Selling House - How much work would you do?

lumencreative

After a couple of threads on here, my wife and I have decided to put our house on the market. We’ve spoken to a couple of estate agents already and have some booked in to appraise the house at the beginning of July. 

My question is, how much work would you do to make the house more saleable? Fresh decoration? Just clean thoroughly what’s already there? Replace any warn or missing carpets?

I get the sentiments from the last couple of threads that it’s perhaps silly to spend too much money on the house if we intend to sell but where do we draw the line between enough effort and too much?

sst1234

Depends entirely on location. In some locations and neighbourhoods, anything will sell regardless of condition. In others, even the nicest properties take time to shift. Ultimately, if you price it right or just below market value, that will make a bigger difference and get people through the door than any decoration. 

AdrianC

We can't see what the place looks like now, and we don't know how much time and effort and money would bring good returns.
We don't know what your local market is like, and how picky buyers are.

Ask the EAs. It's part of what you're paying them for.

badger09

Another vote for asking EAs opinion.

General advice:
CLEAN & tidy.
Put away as much 'stuff' as possible, otherwise people will think its too small/not enough storage.
Neutralise anything really personal eg black/fluoresent walls. Too distracting for many buyers who can't see past decor.
Make it obvious what each room is/could be used for eg table & chairs in dining room/area, rather than bikes/kids toys
Fix obvious issues eg dripping taps, cupboard doors hanging off

Good luck

verytired11

I agree that you need to ask your agent.  My agent gave specific advice not to bother doing anything.  It will depend on your house and the local market.  But I would advise decluttering for viewings.  Decor can be changed but the amount of space in a house can't and you want to make it look as big as possible.

fishfingerbutties

Yep, ask your agent. If you're in a hot market area, and type of property, just make sure it's clean and tidy and decluttered and that is pretty much enough if you price it sensibly. 

thriftytracey

I did the following:-

Paid for UPVC soffit and fascia cleaning
Window cleaning and external doors
Pressure washed patios
Added a couple of flowering pots (garden already tidy)
Thorough clean - e.g. washed some paintwork, got rid of cobwebs, washed dusty light fittings, deep cleaned bathrooms
Removed all dog paraphernalia
Decluttered generally and removed kitchen worktop items
Moved caravan off drive (and cars) on viewing day

I did ask the estate agent about replacing one of the carpets as it had some puppy accident stains.  They said not to bother.
As previous posters said it probably did not make a huge difference as I lived in a hot market area.  I think it made the photos look more attractive.  I think decluttering is the most important.  I've seen properties on Right Move which are a right mess and it puts me off viewing them.

Tiddleshalifax

I agree with what’s been said - your agent should give you that advice.
we actually have a Dalmatian wall - it didn’t put our buyer off! 

We had some blown windows and our estate agent recommended sorting them - so we did! 

Pok3mon

thriftytracey said:

I did the following:-

Paid for UPVC soffit and fascia cleaning
Window cleaning and external doors
Pressure washed patios
Added a couple of flowering pots (garden already tidy)
Thorough clean - e.g. washed some paintwork, got rid of cobwebs, washed dusty light fittings, deep cleaned bathrooms
Removed all dog paraphernalia
Decluttered generally and removed kitchen worktop items
Moved caravan off drive (and cars) on viewing day

I did ask the estate agent about replacing one of the carpets as it had some puppy accident stains.  They said not to bother.
As previous posters said it probably did not make a huge difference as I lived in a hot market area.  I think it made the photos look more attractive.  I think decluttering is the most important.  I've seen properties on Right Move which are a right mess and it puts me off viewing them.

I did exactly this apart from I Left the cars on the drive st show you can park 4 cars no problem. 
We also bought a cheap set of new towel's to stack in bathroom. In the kitchen we left out expensive appliances out to sell a lifestyle Kitchinaid, Magimix and Dulit toaster we have had all this stuff for years we love cooking and use most of it every day. (not the mixer so much we did put this out!)
It worked 20k over asking price! 

ss2020jd

We decluttered, updated planting, adding nice flowering pots and window boxes to tidy garden front and back. Deep cleaned. 

Touched up any minor bits that needed attention. Cleaned windows. Freshened paint on just one or two walls and that made a massive difference, although estate agents usually won’t recommend that as they want it on as soon as possible. Plus people do have different tastes and usually paint themselves when they move in so generally that is not necessary. In our case it did pay off though as we had a lot of interest and offers much higher than expected.
Also a new hall runner door mats etc that you can take with you. 

PollyWollyDoodle

Decluttering is the most important thing. My agent said don’t bother with any work. I was intending to repaint the front door but he said don’t even bother with that. 

Get as much as you can off the floor, so it looks spacious.  Clean the windows, pressure wash any patio slabs. Like @Pok3mon I bought some cheap fluffy towels to put in the bathroom, mine are perfectly serviceable but don’t look great!  I also left my coffee machine out, but hid the Actifry that usually lives on the worktop. After reading comments on here I also put away all toiletries in the bathroom. I packed half my ornaments, and most of the photos (I had to leave some up or it would have left marks on the wall).  And I cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned – I couldn’t have any friends in to help as it was lockdown, nearly killed me but it was worth it because I got three offers including one over asking price