pre-marketing nerves

Newly_retired

Am preparing to put my house on the market. Obviously I will be getting valuations done, but am getting jittery about what potential buyers might come up with in their Homebuyers' Reports.

We will need to decide how much to do ourselves before marketing, and how much to adjust our price accordingly. Hard to decide, any tips?

Newly_retired

We have had a new boiler, new kitchen and bathroom in the last 4 years. The extension was done before our time.
None of this work has certificates for current regulations as they were not required at the time. Is this going to be a problem?
Am also wondering what else will be mentioned in surveys.

We know it all needs decorating, but given that the major things are done, maybe purchasers might prefer to decorate to their own taste. Or would that mean having to lower the price far more than the cost of getting it done? What is your experience?

Full_of_angst

I am just in the process of selling and buying (literally praying that we will be exchanging contracts within the next week).

It is 10 years since I went through this and what I have vowed is that if I ever decide to sell again I will have a survey done on my house prior to marketing. It may be a costly option but you can't really put a price on peace of mind can you? That way I will know in advance what the issues are and either price accordingly or do the work prior to marketing. Also, I will know that I am marketing it at the correct price as EA appear to value property higher.

witchy1066

if the house is realistically priced for its condition , why not wait and see , its pointless speculating on what might or might not be a problem on a survey,

you might not get any offers
you might get loads in the first day

when I go to view a house I am only interested any major problems , then its room layout and sizes the sellers choice of decoration doesn't matter to me but I do expect the place to be clean and tidy

witchy1066

Full_of_angst wrote: »

I am just in the process of selling and buying (literally praying that we will be exchanging contracts within the next week).

It is 10 years since I went through this and what I have vowed is that if I ever decide to sell again I will have a survey done on my house prior to marketing. It may be a costly option but you can't really put a price on peace of mind can you? That way I will know in advance what the issues are and either price accordingly or do the work prior to marketing. Also, I will know that I am marketing it at the correct price as EA appear to value property higher.

you sound like the kind of seller I would like to be buying from

this is a great idea , it also gives buyers a fair chance before they start paying out what in some cases can be many hundreds of pounds on stupid "homebuyers surveys)

a friend of mine has just got her Homebuyers survey back and one of the things pointed out on the survey (plastic bath panel has slight crack )
so whats wrong with that one might think, they are merely pointing out something that the buyer hadn't noticed , what he didn't say was that the bathroom suite was "avocado green" and fitted sometime in the 70s :rotfl:

sorry OP didn't mean to digress from you, but it does make a point that you just don't know what the survey will throw up

all the best with your sale and stop worrying

Full_of_angst

Newly_retired wrote: »

We have had a new boiler, new kitchen and bathroom in the last 4 years. The extension was done before our time.
None of this work has certificates for current regulations as they were not required at the time. Is this going to be a problem?
Am also wondering what else will be mentioned in surveys.

We know it all needs decorating, but given that the major things are done, maybe purchasers might prefer to decorate to their own taste. Or would that mean having to lower the price far more than the cost of getting it done? What is your experience?

The problem is that while this work didn't need planning permission, it may have need building regulations, particularly the conservatory. It appears that people get them confused.

It would be a good idea to ensure your gas boiler has a gas safe certificate.

Newly_retired

Conservatory? No, it is a proper brick built 2 storey extension, done before we bought this house, so over 30 years ago.
I would expect any potential buyers to get their own survey done, of course. I am just trying to anticipate issues, I guess.

I'll ask our plumber about a gas safe certificate for the boiler he installed.

cattie

Has your house been well maintained over the years? Maintenance has always been high on my list as a property owner, so whenever I've sold there has been very little that has needed doing.

I've always chosen good quality fittings, which really do help when you come to sell.

However, when it comes to buying, I've found it hard to find well maintained & reasonably updated interiors on any properties I've been interested in, so of course this will always affect the price I'm inclined to offer on the property, unless of course the property has been sensibily priced to reflect the updating needed. This was the case in my current home, which is still under refurbishment due to being badly neglected for many years.

I think if you can make your house look as light & spacious as possible, that will help it appeal to the majority of people.

Is your consumer unit a modern one?, only that's something the surveyor will pick up on as well as any flat roofs that might be on the extension. If the drainpipes etc are the old cast iron type, that is often flagged up too.

Full_of_angst

Newly_retired wrote: »

Conservatory? No, it is a proper brick built 2 storey extension, done before we bought this house, so over 30 years ago.
.

The house I'm buying has a single storey extension. The extension was built over 30 years ago. I was able to ascertain planning consent and building regs by looking it up on the local council's public portal. If these weren't in place I would have been very cautious about committing myself to buying it or at the least would have negotiated further on the price; the extension houses the dining area of the kitchen and without planning and building regs it would seriously have affected the valuation (my surveyor said he valued it on the assumption that they were in place but that if they were not he would revalue it when I found out).