Renovate before selling or not?

dannim12345

I wouldn’t do any more then tidying up and clear the garden, it’s not just the money it’s your time and effort.  

If there are any ‘red flags’, I would fix them if not too costly. The house we bought was on the market for a while, it’s was fine decor wise (quiet 90’s) but one of the things that put me off at first was a hole in a bedroom ceiling.  There had been a roof leak which was fitted externally but the ceiling hadn’t been fixed. The seller (it was probate) could have fixed that for a few hundred pounds (def less than £1k) and nobody would have known. 

pinkshoes

missile said:

Many thanks again for your responses. I find these helpful, but I am still undecided :-(

I am happy to spend if I can see a return on my "investment". I am concerned that increased asking price may limit my buyers. I feel it might attract more buyers and sell quicker if it is the cheapest house available.

I'd do some more research, but if there seems to be a limit to how much it would be worth, then I'd be tempted to "leave it", as other wise it's a lot of effort for very little extra return.

By "leave it", I mean at least de-grotty it. Remove anything icky like old curtains, stained carpets etc... then give the place a very thorough clean! 

Someone bought my grandad's house that we sold, and tried to flip it for 50% more 6 weeks later after painting it (floors and walls) with F&B white paint! No takers, as people really aren't that naïve! She then realised she'd have to finish off the renovation, so did the work (boiler, double glazing, replaced old lean to conservatory etc...) and over 2 years later still hasn't sold. The 4 bed family home is now a 3 bed art deco white box with a much more limited market...

Sometimes you'll get a better price when you have a wider market so people can buy it and make it into what they want it to be. 

Albermarle

missile said:

Many thanks again for your responses. I find these helpful, but I am still undecided :-(

I am happy to spend if I can see a return on my "investment". I am concerned that increased asking price may limit my buyers. I feel it might attract more buyers and sell quicker if it is the cheapest house available.

It could be worth doing something to improve its 'kerb appeal' ( if necessary) . If it looks very sad that will put some people off, and reduce your pool of buyers.

Chemistry777

We spent about £2k and 2 weeks (every evening and weekend) to spruce up the property we were selling.   Main cost was new carpets and upcycle kitchen (new sink, worktops and part cupboard doors).  but we painted and cleaned everywhere and also did major tidy in the garden.

I am convinced this facilitated our quick sale and good sale price.

Everyone and property is different but I felt I wanted to try and make it nice for the new owners.   It was a FTB type property and I sometimes think they lack the experience to see beyond the cosmetic.

MeteredOut

Chemistry777 said:

We spent about £2k and 2 weeks (every evening and weekend) to spruce up the property we were selling.   Main cost was new carpets and upcycle kitchen (new sink, worktops and part cupboard doors).  but we painted and cleaned everywhere and also did major tidy in the garden.

I am convinced this facilitated our quick sale and good sale price.

Everyone and property is different but I felt I wanted to try and make it nice for the new owners.   It was a FTB type property and I sometimes think they lack the experience to see beyond the cosmetic.

My thoughts on this:

• My experience is that doing it up will help it sell quicker, but not necessarily increase the sale price by the amount spent
• But, if the property will be targeted at first time buyers, then getting it into a "move in" state will help with a quicker sale, and perhaps also recoup more of the money spent on the refurb

JustinTime19

Speak with estate agents to get an idea of what type of buyer is likely to buy the property, and the type of project they would be looking for. This will give you an idea of how much energy/money you may want to potentially spend. What ever condition the property is in, the right price will sell it.

I would say as a minimum (from my perspective) to consider the following

Kerb Appeal

Do General Maintenance

Declutter

Deep Clean (consider carpet clean as well)

Invest in some diffusers that are not over powering, but give a fresh smell

london21

Can also get estate agent opinion but usually better to just sell unless you are doing full renovation adding rooms, extensions etc. 

Murphybear

peterhjohnson said:

The usual advice is to sell as-is and not to renovate. This is because you will redecorate it in the "wrong" colours. Buyers will be unwilling to pay (enough) for your renovation expenditure. 
They won't like your taste in bathrooms or kitchens either and are likely to plan on replacing them.
There may be complications trying to sell a property that lacks a functional bathroom or kitchen.

We bought a bungalow a few years ago.  It was very dated and we put in a new kitchen.  My husband built a larder which was brilliant for us as we tended to overstock.  It was easy to sell the bungalow but the person who bought it wanted to flip it and the first thing he did was to remove the larder and put in matching units  . 

Murphybear

Albermarle said:

Thanks for your prompt responses. This reflects my own opinion. Family are all telling me that I should renovate. They all watch "homes under the hammer".

It is just an entertainment programme. People showing off for the TV, making semi ridiculous claims about how little they have spent and most of the ones that go wrong never see the light of day.

I love watching that, my husband doesn’t understand why.  Our first house together was a “fixer-upper”, it had a reasonable bathroom but no boiler and the kitchen had literally nothing but the kitchen sink  .  It needed rewiring, he did that himself (he had necessary qualifications to do so) and we found a lovely local firm to put in the kitchen and he did everything else apart from installing the boiler.  My main job was stripping the woodchip wallpaper, if you’ve ever done this you know how hellish it is.  I also made the tea.  We didn’t spend a fortune on the house and when we sold it 3 years later the first couple to see it bought it  at virtually the asking price.  

Murphybear

pinkshoes said:

missile said:

Many thanks again for your responses. I find these helpful, but I am still undecided :-(

I am happy to spend if I can see a return on my "investment". I am concerned that increased asking price may limit my buyers. I feel it might attract more buyers and sell quicker if it is the cheapest house available.

I'd do some more research, but if there seems to be a limit to how much it would be worth, then I'd be tempted to "leave it", as other wise it's a lot of effort for very little extra return.

By "leave it", I mean at least de-grotty it. Remove anything icky like old curtains, stained carpets etc... then give the place a very thorough clean! 

Someone bought my grandad's house that we sold, and tried to flip it for 50% more 6 weeks later after painting it (floors and walls) with F&B white paint! No takers, as people really aren't that naïve! She then realised she'd have to finish off the renovation, so did the work (boiler, double glazing, replaced old lean to conservatory etc...) and over 2 years later still hasn't sold. The 4 bed family home is now a 3 bed art deco white box with a much more limited market...

Sometimes you'll get a better price when you have a wider market so people can buy it and make it into what they want it to be. 

Also completely declutter even if it means “hiding” a few things.  Especially make sure the floors are completely clear.   Good tip I learnt years ago.  If potential buyers see a lot of clutter they may, subconsciously or openly, think there is not enough storage space.  When house hunting over the last 25 years it’s one thing I always kept an eye out for.  It’s usually difficult to add storage.