How big an effect does interior condition/decor have on house values?

ThePants999

The problem with this sort of question is that there is no such concept of "the value" of a house. Every person places a different value on the same house. When you sell a house, you're trying to find someone who places a higher value on it than you, and when you buy a house, you're trying to find one that's of more value to you than anyone else. When someone talks about "the value" of a house, they're being very vague. A mortgage valuation, for example, is a value that the mortgage lender can be reasonably confident they could sell for in a relatively short time. The EA's valuation is usually a number that they think will induce enough people to look at it that you'll get an offer.

When you redecorate/refurbish a house, you increase the value massively to people that (a) love it exactly the way you've done it and (b) are keen on not having to do the work themselves. You increase the value somewhat to people who fit category (a) but not (b). You don't increase the value at all to people who don't like how you've done it and plan to do it again themselves anyway. So what value it has depends entirely on who you manage to get to view it.

cloo

Yes, it's very subjective. Excellent decor might encourage more people to offer, but others might rather spend less and get somewhere they can totally put their mark on. I was tempted by one house we saw that wasn't really the right size or layout just because the decor was so immaculate, but I shook it off and reminded myself it wasn't quite right for us.I probably wouldn't bother to redecorate a place that was a bit 'tired' for selling, unless I thought it would be hard to sell otherwise. Most people could probably see through the non-shininess if they really wanted the place.

ACG

Difficult to answer for sure, but I would say the done up property would be around £10k more.

NaughtiusMaximus

ReadingTim wrote: »

If you think you can 'call out' something as "overpriced", to which the seller says "ok, it's a fair cop, guv" and drop the price to whatever number you come up with, you're sadly mistaken.

Obviously.

If a property is heavily overpriced I wouldn't waste my time viewing it, the tricky bit is identifying whether that's the case in the first place.

hazyjo

Varies from area to area and what the market's like there.

Examples:

I'm buying in Leigh-on-Sea. The immaculate, well presented, modern 3-4 bed houses are gone within a week at around £475-500k (EDIT - in the roads I'm looking in! There are much cheaper and much pricier streets!).

The 'tired' ones can hang around for a while or not sell for anywhere near that price.

The 4-bed one I offered on had a nearly-30 year old back burner, needed redecoration, carpets/tiles, brightening up - was very dark in places - and possibly some old electrics, a clad ceiling in a bedroom (with 2 large speakers face fitted face down into it(!)), a random shower in another, the list kind of went on. Kitchen and bathroom were 'okay' and would have done for 5 years or so, but by no means ultra-modern. That's still on at £450-500k. They refused my £443k offer a few weeks ago. It's been on and off for two years at different prices, and on at the same price for three months. Deluded. If 'done', it would be on at over £500k. Pics look wonderful which is why it hasn't sold. Your first feeling is disappointment when you walk in the door.

My own house is very 'done' - although not to everyone's taste as it's a bit 'colourful' and 'hotel chic' (hate the expression but it's all I can think of). Next door-but-one is rather tired and has also been on the market. It's taken them a good 4-6 weeks longer to sell for £5k less than me (theirs is semi, mine terraced).

Generally, it can depend on style rather than how modern. If it looked like an Ikea showroom, it'd not be my cuppa at all. And I prefer a traditional fireplace or log burner - despise 'modern fireplaces' where, for example, they have a long oblong of fake flames flush against a wall. 'Modern' is subjective, it just has to appeal to the masses.

You may find it's worth the same but would take 3 months longer to sell. Who knows.

ReadingTim

NaughtiusMaximus wrote: »

Obviously.

If a property is heavily overpriced I wouldn't waste my time viewing it, the tricky bit is identifying whether that's the case in the first place.

It's clearly not obvious if you continue to ask the question. No matter what "the market" thinks the price should be, and whether that house is overpriced, underpriced, or priced at market rates, if you can't agree a price with the seller, you ain't buying their house!

Crashy_Time

ReadingTim wrote: »

It's clearly not obvious if you continue to ask the question. No matter what "the market" thinks the price should be, and whether that house is overpriced, underpriced, or priced at market rates, if you can't agree a price with the seller, you ain't buying their house!

Sellers cave in to the prevailing sentiment eventually.....




http://www.cityam.com/269075/one-third-london-house-prices-have-been-reduced-weve-ranked

Crashy_Time

ReadingTim wrote: »

It's clearly not obvious if you continue to ask the question. No matter what "the market" thinks the price should be, and whether that house is overpriced, underpriced, or priced at market rates, if you can't agree a price with the seller, you ain't buying their house!

Most houses are not that unique, deluded sellers will lose out if they don`t play ball with serious buyers.

Marvel1

If house A s cheaper to do up than house B then that's my option.

Crashy_Time

cjdavies wrote: »

If house A s cheaper to do up than house B then that's my option.

What about if house B is better?