Selling a house that needs some renovating

zarney

I have a nice 3 bed house in a popular area that I am looking to sell. Its been empty for a while it was my mums house which was left to me. It was rented for a time on and off.
Things I wanted to do but dont have the money for are.
Replace aluminium windows for UPVC, new kitchen & bathroom and recarpet /decorate.

My circumstances have changed a lot recently and I just do no have the money to do the work. I did make a start by stripping off the wallpaper & removing some of the carpets.

However I want to sell it now as the market is moving upwards there is no mortgage on the house and will be no chain.

Is there any cost benefit of doing any of the things like the decoration ?
It would papering & paintiing. I personally think if I finish the paper stripping, empty the house and give it a thorough clean and tidy the gardens, that would be enough as its obviously needs some work on it, and anyone buying it would most likely take it all off again anyway. It will obviously not be the same value as a house in tip top condition. There is a waiting list for houses like this one in the area so I do no think it will take long to sell. My even try to sell it privately save on estate agents fees.

Any advice would welcome.

AdrianC

I wouldn't bother with any work at all beyond clearing it up and out as much as possible, so that people can see exactly what's what.

Precisely because there's always people looking for nice simple projects like this, I'd not rule agents out - a "saving" on fees is irrelevant if they get you a higher price by getting a couple of potential buyers interested enough to fight over it. For the same reason, consider auctioning it. All it needs is a couple of optimists with an imbalance between the amount of TV property programmes they've watched and real hard experience, and you'll be surprised at what it'll fetch.

Foxy-Stoat_3

If there is no evidence of structural issues/water leaks/damp and its only cosmetic then if you are not going to do it all then there is no point in spending money on it, only a few weekends of your time tidying and cleaning. If the carpets are horrible and smelly then you could remove them and maybe latex the ground floors if they are concrete or have them tiles on and floor boards instead of chipboard upstairs if its an old house.

If the kitchen and bathroom ( the dearest rooms ) need work then your looking at spending £7-10K then the same again on the windows, the rest of the house is £500 on paint and a few weeks work, unless you have issues with plaster etc. Carpets and underlay will probably be £2K.

Have a look at other properties in the area and make sure yours is the cheapest by a few thousand and see what feedback you get or take advice from the Estate Agents. For the sake of 1-2% for Estate Agent fees I wouldn't bother selling privately, you could try a local property auction but their fees may be higher and you possibly won't get as much unless there was 2 people wanting to buy it pushing the price up.

Annie1960

The reason why I used an EA to sell mine is to hold the chain together until everyone is ready to exchange.

Anyone can get offers from people wanting to buy, that is not the difficult part, especially as you say your house is in a popular area.

If you are the end of a chain it may be worthwhile trying to sell it if you can find someone who is also chain-free.

Many of the issues with chains seems to arise from FTBs buying flats with complex lease issues which can take ages to sort out, and people lose their nerve. So, if you think there will be a chain below you then I would use an EA, but if you think you can find a FTB or someone who has broken their chain my selling theirs and moving into rented, then it may be worth a go.

DaftyDuck

I wouldn't do the windows, or the kitchen/bathroom. You are unlikely to see a return for your money on bits like that.

If you can finish stripping the wallpaper, and the walls are sound enough, it'd be worth filling cracks & giving them all a tidy coat of paint to make all the rooms brighter, and highlight size/aspect/future usability. Only worth it if you can DIY, and stick to the boring whites and Magnolia. Yes, it might look better papered, but it's not worth doing that, unless you are very skilled and can get it done swiftly and perfectly.

The other advantage of painting is that it covers a multitude of whiffs and odours. Change any broken door handles, (obvious) electrical sockets and light pendants, and stick cheap but smart lampshades up. Bare lightbulbs devalue any property. Any smelly or unusable carpets should be removed. You can replace with very cheap carpet, but it's touch & go if you'll see that cash back.

One rule that works is to try and ensure the house is occupyable from the off, albeit in a basic fashion. Sell a house that has absolutely no bathroom and you limit yourself to purchasers who intend to gut the place while they live elsewhere. That takes money, and vastly limits the interest. Make sure the bathroom is just acceptable, and many, many keen young couples who don't have the dosh to look elsewhere instantly become interested. It sounds like your bathroom & kitchen meet this criteria, so that's fine.

If, as you say, there's a waiting list, that's all the more reason to stick it on the market, and not risk money when it is a bit short. As to trying to sell without an agent, it's possibly worth it if there are other near-identical houses being sold in the area, as the agents will be doing the advertising to get footfall in your area. Mind you, if you use a good agent (and they do exist, they really do), they'll probably be worth paying to get the best price from multiple bids - if there is a shortage in the area as you suggest. Swings & roundabouts. In your position, I might be tempted to stick a sign up for a few weeks and see what happens.

Oh, might be worth getting a builder in to quote for the overhaul. It'll give you an idea of price reduction, you might want to show it to prospective buyers, and if the price is better than you expect, you might want to get it done. It also sounds exactly the kind of take-on project many small builders want to adopt, so both of you might make other agreements.

DaftyDuck

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beecher2

Might be worth emailing local EAs for advice - I did this and was advised to recarpet rather than leaving floorboards bare. They'll give you a better idea of the local market

kingfisher123

Subject to wherever your house is located in the country I wonder could you realise a capital gain by doing some work to tidy up the house, now that prices are increasing?

bmunky7

I would get a few no obligation valuations from estate agents and get as much advice from them as possible.

Then consider a low-cost online estate agent so you get the presence on Zoopla and Rightmove etc... but won't be spending much.

I wouldn't do anything other than the basic stripping etc... so that it's a blank canvas. Some people will be put off having to finish off a job half done and if it looks basic but acceptable to move into you will widen your potential buyers.

AlexMac

I endorse all the advice above- especially the bit about taking quick, formal valuations from three, four of more EAs, and pumping them for their advice about how best to present the house; which of course will differ, but will give you an overall picture.

Every time we've sold recently, the advice is to keep it clean but slap it straight on the market; I wouldn't even have started a stripping out job, but no problem that you have. And work=delay which is pointless.

And I'd also vote for using an Agent to sell; especially if you are seemingly in a fast-moving local market. A good one will more than earn their fee, which you can probably haggle down to 1%-1.25% in a fast market. Our valuations varied by 15% and we sold right at the top of that range - so were effectively 12% better off than if we'd done a DIY sale at a cautious valuation!

dominoman

Do very simple cosmetic work but nothing more. Clear away junk, mow the lawn and if the walls are in good state slap on a nice coat of cheap white emulsion.

If the walls are not in good condition don't paint over them or it will look like you are hiding things.

Definitely don't do the UPVC glazing. You will be wasting your money. Personally if I moved in to a house with upvc windows my first job would be to rip them out and replace with aluminium or ideally wood. Everyone is different - so don't waste your money on that.

In a strong market like this people will not be put off by a house that needs work - so long as they know what they are getting.