn't that great a job when you scratch the surface!) Something in the middle can be difficult to sell, so you might have to end up dropping the price just to get interest. So I'm not saying that doing the house up will make it worth more money, but if it looks tired you might have trouble actually getting a sale.0
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If you have got work that obviously needs doing, I'd be inclined to do it. My feeling (from when we tried & failed to sell last year) is that people are either looking for a house in a total state to do up, or they are looking for something that looks smart and finished, with no work to do (even if it isn't that great a job when you scratch the surface!) Something in the middle can be difficult to sell, so you might have to end up dropping the price just to get interest. So I'm not saying that doing the house up will make it worth more money, but if it looks tired you might have trouble actually getting a sale.
People are putting all their cash into the deposit, with nothing left for home improvements.No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0 -
Right.... what i'm gathering from the differences in opinion and discussions above is...
1) doing home improvements will not appreciably alter the overall house value
2) doing home improvements will increase our chance of actually securing a sale at the end of this debacle
So in summery..
simple cosmetic home improvement, increasing the appeal to already overextended buyers are good!
BUT...do not eat into the funds better directed towards the mortgage shortfall.... high on elbow grease low on expenditure...
AND strive for a good finish, hopefully minimizing the old in head calculator, subtracting from the property value
anyone else got anything else to add keep the advice coming... you all rock!!
THANK YOU!0 -
Right.... what i'm gathering from the differences in opinion and discussions above is...
1) doing home improvements will not appreciably alter the overall house value
I have to disagree with this.
We also have a 1970s 3 bed semi, which looks just like it did in the 1970s. We were contemplating selling it, and found that in its current state we'd get about £180k at a push, but modernised would get us £220k+.
We've since decided not to sell (nothing worth buying!), and we're not in negative equity, but we will be spending the £10k required to bring it up-to-date.
The blue bathroom HAS to go!! I can't take it any more!
New kitchen too, although having painted the solid pine units white rather than replacing them with cheap new laminate ones, as I can't stand them!Should've = Should HAVE (not 'of')
Would've = Would HAVE (not 'of')
No, I am not perfect, but yes I do judge people on their use of basic English language. If you didn't know the above, then learn it! (If English is your second language, then you are forgiven!)0 -
Definately do the work, artex will seriously reduce its saleability in particular because people know its messy to get rid of.
People will expect a very cheap house if it needs new bathroom, kitchen, double glazing, carpets and decorating from what you've said. If you are able to do it yourself cheaply then do what you can.Grocery challenge July £250
45 asd*/0
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