Selling a house - to do it up or not?

NaughtiusMaximus

AskAsk said:

we have always been told by estate agents not to do up a property to sell but i find that this is not great advice as it means your market is limited to people who can afford and are willing to take on the work.  it takes longer to sell a dilapidated property and you won't get a good price for it as there are less people interested in the property.

The OP said the decor is merely tired and dated, dilapidated is a significant step beyond that and a different matter entirely. 

sarahevie1

This could have been my thread. Ex mil died in february. 1995 3 bed detached on a pleasant estate in yorkshire. Property tidy, clean but original bathrooms 2, plus downstairs toilet (avocado). Original kitchen, dated and tiny (many have knocked through). I reckoned sell as is.

In the end paid to have to repainted white throughout to make it look clean rather than anything. Replace fence it was tatty, professional cleaning team in and garden/hedge tidy. 9 skips removed this sounds dramatic it wasnt a hoarders paradise merely 25 years of family life. Spent £2000 sold within 3 weeks after marketing end of october. Children felt it should achieve 280,000 they sold for £295000 (had 2 offers at this level so found its value.) 

Same original property but completely altered downstairs layout, new kitchens/bathrooms sold in July for £325000. (This house would be what I'd prefer as it's completely modern.)

Had a few developers round but not enough margin, the buyers are a family that are planning to extend (corner plot) bur have said they can live as is til they save and change it all gradually which is what I always expected. 

Vasquez65

I think it really depends on who prospective buyers will be.  Ours are likely to be families who want more space but cant afford ‘desirable’ areas. 
We followed all the advice to ‘do nothing’  with a dated probate house other than clean,   We’ve had no offers and hardly  any viewings,  every feedback mentioned the poor state of decoration - so we’ve started doing the place up,  everywhere is painted cream,  new kitchen  and bathroom flooring, a few new modern lights,  all picked up very cheaply but good quality,   you just need the time to search for bargains. 

Most buyers seem to want houses they don’t have to do anything to,  hence the popularity  of  bland new builds.
 

goodadvice12

sarahevie1 said:

This could have been my thread. Ex mil died in february. 1995 3 bed detached on a pleasant estate in yorkshire. Property tidy, clean but original bathrooms 2, plus downstairs toilet (avocado). Original kitchen, dated and tiny (many have knocked through). I reckoned sell as is.

In the end paid to have to repainted white throughout to make it look clean rather than anything. Replace fence it was tatty, professional cleaning team in and garden/hedge tidy. 9 skips removed this sounds dramatic it wasnt a hoarders paradise merely 25 years of family life. Spent £2000 sold within 3 weeks after marketing end of october. Children felt it should achieve 280,000 they sold for £295000 (had 2 offers at this level so found its value.) 

Same original property but completely altered downstairs layout, new kitchens/bathrooms sold in July for £325000. (This house would be what I'd prefer as it's completely modern.)

Had a few developers round but not enough margin, the buyers are a family that are planning to extend (corner plot) bur have said they can live as is til they save and change it all gradually which is what I always expected. 

That's really interesting. I wonder how much was spent on the  July selling property? Kitchens, bathrooms, and  new layout sounds quite pricey... And of course, with a looming Budget from Rishi, the CGT situ could get worse, so a speedy sale might benefit me from that point of view...
I am not entirely sure on the age of my property, I would think mid 80s so again, pretty similar to yourself.

Bonniepurple

We’ve redecorated and recarpeted, as I could not let someone come round to view with threadbare 60s carpets and walls a combination of plaster and horrid yellow.  We’re going on the market in the new year.  As a buyer, what m looking for is habitable.  There’s one house that’s clearly trading on the “detatched” label price wise- there’s recarpet at some point and then there’s being able to see exactly what furniture and where the vendor has had in place for 40 years (carpet is red patches with threadbare brown!).

OP, I’d say sell as is.  If someone is able to repaint the walls and clean or replace the carpets, do that.  Don’t worry about anything else.