What's worth fixing to sell our house?

[ShoeWhore]

Our house has lots of lovely period features but is a bit tired in places (been busy setting up own business and had neither the time or spare cash to do much non-essential maintenance)

Getting it valued this week with a view to putting it on the market next Spring. Looking around and there are quite a few jobs we could potentially do but I'm not sure which ones are worth it?

• Ensuite bathroom is dated (but perfectly usable, shower is good) Not totally hideous but definitely not your dream bathroom either
  
• Various rooms could do with painting (mainly neutral decor apart from children's rooms which are very child-like decor at the moment) including main bedroom and the hall stairs and landing
  
• Stripped floorboards in hall less than pristine (but I think OK if you don't look too closely)
  
• Bit of localised damp in the utility and dining room (I've already got someone lined up to come and look at this)
  
  Any thoughts much appreciated!

[Liara]

I would definitely deal with the damp and probably paint what could do with painting. Wouldn't bother with the others though.

[KittyOSullivanKrauss]

Sounds similar to our old house. We didn't do the bigger jobs, but did the more cosmetic ones such as repainting some rooms that look tired, and patching up elsewhere. We left child-friendly decor as it was. We also did major decluttering in each room. Our aim was the make the house look well cared for. We figured we could negotiate on bigger jobs if they were highlighted by the survey (this is exactly what happened with a damp issue). Based on your list, I would just do the repainting. You can always keep information from the damp expert for negotiating with any potential buyer. Good luck!

[breatheslowly]

Damp and possibly paint. Don't worry about the floorboards and definitely don't do anything to the ensuite as you won't make your money back on it.

[ShoeWhore]

Just to be clear the damp doesn't smell! Going to get someone to come and look at it anyway. It was meant to have been fixed before and clearly they didn't do a very good job, which is very annoying.

[ShoeWhore]

Oh lost my last post! Thanks for all your tips.

Think we'll need to pay someone to paint hall stairs and landing - is that still worth it? Should I repaint the front door?

Major decluttering already underway...

[BrownSauceSandwich]

I'd do the damp, but I'd put the bathroom and floors on the long finger. What you really need is a non-resident who'll be honest about the state of the rest. I think an air of neglect an be more damaging than identifiable "problems". As a buyer, I'd be able to face replacing a bathroom or kitchen, but an unloved house just feels unlovable.

Anyway, if youre only doing valuations now and not putting it on the market till spring, youve got a good while to work. Focus on unfinished jobs: absent bath panels, sagging cupboard doors, broken fences. Clean the walls and woodwork properly, and if you don't think "wow! That looks better!" then you probably need to repaint. Make sure your doors work: tighten up hinges, fix the latch springs, plane them down if they don't fit over carpets. Get a friend to come round and point out anything that would annoy them (you just stop seeing stuff when you live with it), like old screw holes that need filling, or broken light switches, or the cracked lid on the toilet. And if you have rooms that don't get used, repurpose them so they do. Like if you don't use your dining room, shuffle furniture around to turn it into a playroom or extra sitting room. I know people go on about staging a house, but I think viewers can still spot a room that's made up to look like something when it's really just a dumping ground.

[cavell]

Front door is the first thing people see. Definitely repaint if it's less than pristine. Possibly have new door furniture and new door mat.

Sort out the damp. That would put me off any house.

As for your en suite, it needs to be spotless. Clean the grout and any sealant. It might be worth putting in new taps/shower hose/mirror if these are looking a bit tired. Possibly a new floor. Difficult to say without seeing it, but probably it isn't worth replacing.