Renovate before Selling?

josecc

Hi there. First time poster on there. Been lurking for a while and finally took the plunge to post.
I bought my first flat last year for 80,000 and managed to get it for 25,000 under the asking price (delighted).
Ive had it rewired and decorated roughly half the flat. I was planning on putting in a new kitchen and bathroom before maybe selling it sometime this year or next.
Would I get my money back when i selled if I done this or do you think it would be a waste of time and money and I should sell it as is?

Thanks

silvercar

Depends on the cost of doing the work. Compare the prices of properties sold near you, you should be able to find some in super condition and some not. Also bear in mind the market. A friend bought a house at knock down price, updated and sold it. He said everything went well except for the housing market that was not in good shape when he wanted to sell.

LEJC

its all relative I believe...


In renovating you appeal to one set of buyers who dont want to carry out work and in not renovating you appeal to a different set being those wanting to put their own stamp on things.


Last year we inherited a house which needed quite a bit of work doing on it...we never planned to sell but got a valuation before we stared work on it to see what it was worth....
Once the work was complete we then rented the property out and whilst dealing with the estate/letting agent asked for a current valuation.
comparing the 2 figures and taking into account what we had spent not just in money but time doing the works we just about broke even on the valuations plus standard market rises...should we actually have sold at that pointits possible once fees were taken into account that the profit would have been minimal.
cost things out and factor in in detailed quotes rather than just assuming that a renovated property will turn you a healthy profit....

Just to put it into context our renovations cost £42.5k and we increased the value of the property by around 50k...although thats only based on a valuation rather than an acceped offer.

phoebe1989seb

It definitely depends on the area and what sold prices are being achieved. It sounds as though you got the flat for a great price which is obviously a good start.......

We otoh, bought a house a few years back* in an area we hadn't researched - having sold in a much more expensive area and getting £45k off the asking price we thought we'd bought a bargain - then spent in excess of £40k to drag it out of the 1980s (it was a non-listed, Tudor property) only to discover that all we'd achieved was to make it more saleable......we did accept an offer within a fortnight, but at £20k less than our purchase price three years previously**

*note 1 - house purchased in late 2007 before things crashed, so admittedly we overpaid, but we weren't aware of this at the time as the house had nothing to compare with locally.

**note 2 - we wanted a quick sale, so could in theory have hung on although average sale times in area were around two years and nothing over £250k was selling.

Regarding putting in a new kitchen, chances are what you choose may not be to the buyer's taste, as kitchens are a very personal choice........although in our experience it was the hand-built wood units/granite that persuaded our buyers to offer, so you just never know

ruggedtoast

josecc wrote: »

Hi there. First time poster on there. Been lurking for a while and finally took the plunge to post.
I bought my first flat last year for 80,000 and managed to get it for 25,000 under the asking price (delighted).
Ive had it rewired and decorated roughly half the flat. I was planning on putting in a new kitchen and bathroom before maybe selling it sometime this year or next.
Would I get my money back when i selled if I done this or do you think it would be a waste of time and money and I should sell it as is?

Thanks

How long is a piece of string?

You haven't said what the work will cost to do, but in general you won't see your investment back for a premium kitchen and bathroom unless you are in the top end of the market.

E.g. you could easily spend £15,000 on both in your £80,000 flat but it doesn't mean its going to add £15,000 + to the value.

Likewise needing £15k of renovations won't always reduce the value of a property by £15k, frustratingly for many buyers.

TBagpuss

I'd suggest getting some quotes for the work, and then getting a couple of agents in to advise about what your property is likely to sell for, and you can then ask them how much difference it would make to the price and saleability if you had the work done. You can then make an informed decision.

Given the price you mention for your flat, it sounds as though your target market may well be FTBs - in which case the flat may be more appealing if it is cheaper, and the buyers can then upgrade as and when they can afford it, or do some of the work themselves.

If you are not planning to move until next year, then also consider yourself, and whether you are happy to live without the new bathroom etc for another year or so - this is your home, after all!