Thinking of putting house on market

pinkpinkfizz

Hi,

We are thinking of putting our house on the market.
We are in an ex-council house which now has a huge amount of equity and a we have a very low mortgage.

The prices similar houses in our area are going for, is the highest I've seen and so we wondered about sellling now to gain maximum profit?

Also, If you were to put your house on the market, and you know the demand is high, would you spend money doing up the house to try and boost market value? I say yes, DH says put it on market and see what happens. I'm not talking £1000's on a complete refit, just a couple of new carpets and a lick of paint??

any advice most welcome

RHemmings

Can you give us a street address and a number, and if very recent a price, for one of the houses that has sold recently?

Jorgan_2

pinkpinkfizz wrote: »

Hi,

We are thinking of putting our house on the market.
We are in an ex-council house which now has a huge amount of equity and a we have a very low mortgage.

The prices similar houses in our area are going for, is the highest I've seen and so we wondered about sellling now to gain maximum profit?

Also, If you were to put your house on the market, and you know the demand is high, would you spend money doing up the house to try and boost market value? I say yes, DH says put it on market and see what happens. I'm not talking £1000's on a complete refit, just a coule of new carpets and a lick of paint??

any advice most welcome

Do not confuse profitability with saleability. Putting a £10k kitchen into a property that already has a decent kitchen in place will not increase your sale price by £10k. Make your house as presentable as possible, if need be get a friend in to tell you what they think needs doing, don't take it personally, its how a buyer sees it that is important.

neas

Dont spend time doing up a place... as the market is going down... By the time you've 'added' a 10k kitchen the average houses would have also dropped 10k... so you would've just wasted 10k... rather than selling earlier.

Markyt

neas wrote: »

Dont spend time doing up a place... as the market is going down... By the time you've 'added' a 10k kitchen the average houses would have also dropped 10k... so you would've just wasted 10k... rather than selling earlier.

I'd say the opposite - spend a bit of money doing up a place, and do it in a way that will make it sell faster. People don't have the money or inclination to start refurbishing places they buy at the moment - they expect it to be good enough to live in straight away.

beingjdc

Markyt wrote: »

I'd say the opposite - spend a bit of money doing up a place, and do it in a way that will make it sell faster. People don't have the money or inclination to start refurbishing places they buy at the moment - they expect it to be good enough to live in straight away.

I'd disagree completely - in a market where mortgages are hard to get and the economy is insecure, it's time to compete on price, not quality, so people feel they're getting a bargain.

But it depends on the area and the type of property - and of course if there are any major visual problems or things that can be done easily, go for that.

Davesnave

If you can do it quickly and cheaply there's no harm and it may just swing it with the one buyer you need - just keep it neutral. If it takes more than a couple of weeks, forget it. I agree with Jorgan, get a friend whose opinion you respect to pick the 3 most important easyish things to alter. You don't have to agree, but another perspective can help.

You know there's demand there, so watch local comparative prices like a hawk and stay within them. This is the best time of the year for selling, especially this year!

Jorgan_2

Price & condition will be paramount to achieving a sale at a good price. A simple make over by de-cluttering & redecorating doesn't have to cost a lot, the labour should be free for a start.

Toto

Just clean it to within an inch of your life. To be honest carpets paint and the rest of it don't bother me at all. I'd much rather buy something for a reasonable price that I can decorate to my taste, change kitchens etc over time than something more expensive that has been house doctored. But honestly I've seen some filth when viewing (not suggesting your house is dirty) and that puts me right off. So, I wouldn't bother with spending money just the time in making sure everything is spotless.

pinkpinkfizz

Thanks to everyone who replied, I genuinley appreciate all the advice.

I was only considering repainting the hallway, new carpet on stairs and upper landing (even if we dont sell, it needs to be done!) and give the master bedroom a new colour of paint. We did a renovation of the downstairs 18 months ago, so its still looking good, just an exceptionally detailed clean before valuation will suffice there.

I've watched all these "house Doctoring" programmes for years now I suppose its time to put it into practice. I'm going to box up all non required belongs, clean clean and clean again and see what happens.


It feels scary but exciting :eek:
Thanks again,