Inherited nightmare house - what to do?

[TomHanksintheMoneyPit]

Last year I inherited my late mother's upper floor maisonette, which was in an appalling condition due to my mother being disabled and mentally ill and a hoarder, and a squatter living in the house for five months after her death who trashed the place.

The place is basically structurally sound and does not have any mould or mildew, and no problems with insect or rodent infestation or anything like that. But it's in a terrible condition and has not been touched since the 1970s. The bathroom and kitchen both need to be ripped out and replaced. It probably needs a new boiler. Every room (even the bathroom!) has stained, threadbare carpets. I've pulled some of the carpets back and the floorboards underneath are in reasonable condition albeit would need a fair bit of work (sanding, staining and varnishing) to make them look good. All the rooms except one have ancient tatty wallpaper. The doors, door frames and window frames are filthy and yellowed and would need to be deep-cleaned then re-painted white. The massive garden is a jungle with knee-high brambles and at least two fallen down sheds. The garage is so jammed with stuff you can't even get inside.

I have health problems, do not drive, and it takes me 90 minutes on (free) public transport to get to her house. I don't have anyone to help me and earn a pretty small salary, although I do have a generous cash inheritance which is in an ISA. I generally can only visit her house once a week, twice at most, and spend perhaps 7 hours there. It's taken me a year just to clear out her personal possessions and furniture. On the other hand I'm not bad at DIY/decorating and feel confident in being able to do stuff like prep and paint walls or put down laminate flooring.

I'm now at the point of having to decide when to put it on the market, and how much work to do in advance. People with experience in selling houses, and in particular selling or buying fixer uppers, would you recommend:

1. Putting it on the market as-is, as a fixer upper, in the knowledge that the sheer look of the place is so off-putting.

1. Doing superficial DIY work to make it look more appealing, eg. stripping the old wallpaper, giving the walls a fresh coat of paint, cleaning and re-painting the doors, ripping up the carpets and putting some cheap laminate floor tiles down, just so that the property looks clean, neutral, and not totally neglected. But leave the kitchen and bathroom and sell it with the understanding the new owners will need to do some work in installing a new kitchen and bathroom, new boiler, fixing the garden, etc.

1. Invest the contents of my ISA into paying someone to do it up properly including installing a new kitchen and bathroom, before putting it on the market.

I'm leaning towards #2, but I'm uncertain exactly what I should do, vs what I should leave. I keep thinking of new things that need fixing or replacing, like the garden fence, and going AAARRRRGGGHH! Any advice?

I’d just sell it personally. Diy is tough work on your own house and in good health.

I'd go for option 2, pay a local decorator to paint every room magnolia and replace the carpets which cheap shit that looks clean. That'll probably cost £2-3k but might add £10k to the sale price. It depends where in the country it is TBH too

Pay house clearance if it isn’t already empty and sell as is. Yes you could get more/quicker if you did a bit but you don’t sound like you want to and is it worth the extra that you may or may not get.

I’d possibly go with mostly number 2 if you’re up to it. So many people automatically rip out kitchens and bathrooms that it’s not worth it.
I wouldn’t even put any flooring down. To sell it as a blank canvas would probably make it quite attractive

I would do a scaled down version of 2.
Pay someone to clear the garden, sheds and the garage, and rip up visibly dirty carpets (leave floorboards not laminate). Maybe strip the wall paperdepending how long it would take.
Then sell it as a fixer upper.
Remember your time and sanity are worth something! and no-one wants a cheap kitchen and bathroom to someone else's tastes.
I'm speaking as a buyer who has seen places like this and it's really off putting knowing you'll be ripping out the brand new bottom of the range kitchen, but paying for it anyway.

I would be inclined to sell. As you say, there's no mould or mildew or structural problems - these are more likely to put off a buyer than old wallpaper. If you were young and in good health with easy access to the property I'd say strip it and you might make an extra grand or so. As it stands, I can't see that the work would be worth it. A coat of paint isn't going to add an awful lot of value. Same with replacing the fittings - someone else might prefer to do it to their taste anyway.

I would sell it.
Many people will jump at the chance of a bargain property, and have skill/time/money to invest.

A friend of mine was in a similar situation- her father died leaving his house in a poor state. Structurally sound, but a mess. Hadn't been touched since the 70s. ripped vinyl flooring, stained bathroom, kitchen falling apart.
It was put on the market at 20% below market value, and had 3 offers within a week.
The new owners gutted the place, tore out the kitchen, bathroom, put in new doors, driveway, they were super happy at bagging a bargain house.

I'm veering to option 2 as well.

After a whole year just to get it to this state I would sell it as is. Doing some work yourself won't add that much value if its likely to need windows/heating/rewiring etc. Someone else doing it up is a chore when it's difficult to travel to. But I think it's the fact that selling it 'as is' is the quicker option would be the most important advantage. Good luck.

I’d go for option 1. Yes, option 2 would get you more, but it’ll take you another six months and cause stress and hardship in that time. Don’t do 3 - you don’t know what the property market is going to do and it’s not worth investing your inheritance in to.

House clearance and then go to auction. You're spending three hours a day travelling to get there it's not really sustainable if you undertake a proper renovation on it.

I would either sell it as is maybe at auction or just tidy it up. Look on your local community groups and see if there are garden and house clearance companies. Get rid of the carpets and give the whole place a good clean. Either do it yourself or get someone on. wouldn't bother to replace the kitchen or bathroom or put flooring down. Take the money out of your ISA. Have you got it insured as an empty property.

Put it up for auction now. The time, effort and money you'd spend on any work, even just painting, would be undone by the next owner who would likely redo it anyway. You probably wouldn't make much if you did a full renovation, just cover your costs. Especially if you can't do any of it yourself. Let somebody else buy it and do the work.

Actually 2 is probably the one I wouldn’t do. That will still be a lot of time and effort and won’t necessarily make much difference if there’s still going to be a lot for a buyer to do. I’d get a couple or more estate agents to have a look and see what they think the difference in sale price could be between 1 and 3. Then you’ll know if 3 is going to be worth it in terms of the return.

I'd go for 2. But only if you can do it fairly cheaply. I don't imagine you'll add much value, but you may well get a sale more quickly. I've bought doer uppers and personally have been keen to be able to buy a property I can add value to. My experience of selling is that I've been surprised how quite minor cosmetic issues can put people off.

I would first get a few estate agents around to value it and ask their advice. The local market might make a big difference to your decision.

I'd talk to an estate agent to get an idea of value both as seen and done up. And rental value.

I've seen a couple of places recently on Rightmove which have stated "needs complete renovation" - one had only pictures of the outside, and stated in the description that it was on the market for the first time in 80 years, and wasn't it a lovely plot for planning permission The other had a photo of a delightful pink bathroom and I think a room with the vilest wallpaper hanging off and a carpet with a pattern you could spot from space - in case anyone was unclear on what "complete renovation" meant.

The problem with your tidy it up a little idea is that you're bound to discover something that needs immediate fixing, so you fix that, then something else goes wrong, so you fix that, and then while you're stripping the wallpaper the plaster blows so that needs re-plastering and then the plasterer puts his foot through the floor ... and so on.

Put it on the market as is and price accordingly.
As someone who's done up houses option 2 will be a waste of your time and/or money.

If you can do option 2 cheaply and don't mind waiting for the sale,then you might get more money that way. I would just try and clear up the things that look messy, but not worry about finishing e.g. take up old dirty carpets and wallpaper, clear the garden etc but don't actually put down new flooring etc. On the other hand, depending on where you are someone might want to buy it quickly to get the stamp relief (which is only there til march) and so you might get more for it before end march than after.

We were in this position. We got the house cleared and then put in on the market as it was. Estate agent advised us not to bother spending any money on smartening round the edges as it clearly needed a full refurb so any improvements would just be undone immediately by the new buyers so wouldn’t affect the price.

I agree with @billybagpuss. House clearance then sell as is. Don't bother doing any work unless you really want to it's simply not worth the effort (and I speak from experience).

Just sell it as it is. Even patchwork DIY isn't going to get it to the standard it needs to be and will cost you in time, money and stress.

You could auction it or sell it off at a good price and move on with your life. Properties start to cost you money when they're not lived in.

A lot depends on the area and value as to what I could advise but personally unless you are in a very upmarket area I would say clear out everything , get a waste company in to clear and dispose of all the junk , then strip back to bare basics leaving in a kitchen and bathroom ( without these it becomes in- mortgageable ) strim and clear the garden and empty the garage , then sell , if it's sound with an agent or if not at auction, you will be surprised as the level of interest you will get by investors looking for a refurb and although many purchase as cash buyers being mortgageable makes it open to more viewers

I would get someone to clear the garden so that the size and potential can be seen and I would rip up the carpets and give everything a clean but leave it at that.

I bought a probate house that was option 1, option 2 would have seemed like a total waste based on the work we had to do.

As long as it's empty I think you're fine to do 1.