Does renovation help in getting more profit out of house selling

ChrisCandel

RelievedSheff said:

We gave our old house a quick freshen up with a coat of paint in hallway, kitchen and bathroom.

Must have helped because the developers gave us a very good part exchange price and then when they marketed it for sale (while we were still living in it) it sold in a couple of days.

Oh, thanks that's exactly what I just asked you in my poll:):smile:  "Did renovation/ total redecoration help you in getting more profit from house selling in the end?" (sorry, could put a link to it) 
Thank you!

Crashy_Time

Maybe the poll should be "will" instead of "did"? The economic world has just changed big time.

AlexMac

Google will help you with lots on this, including my favourite RenovatorPorn mag "Homebuilding and Renovation" at
https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/20-sure-ways-to-add-value-to-your-home/

But last time I sold the EA was adamant that it wasn't worth doing much, if at all  (other than the obvious decluttering and superficial freshening)... and he was right.  We sold, very fast, WITH our tired old kitchen in place, and sure as he predicted; when I went round three weeks after completion for some reason, the old kitchen was lying on the lawn.  I suspect if we'd replaced it, as I considered doing, the new one would have been ripped out and replaced...
But it depends on the property, and the price-bracket.  That was quite an upmarket flat so it was being bought by someone prepared to invest in it.  If you were selling something more basic to a 1st time buyer, they might  be swayed by newish bathrooms/kitchens, or put another way, put off by tatty ones if they didn't have the spare cash to refurbish.

But that could be achieved quite cheaply - e.g new door fronts on existing litchen units, maybe a new hob and sink, for under a grand rather than a new upmarket one at ten or twenty times that .

I think the message is not to spend so much that you'll not add value commensurate with the overhaul cost... whaich again, depends on location and street ceiling price.  The best advice we ever had was from a builder on the Kent coast who talked us out of spending too much money which "you'll not get back"!  He was right; especially as prices dropped like a stone in 2008,  nationally but even more so locally, after we bought in 2007 and we were lucky not to lose out when we sold 2-3 years later

GDB2222

This depends a bit on what you can do yourself. If the outside paint is tatty, buying some paint and painting it yourself is likely to be worthwhile. It creates a great first impression of the house.

My daughter has had a quote of £300 to supply new kitchen unit doors and drawer fronts, to replace tatty old Magnet doors from the 1980s.

 I’d say all that sort of relatively cheap work is worth doing. On the other hand, they decided not to replace the tired but respectable carpets.

csgohan4

I think it helps to sell, not always add value.

When I redecorated some parts getting rid of wallpaper, we revealed fluorescent green paint hiding underneath, so probably an eyesore to viewers. Took me 3-4 coats to cover it up. 

daivid

If it needs doing, then probably yes - especially if you can do some or all of it yourself to a good standard.

If your house is likely to go to a 1st time buyer and you can finance a desirable improvement then possibly yes too. The amount I was offered as a ftb went way beyond what I could have borrowed to improve a fixer-upper.

If your house is likely to sell to someone older/with more capital then anything non-essential is likely to be cost neutral at best as the next owners are more likely to be planning to do things to their specific needs/tastes anyway.