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?

Second the auction idea.
An investor won't care what state it's in so you would just have to organise rubbish clearance. It's also less stressful than having the to'ing and fro'ing that selling usually entails.

Had a similar dilemma with my uncle's flat. I would say put it on the market as is, sell at auction so you can get rid of it as quickly as possible (if it is in London you may be surprised how much it fetches in whatever the state - many people won't even bother to visit). Remember, while ever you own it you will be responsible for council tax, utilities etc and it will need to be insured - this was one of the things that swung our decision in the end. It was costing money to leave it empty and like you we lived miles away so couldn't easily pop over to keep an eye on it.

I would aim to get it on the market as quickly as possible in the New Year and use my ISA to pay someone to do anything I couldn't manage in that timescale, including a garden clear out.

I'd go for option 3, recoup my costs by renting it out for a year or two (or possibly for good if it makes a good return and you don't need the money)

I would go for Option 1 partly because it's the most cost effective to you right now (as you will get the money much quicker and can reinvest elsewhere) and partly because you don't drive! if you don't drive then doing up a property will be a nightmare because you can't drive to the dump, you can't even drive to out of town B and Q or builder's merchants and pick up paint. Laminate is heavy. You cannot move these things on the bus/you'd have to get taxis.

Getting tradespeople in at the moment is a nightmare, Covid-19 has meant everyone wants work at home doing now, and some builders/plasterers are shielding/not working fully.

Honestly, you can't do up a property without a car that takes you hours to get to every time, it's not practical even if you are ok with a paintbrush. I know this having done up a property without a car and even in Central London it was terrible.

People keep mentioning auctions. Properties are not guaranteed to sell at auction. Mine didn't. It was a lovely property (just run down) and we were even on Homes Under the Hammer when at the auction - though not one of the featured houses - it made no difference. It all depends on where you are and what the market is like in that area.

An auction is terrible advice- only useful you can't sell, you will almost inevitably get a low price.

Realistic price- offers over- let it go to sealed bids if needed

I'd just sell as it is. You will make what you make without the stress.

I would get a couple of agents around and ask them what they think it would achieve as-is, and what it would achieve after option 3. I wouldn’t do option 2, unless I had tried option 1 first and hadn’t got an appropriate offer.

@Needmoresleep

Go for number three. We've been there did up the property adequately and have rented it out. All monies spent back within a year, still own the property and have a rental income.

Really? In London in the current market?

Workers are leaving London in droves now they have found they can live somewhere cheaper and wfh. The longer term rental market has been flooded with former AirBnB properties. There are huge numbers of new properties being built: Nine Elms, Olympic Park, wherever you look.

I have read some daft advice on MN, but this takes the biscuit.

No. Phone up four agents today. Get them round this week. There are investors out there looking for bargains, encourage by the stamp duty holiday and low interest rates. Get rid. The future is too uncertain.

No need to be so rude.

My opinion is just as valid as yours, perhaps more so because I speak from experience.

As someone who has bought (and moved into immediately with young kids - long story!) a house in the condition you describe, I wouldn't do anything to it, just stick it on as is.

The skip you'd need to hire to put the carpets in will cost 100s, freshly painted walls would worry me as I would be nervous that you've painted over damp etc.

Price it right and you will have people falling over themselves to buy a structurally sound property they can add value to. Rarer than hens teeth.

I would get an estate agent round to value it and advise you. I appreciate that you are good at DIY but my experience of just stripping wallpaper and painting takes ages and your health isnt that good. 7 hours of labour and then a 2 hour commute. For maybe months? Personally I would price it accordingly that it needs a complete refurbishment because maybe electrics need doing? It will sell in this condition. Some estate agents take property to auction which maybe quicker. I hope it sells very soon

I bought a fixer upper. The woman who moved out (hoarder) offered to get a cleaner in. I told her not to bother. I felt sorry for her that she thought it would make a difference. I ripped literally everything out - the house got new floors, ceilings, windows, all the walls were moved. Literally only the roof and the front door remained and even they were renovated.

A developer will take this on. I’d just get it on the market.

Re auctions - my thoughts (for what they are worth!) are that these are great if there's a hidden problem, and some poor sucker therefore bids too high in the heat of the moment, not realising a major issue exists. This doesn't seem to be the case here.

It might also be a great idea if the OP can get it on immediately so that potential purchasers overbid, as they are desperate to complete before the stamp duty rise.

Otherwise, sealed bids might be better.

I wouldn't bother doing anything to it, I'd just get it on the market at a keen price. Personally I wouldn't be put off somewhere just because it was in a state, as long as the bones of the place were sound.

If a developer/landlord buys it, they will have their own team of trades who will sort everything out. As someone upthread pointed out, if you tried to DIY it, how would you get rid of all the manky carpet, old wallpaper etc? I did my last house up myself and taking out the carpets was a huge job even with my own transport, and I lived near the tip.

a property developer will get a great deal and likely make a huge profit (which would have been yours)
The developer will make a profit through hard work, experience and contacts... It might be the OP's loss.

Hey everyone.

Sorry I didn't update yesterday, I got home pretty late and was knackered.

I've taken all your advice on board and will be contacting estate agents to try to book valuations for next week.

I'm going to take the advice in stripping stuff out but not putting anything in. I spent yesterday removing the bathroom carpet (filthy and stinky) and the hallway carpet (literally falling into pieces as you touch it). I'm going to leave the living room and bedroom carpets as they're stained but otherwise okay. I'm attaching photos here. Forgot to take an after photo of the hallway but there are nice floorboards underneath.

I'd go with a paired down Option 2 and sell it, I'd also pay someone/ builder / decorator to do it telling them to do a budget job. Empty it, paint walls magnolia in a cheap paint ( new owner will repaint anyway). I would not replace the kitchen or bathroom as these are quite a personal taste and it is quite likely the new owner will simply rip out the new bathroom and kitchen anyway and replace it with one more in line with their taste.

I'll also get someone in to clear the garden and the garage.

On the plus side, I also found a very deep hallway cupboard I'd overlooked, which contained a bunch of precious items I'd noticed were missing and had assumed were stolen. So that's lovely, and I also now have more Christmas decorations than I know what to do with. (This will be the year of two Christmas trees.)

Will keep you posted. Thanks again for all the advice!

Nice that you found some bits you wanted.

That house looks like mine when I bought it. There will be buyers who won’t care - indeed would prefer it like that as they won’t be paying for someone else’s work.

How nice that you've found some precious items :)

It's great you've found your missing items. And I think the pared down, ready to renovate, look will be appealing to potential buyers.

I would just sell as is, any money is additional to what you have already and it involves zero work on your part.