Does re-decorating help sell a property?

Doozergirl

Okay, you've got me as I don'r know the area but there is a definitive reason why no-one in a year has taken a bite of this cherry. Archers Road has been the 8th most transient road in Southamptin over the last 2 years; meaning it's seen a lot of sales!

Have you had a look at what is available in the same price range as your sisters? I'm pulling in within half a mile now and I've also tried to find properties that are sold but you can do far better than me; take a look on rightmove yourself. You'll probably better than your sister as well as you can take an objective look.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-6502905.rsp?pa_n=4&tr_t=buy
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-6609882.rsp?pa_n=5&tr_t=buy
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-6918795.rsp?pa_n=3&tr_t=buy
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-6640476.rsp?pa_n=6&tr_t=buy

What I'm worried about is that even with a lick of paint and a pizza, this flat isn't going to reach the standard that it needs to. The decor is very dostinctive and whilst that is fine for your sister, you must teach her that it doesn't matter anymore that her tiles were expensive; mustard isn't really what people are looking for and as she hopefully isn't going to be living there for much longer, she needs to try and appeal to everyone and get best price for her flat.

In my mind, the current decor devalues her flat by about £4000.

Doozergirl

dankes wrote: »

Here's my flat, for an idea of what I did. Not an expert, like I say, but it helped especially as the people who were renting it beforehand had wrecked it.

You've done really well there! It's very neutral and because it is almost completely depersonalised, it doesn't detract from what needs doing, which in reality is only a bit of a paint job, some fresh tiling in the bathroom and perhaps some more kitchen units to define that room better.

It's a lovely building too though I miss London so much right now, I haven't been down this year. My last flat was in Penge so I know Catford fairly well. I had a boyfriend once that went to St Dunstans

dankes

Doozergirl wrote: »

You've done really well there! It's very neutral and because it is almost completely depersonalised, it doesn't detract from what needs doing, which in reality is only a bit of a paint job, some fresh tiling in the bathroom and perhaps some more kitchen units to define that room better.

It's a lovely building too though I miss London so much right now, I haven't been down this year. My last flat was in Penge so I know Catford fairly well. I had a boyfriend once that went to St Dunstans

Why thank you for the compliment. I did love the building and my flat. Bless South East London, eh? I'll miss it when I move, too.

Roger_Rampant

The red light district always used to be in Derby Road, which isn't particularly close to Archers Road. The main attractions of Archers Road used to be, depending on which end you lived, walking distance of town centre and/or Shirley, and minus was closeness of football stadium. Now the stadium has gone!

tomstickland

You can declutter and paint and makeover etc, but that won't make any difference if the property is out of line price wise. Personally I don't care about cosmetic details; I just look to see what the property could be with a bit of work and how that compares to the price.

pink123_2

The red light district always used to be in Derby Road.

Yes, but it has somehow spread to most of St Mary's and even as far as Princess Road (Portswood). I have no idea how I know these things!! :rotfl:

pink123_2

Hi Tomstickland. The property is really not out of line, the EA are fuming because she has reduced the price. There are several other flats in her building for sale and hers is the cheapest one. Its great that you can look past cosmetics but as another poster mentioned here before, unfortunately not many people can.

amcluesent

>the decor is very dated (long story),<

Hmm, looks like the flat has been furnished with inherited stuff from Gran's house, with the chandeliers from Great Aunt Maude!

IMHO, put all the Victorian pictures and trinkets into storage, inc. the 'interesting' sky-blue over large suite and mahogany display cabinet. The dining set and sideboard look OK. Rent some modern, smaller pieces with chrome/glass/neutral (wheat, cream) colours and then add in some highlight colour cushions you can take with you.

Overpaint the faux-georgian wallpaper in a neutral cream. Remove the chandeliers and replace with paper globe shades.

Overpaint the poppy-red kitchen cabinets to match the worktops and add some green plants in the kitchen to co-ordinate with the yellow and take some of the harshness off the look.

Bathroom - at least the suite is white and there is no carpet! Remove the gold ormolu mirror at least and replace with a modern fixture. Need some kind of screen for the shower?

bedroom - out with the victorian pictures and fussy bedside lights, crisp white linen bedspread.

This is never going to be an easy sell, but maybe your next viewers will then be thinking of the possibilities rather than OMG!