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 always buy places in condition 1, condition 3 would put me right off (and has done many times). The advantage of 1 is you can see exactly what needs doing because there isn't potentially damp etc hidden under a layer of fresh paint. You know everything needs doing anyway so you can start with the bare bones, do the work to your standard and decorate to your taste. Bare floorboards are great as you can see the condition and lots or people will want to just sand and varnish them.
Bathroom and kitchen are essential for mortgage reasons (as others have mentioned). If it is cleared out and doesn't smell terrible then that is bonus. I would prefer not to have to strip smelly wallpaper and remove gross carpets myself but will do it for the right place.
And I am not a developer - I just prefer to put my own stamp on my homes.

I would get someone to clear out the shed and garden.

I would leave the carpets if the floorboards are half decent. If the new buyers are going to do plastering/decorating/ new windows then they can do those messy things on the old carpets then rip them up and get rid of them. Electric/plumbing/ heating can also be done around the old carpets, doesn’t matter if they get cut up.

Also wanted to add, this sound like the place we tried to buy but it went to sealed bid offers and we lost (someone offered £150k over asking!!)

It was a large flat in a Victorian house (divided into several flats) in Wandsworth. It had had a sitting tenant in the flat since before short hold tenancies and he had died, so they were finally able to sell it. It was a total tip, completely unliveable (I couldn’t believe the conditions the guy was living in) but was really spacious and had a huge totally overgrown garden.

It was a couple years ago but we are still really sad that we didn’t manage to buy that flat.

Ask three estate agents. They are the experts.

I imagine it would sell to an investor or developer so they will see past the work required.

@Judashascomeintosomemoney

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 agree with this.

The amount you need to do to make a finacial difference is really a lot.
Paint and laminate isn't going to be enough.
Either sell it as a doer upper, in which case sell it empty as is.
or do it up and try and get the money back on return.

But I think you'd need to spend a lot.

Get an estate agent in, and get a clearance company to do the garage and garden sheds

We had a similar situation.
We had the flat cleared including removing all curtains, carpets and lampshades, then we had it professionally cleaned (to try and remove the stale smell). The flat needs total renovation! But we sold it as is to someone who is very excited to put their own stamp on it.

I would get it valued first. Then think about option 2.

The estate agents will have a list of people and probably some mates that would be looking to snap this up. I don't trust estate agents at all!

Do option 2. You could advertise for an odd job person and pay them by the hour. If you are there yourself you can do it together, it won't cost much at all. Find out what similar propoerties in the area have gone for, get it to a state when it's potential can be seen and then engage with estate agents. Honestly replacing bathrooms, kitchens and painting really is not a big deal to people who are used to it and it doesn't cost that much.

I was in a similar situation to you OP. My DH passed away last year and his home was cosmetically still stuck in the 80s which was when we first moved there. Full of decades of hoarded items that took us months to sort through. Building was sound enough though the garden and garage were both worse for wear and it had no form of heating whatsoever. DSis and I cleared it and put it on the market pretty much as it was, it had a LOT of interest from developers - 27 offers at closing date and sold for over asking price (we are in Scotland). So i would definitely say option 1, it's hard enough being in this sort of situation.

Darn posted reply on another thread.

Put up for auction to beat the stamp duty holiday, don’t try and strip wallpaper in case plaster comes off.

I would actually go for option 1 as people love snapping up properties that they can fix up themselves and make their own / make a profit on. But - like others have suggested - clear the garden so you can see how big it is.

Put it on the market, a builder will snap it up, at the right price. Good luck OP.

I'd sell it as is. No point in spending money and energy on it if you're not planning on keeping it. What you do may not be to buyer's taste. I would get someone in to clear out the garden though (just hack everything back).

My parents' house is going to be exactly the same when the time comes, so I do feel for you

I also had this. I tried option one (and it doesn't sound in as if it was in as bad a condition as yours) and it failed to sell both via an estate agents and at auction. I then invested quite a bit of money and had it done up and it sold relatively easily for a decent amount. So I'm going against the grain here. You could always try number one and prepare for number 3 if that doesn't work.

I did my DF's large house in London. It was really bad, bathrooms were disgusiting. He had trashed and hoarded in every room. No room was free of mess, He ended up living up a camp bed horribly stained and peeing into bottles by his bed at night. He actually didnt think it was that bad!

He was going into a home and we were told by our brillitant EA to get it cleared and just advertise as unmodernised. It was round the corner from an outstanding school. Needless to say we were overwhelmed with over the asking price offers. Honestly there is a real market for this sort of place. People can do what they like with the property and the state of it is reflected in the price.

I would clear it, take up the carpets because they are adding to the smell I suspect, get it cleaned but nothing grand and then put it on the market.

Just empty it and sell as it is. Honestly it won't be worth the time and effort to do anything else, it will make little difference to the value unless you fully refurb.

Hire someone to clear the house of every shred that isn't nailed down and then all the land, the two fallen down sheds and the garage.

If you're absolutely sure there isn't anything of any value anywhere - skip the entire lot.

Sell it as a fixer upper/ blank slate to a developer or handy DIY types.

Don't spend any more time or effort on it than is absolutely necessary.

I would just sell it too.The facts are apart from the physical work of decorating and doing up the carpets and so on ,its terribly draining on you emotionally as well .If it goes to Auction and is in a good area will sell to a builder and he can take it on .

Definitely not 3. I live on a street that has had new people move in and even though the house in modern, they e immediately ripped out the kitchen /bathroom and put a new one in.

2 is better than 1. I'd get some quotes from house clearance companies m. If people can see the bare bones (walls, floors etc) they can install a kitchen and bathroom suited to their tastes.

Sorry to hear of your loss, it has been a tough time for you.

If I were in your shoes, I’d sell it/auction it.

This will free you up to start the next chapter of your life, hopefully with a few luxuries.

Whatever you decide, I wish you all the best.

xxx

With all the interest in this thread, you could maybe sell it here...

I would ask estate agent to take a look how it is now how realistic price to sell then ask if I do this work what would price be, that should tell you wether it’s worth you spending money/ time on it.

Invite several estate agents in - and listen to them.

Just sold PIL's house. Very dated, had to remove some carpets (don't ask), dodgy electrics. DH wanted to do it up. In fact, he spent time creating plans to extend it into a substantial family home, as appears to be common round here. Estate agents said just sell it 'as is'. (I was very relieved!)
A family have just moved in, after paying a good price.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

Pay somebody to clear it out then auction it?

I would ask advice from a couple of estate agents