Renovating a house to sell, how important is the CH/boiler setup?

Mojisola

ijrwe wrote: »

Which may in practice mean, "can I sell it at all?", I suppose

Definitely.

If I saw a renovated house which had such a major flaw, I would be worried that the seller hadn't bothered doing other, less visible, things as well.

ijrwe

Dan-Dan wrote: »

if you are seriously renovating a valuable property

It's not valuable, quite the opposite. A new boiler and CH refit could approach 5% of the house value, haha...

ijrwe

Mojisola wrote: »

Definitely.

If I saw a renovated house which had such a major flaw, I would be worried that the seller hadn't bothered doing other, less visible, things as well.

I know it's seen as a major flaw, but what in your eyes would make it one? Say if you came to the house and it had a 3yo modern boiler, vs. the current set up. Is the main/only concern how cost-efficient it will be to run, and are we sure that the modern arrangement is cheaper, considering the frequent and high repair and replacement costs?

Or are there other reasons why the current system could be legitimately seen as undesirable?

Dazedandconfused

I'd be amazed if you find it under 2k and you'd prob need a new gas supply pipe to comply with the correct size for new building regs.

I bought a house that I knew needed a fair bit of work but the price reflected it if I wouldn't have even looked at a renovated house if it didn't have a modern boiler system.

poppysarah

Get some proper quotes done for the work.

Get BG in to quote and then see whether you can get normal quotes for 1/3 to 1/4 of their fantastical figure.

jimmy_81

ijrwe wrote: »

Or are there other reasons why the current system could be legitimately seen as undesirable?

Yeah, unreliability.

If I was looking at houses to buy, I'd get quite excited seeing a nice renovated property... Oh. It's got an ancient boiler. That will need replacing...* And that will mean a lot of disruptive work & expense. :eek:

Suddenly it's looking less like a "ready-to-move into" house and more like a project. Will put quite a lot of people off.

Unfortunately as others have said, think this is something that will very much help the place sell - but might not add too much value.

*From buyers perspective have to assume it'll go wrong the day after completion. Realistically, of course it could carry on for years - but the buyer will be thinking worst case scenario. If they're not a muppet. :rotfl:

Owain_Moneysaver

Many people will be put off by the thought of having to do work, especially if the house is otherwise well decorated. They may also be reassured about lower maintenance costs if the boiler is 'new' - even if it's less reliable than a Bermuda which most modern boilers will be.

Don't forget there may be grants available to help with the cost. There shouldn't really be that much disruption as the only plumbing work is getting gas to the new boiler location, flow and return to join into the existing flow and return somewhere, and a condensate drain.

To comply with Part L of Building Regulations you may also have to fit thermostatic radiator valves, room stat/programmer, and possibly a new hot water cylinder as well.

Contessa

The first house we bought (30+ years ago) didn't have central heating. We installed a Baxi Bermuda back boiler system and thought it was wonderful.

I now realise that they are not as energy efficient as modern systems (but do like the fact that they take up less room).

If I looked at a house with this old system in place I certainly wouldn't rule it out.

I would certainly prefer it to be left so that I could replace it with my preferred system and make any alterations that I wanted, without having to undo, and pay for, the seller's boiler.

tBagpuss_2

I think it depends on the circumstances. Look at how much the work will cost, and what it will add to the value of the property.

Consider what, specifically, your renovations include. How much further work of redecoration / upgrading would be needed to the newly renovated area if the boiler were done afterwards?

I am in the process of selling my house which, from the sound of it, is in a similar price range to yours. Before I put it on the market, I got quotes for replacing the (very old) boiler and adding further radiators. I also did some research looking at other properties and spike to several agents to see what difference it would make to price and saleability. For ME, it made sense not to replace the boiler (the cost and the difference in value were pretty much the same) so the house was marketed as being in need of some updating and priced accordingly. It got a lot of interest and early offers.
Of course, a lot depends on the type of property - if it is a 'starter home' there are always going to be people who are attracted to a slightly cheaper property which they can then do up gradually as it becomes affordable. If the property isn't in that category for your area then doing the work yourself may make more sense.

I do agree that renovating everything else and leaving the boiler would be odd- so a good deal depends on what your renovations consist of, too.

Yorkie1

ijrwe wrote: »

Good point - you mean basically how much interest I can get vs. how much interested people are willing to pay?

Which may in practice mean, "can I sell it at all?", I suppose

This is the point I was going to make.

What is the competition like? Are houses selling quickly in the area? Of those that are selling quicker than others, is it clear that they need no such work?

If the house is going to fly off the shelves anyway, then the business case for improving this is not that strong. If there's a risk it will stay on the market for a long time, you need it to be one of the more attractive houses on the market.