Selling a house in disrepair

LADYXXMACBETH

We are thinking of selling our house as it is in a bad area in a bad state of repair. The rendering is blown, no ch or hot running water needs a new kitchen and carpets and due to no heating there is black mold everywhere. We cannot afford to fix any of these things and if I'm honest I don't want to as I despise the house and the area. My question is how do I go about selling it. I'm not sure it's bad enough for auction but it's beyond a good lick of paint. We really want it sold quickly and are prepared to lose 20k on it. I wondered if anyone knows how much the price goes down if there are reasonably major works needing doing. If it was a nice house in good condition it would be £120k easily. I don't want to have people come round like the place and then have the surveyor bring up all these problems. Do I mention all the faults to an EA for example I have radiators and a boiler but the boler doesn't work efficiently so I have ch but it needs a replacement boiler.
I want to go to estate agents tomorrow and I want to know how to approach it.

phil-maskell

Whoever wants to buy the property will or should get a survey done and that will highlight all of the problems. If you live in Scotland you have to have a Home Report done prior to selling the property which includes the survey of the property and how much the property is worth.

pmlindyloo

First of all check and see if you are eligible for a free boiler -

http://free-boilers.org.uk/free-boilers-faqs/

This would sort out your central heating and hot water.

Black mould can be removed ( just google for how to do it)

A new kitchen/carpets are not a deal buster.

You say that you just want rid of it but with just a little time and elbow grease it doesn't seem as if there is that much wrong with it that can't be fixed.

Personally I would making an effort to get as much as possible for it and fixing as much as possible without spending a great deal of money before you put it on the market.

Why lose thousands of pounds because you just can't be bothered? Think of what you can do with the extra money!

maas

This sounds like ideal auction material. Most auction houses do a free market appraisal so you can discuss with them whether its right for auction etc

GDB2222

LADYXXMACBETH wrote: »

We are thinking of selling our house as it is in a bad area in a bad state of repair. The rendering is blown, no ch or hot running water needs a new kitchen and carpets and due to no heating there is black mold everywhere. We cannot afford to fix any of these things and if I'm honest I don't want to as I despise the house and the area. My question is how do I go about selling it. I'm not sure it's bad enough for auction but it's beyond a good lick of paint. We really want it sold quickly and are prepared to lose 20k on it. I wondered if anyone knows how much the price goes down if there are reasonably major works needing doing. If it was a nice house in good condition it would be £120k easily. I don't want to have people come round like the place and then have the surveyor bring up all these problems. Do I mention all the faults to an EA for example I have radiators and a boiler but the boler doesn't work efficiently so I have ch but it needs a replacement boiler.
I want to go to estate agents tomorrow and I want to know how to approach it.

If it needs major works to make it liveable, then you cut down your potential market *a lot*! These days, people save like crazy for the deposit, and they have nothing left over for building work. You may well end up selling it to a cash buyer at auction prices.

Are you saying it would be worth £120k if in good condition, even if in that area? Have you an idea of what the work would cost? You say that you'd accept a £20k loss, but nobody here has a clue whether that's realistic for your house. If it were a £50k or £75k loss would you be more inclined to do some of the work?

I wouldn't go out of your way to point out defects to buyers. In fact, I'd be inclined to heat the house (with electricity if needed) to drive off the damp and redecorate throughout. Everyone can afford some new paint. That's not to cover up the defects, but rather to make the house look attractive, so someone will be more inclined to take on the work involved.

LADYXXMACBETH

I wouldn't be eligible I have asked about upgrading the boiler. The biggest problem is the blown rendering. We have been quoted £3k which is more than we can find. The area is also plagued by anti social behaviour and it is on an ex council estate and a bad one at that. One of the reasons we want to go is we have had ASB and luckily the perp is in prison at the moment but he will come out and after 7 years of it and complaining to the council and police and him having asbos and told to leave us alone we are tired. It's the blown rendering and damp problems I worry about. It will cost a lot about £7k i think to get it to rental standard.
We h be tried to sell it before it got in a state and even then no one wanted it.

pmlindyloo

LADYXXMACBETH wrote: »

I wouldn't be eligible I have asked about upgrading the boiler. The biggest problem is the blown rendering. We have been quoted £3k which is more than we can find. The area is also plagued by anti social behaviour and it is on an ex council estate and a bad one at that. One of the reasons we want to go is we have had ASB and luckily the perp is in prison at the moment but he will come out and after 7 years of it and complaining to the council and police and him having asbos and told to leave us alone we are tired. It's the blown rendering and damp problems I worry about. It will cost a lot about £7k i think to get it to rental standard.
We h be tried to sell it before it got in a state and even then no one wanted it.

From what you are saying it appears that you have 2 options:

1. Put it up for auction and hope someone 'bites'.

2. Borrow the money to 'sort it out' and rent it out. Don't know your circumstances as regards remortgaging/loan/credit card etc but make sure you get some financial advice before you decide to go down this route. From what you have said renting it out might also be a problem but I wonder if your council does some sort of scheme where you offer your house to them to rent it out.

Something like this?

http://linkhousing.org.uk/our-services/private-sector-leasing/

Am presuming from your username that you are in Scotland but believe they have schemes like this else where.

sandsni

If it needs that much work, then it's probably not worth even trying it as a rental. Tenants are a lot more clued up regarding their rights to a decent house and you could be forced by Environmental Health to do repairs you say you don't have the money to do.

Have you looked at other grants available for owner-occupiers? I know there's not much in the government coffers at the minute, but some councils (in NI at least) still have some money for essential repairs for people on low incomes or with disabilities. It might be worth asking your local council, or trying your local CAB to see what other options you might have. It might at least help you get a liveable home until you can get it sold.

LADYXXMACBETH

I don't want to live here anymore it's a scummy estate with drug dealers on each side and I'm trying to bring up my children. I don't want to bring them up in an area where the neighbours fight in the street all day long. But because it's in a state of disrepair of which I can't fix I have CCJs so cannot borrow money I have though bu**er it and decided I need a fresh start.
So my question is how do I approach the EA do I say it's in a crappy area and in need of more than a lick of paint or present it to then as if I don't know these things are a problem? There are a lot of rental places round here So I would hope that a landlord might buy it.
I also want to move because it's a 2 bed with a third room like a cupboard we put a bed in and I have 3 children. My son doesn't like sleeping in a cupboard much.

LADYXXMACBETH

Oh and I'm not Scottish. I'm in cumbria

harrys_dad

Where are you intending to go? Are you planning to move into rental? Do you have any equity in the house, depending on what you can sell it for? Can you afford it? The problem seems to me that in your own words you are selling a really run down house on a really run down estate with drug dealers either side and anti-social behaviour everywhere. Why would anyone want to buy it unless you were almost giving it away?