Family home - renovate prior to sale or cheap for quicker sale

trex227

Also I don’t know what it’s like where you are, but around here the trades are so busy it’s 3 months waiting for pretty much everyone. If possible (depending on when your mother is going to be moving) I would want to be getting the house on the market ASAP- seems to me people are paying over the odds to get in before the stamp duty deadline

Mojisola

polgara said:

the house is in pretty bad condition.  It would need completely clearing, some carpet removing (don’t ask 🤢), whole house rewire, replaster in places and scrubbing before a complete redecoration. 

From my own experience - Dad's house was in reasonable condition but very dated - I would agree with the 'spruce it up and price to allow for renovation' comments.

The buyers removed walls downstairs, moved walls upstairs to change the layout, put in a new kitchen and bathroom of their choosing, and so on.  It would have been a terrible waste if we'd rewired the house and modernised the 1960s kitchen because our choice wouldn't have anything like theirs.

Davesnave

Similarly, I renovated my father's bungalow. It took 10 months, part-time. Allowing for costs I made  about £20k more than if I'd sold it as a doer-upper.

However, it sold in 2007 at the peak of the market, just before the economic Crash of 2008. Had the timing been a year later, the story would have been entirely different.

Depends where it is to some extent, but I wouldn't want to bet on a rising market next year!

aliby21

I wouldn't do anything.  I wouldn't bother with a freshen up coat of paint a) if she is a really heavy smoker and everything (ceilings, woodwork, any uPVC) is yellow then a quick once over of walls isn't going to hide it and b) if it really does need a complete rewire then that is going to entail chasing into walls, replastering, redecorating.  I'd just sell it as needing work and be done with it. 

theoretica

I would offer it for sale as is - but with care about the estate agent contract you sign so if it doesn't sell fast and easily you can then consider doing more work.

scottiescott

I bought something like you describe 4 months ago. Apart from the nicotine stained walls everything else was sound. Just dated and needing upgrading. I knew what it needed and did my sums. I have more or less gutted it and am near completion. I would say don't bother spending money on it, it is what it is and a buyer will see if its got potential and theres no guarantee you will recover money spent on it for marketing.

TBagpuss

eddddy said:

I'd be tempted to ask some local estate agents for their opinions. Explain that you're planning to sell, and you're wondering what work you should do on the property first.

I've generally got interesting feedback from EAs when I've done that. Although they tend to err on the side of doing less work, rather than more work, because they'd want you to get the house on the market sooner rather than later. But it's still been useful feedback.

I' do similar - tell them you are considering doing the work and ask them to estimate value  'as is' and after the work is done, then get a couple of quotes for the work and see whether it's cost effective.
Either way I would get rid of the carpets, deep clean and maybe paint all over in neutral colours, as those things re relatively quick and easy, and make the place look more appealing.

AdrianC

Davesnave said:

Similarly, I renovated my father's bungalow. It took 10 months, part-time. Allowing for costs I made  about £20k more than if I'd sold it as a doer-upper.

However, it sold in 2007 at the peak of the market, just before the economic Crash of 2008. Had the timing been a year later, the story would have been entirely different.

Depends where it is to some extent, but I wouldn't want to bet on a rising market next year!

Was that around the time when simply holding on for ten months would have seen a £20k increase in value?

Davesnave

AdrianC said:

Davesnave said:

Similarly, I renovated my father's bungalow. It took 10 months, part-time. Allowing for costs I made  about £20k more than if I'd sold it as a doer-upper.

However, it sold in 2007 at the peak of the market, just before the economic Crash of 2008. Had the timing been a year later, the story would have been entirely different.

Depends where it is to some extent, but I wouldn't want to bet on a rising market next year!

Was that around the time when simply holding on for ten months would have seen a £20k increase in value?

 I allowed for a price increase over the period in calculating I'd benefited by around £20k. It was a conservative estimate.

lincroft1710

I'm in the "sell as is" camp.

If your DIY skills are only so-so, just slapping on a new coat of vinyl matt (or similar) will not look good. You usually need 2 coats for a good finish and it needs to be done properly. You would also need to think about doing all the internal woodwork with undercoat and gloss, time consuming for a good job. If it looks poorly finished and amateurish, you've wasted time effort and money, and potential buyers are going to factor in redecoration costs. If it is a fixer-upper (which it sounds like) whoever buys it won't be interested in your attempts to prep it for sale.

Definitely empty the house and rip out the carpets and possibly wash the paintwork. Nothing looks worse in EA particulars than photos of rooms with dated, stained carpets and old mismatched furniture. It also shows you have made an effort to present the house as a blank canvas rather than a junk store.