Prepping house to sell

LittleMissKitty

Hello all. Help appreciated please!

The bloke has just been offered a job in Northern Ireland, we live in Sussex! So it looks like we have to sell up. We have 5 small kids and this is abundantly clear in the state of our house :eek:

We're planning to use his notice period at work (8 weeks) to get the house into salable condition. We have obvious things we need to do (like replace the floorboard that has a hole in it where the washing machine leaked!) but I'm well out of practice in the whole selling malarky as 8 years and 5 kids has scrambled any knowledge I once had on the subject.

So basically, if you were to walk into a house what are the BIG no-nos and things that would immediately catch your attention either negatively or positively. I want to spend time on doing the right things, not waste it on stuff that potential buyers won't really care about.

For context it's a mid terrace 1930's build, currently 2 beds but we're converting it back to 3 (which was the original spec). Basic family home, nothing swanky. Thank you for any input

Hedgehog99

Interesting topic. When I think of the Phil & Kirsty-type shows, buyers are told:
Ignore the decor - you can easily change it
Lie on the floor and look at the ceiling to get a better idea of room sizes without people's furniture there

and sellers are told:
Paint it magnolia
Put surplus stuff in storage
"Show" each room in its intended use (bedroom, dining room etc).
Arrange for children/pets to be out when viewings take place

If buying, as long as the layout and location suited me, things that would put me off would be
Cracks
Mould
Damp
Dirt ... all of these would tell me the owner hadn't been taking care of the property, and therefore what else have they skimped on?
...and "cover-up jobs" to hide the above instead of fixing the problem.

But if I walked into a freshly-painted house (other than a new-build), I might be thinking I'd rather have bought the house cheaper & chosen my own colour scheme rather than feeling I should live with the new paint to get my money's-worth.

car0line123

For me, big no no are: (and I am speaking in general, based on recently viewed properties as I am trying to buy a house)
damp/ mold
mess or clutter: means like of storage
shoes everywhere in entrance
Laundry drying everywhere

dirt; I don't expect new, but sticky kitchen, dirty bathrooms, dirty floors really put me off.

Smell of cigarettes/ animals (hard to get rid off): absolute no.

Filthy windows: house not maintained

Un-made beds, wouldn't prevent me from making an offer, but it's not nice.

Messy looking neighbours: risk of noise and disturbance in future...

I am not too bothered about brand new wall paper, if anything, I'd prefer a dated decor as it means buyers have not hastily hidden horrors. Between a show home and a more dated one, I'd take the dated as I would redecorate anyway.

Depending on price, having to redo kitchen bathroom might put me off

That's just a start! Then it all depends on property and its price compared to similar ones in the area. Good luck, it's difficult when you have young children, but they have to live somewhere as well, so a few toys don't bother me!

EmmyLou30

I think for me I look for a spotlessly clean house, no animal or smoke smells, signs of black mould, cracks, obvious neglect and poor DIY I'm going to have to undo. I can see past worn out or tasteless decor and a dated kitchen and bathroom but I think I'm in the minority if you watch these housey shows where buyers seem incapable of seeing a room for it's purpose without being shown a bed in a bedroom or a table in a dining room.
I'm put off by dirty houses and messy houses as that to me says the vendor doesn't care and if they've neglected the basics, then what other major things have they been neglecting to maintain like gutters and drains.

LittleMissKitty

Thanks all, based on replies so far I should be ok.
One thing you HAVE to be with 5 young kids is clean!

Our kitchen cabinet doors are very cheap melamine and haven't stood the test of time well so we're considering replacing just the doors as the cabinets, worktops etc are all fine, we had the bathroom redone 2 years ago, it's my happy room

All of the rooms have been newly decorated since we've been here (8 years) so hopefully none of the decor is badly outdated though I know not everyone will share our tastes.

The neighbours are all lovely, all older than us and only one pleasant teenager each, if anything we're the ones with the scruffy front garden, though we had the fencing replaced in July and the rest is just lawn really.

I'll stop panicking soon

Shelly1986

If you have any badly done DIY, sort it out, saw a house that had wonky shelves, wonky door frame, poorly laid tiling, kept thinking 'what else is done badly that I can't see?'

De-clutter as much as possible

Make the 3rd bed clearly into a bedroom again, or else empty it as much as possible to show what space it has.

Good luck

TBagpuss

Decor - I wouldn't change this for the reasons others have given. The only exception might be if you have things like your children's names in huge letters on the walls of their rooms, in which case I would probably paint over it but explain to the agents why.

Declutter - if the place is cluttered, it is harder to see the size of rooms and how the space works, it makes the place look smaller and it can make it harder for viewers to look round properly.

Smell - I would be immediately put off by any strong odours - cigarette smoke or dog are the worst, but any strong scent, including air fresheners is off putting, because if it is a bad small, you wonder how difficult it will be to get rid (and depending what it is, could suggest damp or mould) and if it's air freshener it leaves you wondering what it is trying to mask (ans also, if you are me, feeling ill and wheezy!)

If you have pets, get someone you trust and who doesn't have pets to come and tell you whether there is any smell, as you get desensitised when you are living somewhere, and what is minor or unnoticable to you might be very obvious to a viewer.

I would also recommend, as far as possible, taking children and pets out of the house during any viewings, or if you can't, keeping them away from the viewers and (for pets) shutting them up. And let the agents know what pets you have, particularly anything unusual.

Old_Git

you are trying to sell a 2/3 bedroom house with 5 children and two adults .

My tip move out and then sell

paulsad

Thanks Littlemiss - just putting ours on the market so good nudge to get the little jobs done, our last house was on for 2 yrs before I finally decided to redress my son's disgusting (typical teenager's) bedroom. New (cheap) carpet, painted walls nice and tidy - house sold within a week (maybe a coincidence but I don't think so).

LittleMissKitty

Old_Git wrote: »

you are trying to sell a 2/3 bedroom house with 5 children and two adults .

My tip move out and then sell

Sounds great Old Git, fancy housing us for free while we do that?

ben_m_g

Good thread a lot of sensible answers.

I am looking to be in the same boat and concerned about all the little things that could look nicer or might just put someone off.

I personally am going to be de-cluttering, painting all those little marks and getting out the caulk to fix up those little patches.

I'm looking at getting the carpets professionally cleaned as well. it can only help.