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?

Auction it. ASAP.

I'd do the bare minimum, definitely clear the garden so people can see the size, empty furniture out..

DP's mothers flat was awful - we just told EA to sell it as it was - literally as she left it when she closed the door. it was a few hundred miles away and we didnt even go there. it made less money but no hassle.

I was in a similar position when my mum died. Nothing was bad but everything was very dated.

So what I did was

1. Lift carpets, sand floors and apply one thin coat of clear varnish as a barrier so people could either varnish as they chose or give a very quick sand, stain then varnish.
2. Stripped woodwork and lightly sanded.
3. Stripped out old fitted cupboards in bedrooms
4. Left bathroom and kitchen fixtures largely intact and cleaned them within an inch of their life.
5. Replastering and properly painted a couple of walls, single coat of good Matt white emulsion throughout the rest of the house.

So basically sold it as stripped back but habitable, so someone could do it up themselves over a couple of years, no frills but decent. Had a good bit of interest from first time buyers and young couples. A young chef bought it and said he’d be doing most of the test if the work himself on his time off.

Get some estate agents around and ask for three valuations of the property in the three states that you have described. And ask for their general advice on how easy it would be to sell in each state.

Just saw that you said it's in London. You can probably do very little and it will sell quickly.

I would sell it as it is. Someone will snap it up as a bargain and do it up.

plan for #3 but hope that #2 is sufficient. Until you clear the place you won't know if it is a money pit or worth doing up properly.
It's worth benchmarking what similar properties in good condition sell for and how desirable the area is before weighing up the options and what is actually worth spending money on.

As someone whose involved with property, definitely #1. Not sure where the property is but the area we are in has so many builders & tradespeople looking for property like this, properties like this go for way way above asking price on auction. You will waste your time / money and energy with the other options Altho as pp have stated, getting a house clearance comp in & someone to clear the garden may be worthwhile. House clearance comps are not so busy & hunting for work where we are so may be able to get this done fairly cheaply depending where you based.

@MillieVanilla

Long shot but do you know of there is a Mutual Aid society in your area? Or Next Door? An elderly, unwell guy had a fire in his home and lost everything in the living room and kitchen. A neighbour of his posted on Next Door and Mutual Aid asking for help to clear up, paint etc and for furniture, by the end of the week he had been given kitchen stuff, living room furniture and a group of volunteers to help clean up and redecorate (myself included). Just thinking you sound like you've been through a really difficult time and the house is either going to cost an awful lot to sort out or you will end up with nothing at the end of it all, so perhaps you may find some people to help with the garden and painting, and then some secondhand furniture to give the idea of a nice set up?

Why on earth would she ask anyone to volunteer their time or possessions only for her to sell it straight on or rent it out. How fucking cheeky. That’s like asking for free labour to help her make money.

1. Then rent the property out

Hmm, perhaps she should join the NRLA for £100 then phone their helpline simply to hear of the pitfalls that can become accidental amateur landlords.

The good old BTL days are over.

Leave it as it is and sell it ASAP before the stamp duty holiday ends. #2 isn't worth the time or money and #3 is too much of a risk to your savings.

When I was younger, I went to work for an estate agent as an assistant. Part of my job was to write ads for the newspaper.
One house was almost exactly like yours - I wrote the ad for the agent as “Doll House”, and a “fixer-upper’s dream.” The owner was furious for my not making the description more attractive.
The house sold the following day.
My point is, there’s always going to be people who are looking for a “fixer-upper” house like yours, so save yourself the hassle and time and just list it as is. Best of luck to you.

id do nothing or the absolute bare minimum!

would not rip anything out except carpets/wallpaper and paint everything white and put down a cheap carpet.

mabey spend 1k and get the reward?

how much isit worth though?!

difference between gaining 50k and gaining 250k!

As an estate agent myself do not spend any money on it. Sell as is investors will snap it up at the right price. No point spending any money as you won't see it back in return.

Hi lots of great advice on here. Definitely get estate agents round to do a valuation. I would get it on the market ASAP due to the stamp duty holiday. Have you got the probate status sorted as that can take a while. As long as you price it appropriately you will sell it. We bought a probate property 2 years ago, it needed a lot of work doing to it, it had been on the market for over a year as it had been priced as if you didn't need to do anything. They had also left all his stuff in it. We offered way under the asking price as we could see the potential, we also stipulated that they had to get rid of everything - it was 8 skips worth of crap. You have done the right thing by clearing the flat.

If you don't feel up to organising the work just put it on the market in need of complete renovation. And arranging work can be zan absolute nightmare workmen not turning up and so on. And if you get somebody in to project manage it all that can be expensive.

Your property, as is, is a house-flipper's dream. Strip out all of the personal items, and list it just like that. "Perfect Property for House Flipper (or whatever the current term is in GB...I'm in the USA)." Someone with time and know-how will snap it up and sell it for three times what they paid you. And you won't have the aggravation of trying to oversee any work from a distance, and with your health issues. You won't realize as much money, but at the same time, you won't have any cash outlay, either. Just be sure your agent is knowledgeable about homes like this, and it is priced fairly for both parties.

@domesticslattern

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.

Agree with this. You won't be able to appeal to the 'ready to move in' market whichever you go for, so anyone looking to buy it will be someone who knows they need to do a fair bit of work. So don't waste money trying to disguise the facts.

Maybe pay someone to clear the rubbish and make sure it is clean (ish) and tidy - so you can't be knocked down on the basis that its not liveable. It should present as perfectly habitable (if that's your thing) but in need of updating.

That will get you more money. Alternatively - if it's not worth the hassle to you, sell as it is and make it clear it's a project.

Ask an estate agent to come round and value it on those two options and see what the difference is. Then you can make up your mind. Sorry for your loss.

Ask an estate agent to view it.

They will give you a free present valuation and advice about what does and does not need doing. Sometimes doing work adds no value.
Stripping paper can reveal additional problems. Your taste may not be the buyers taste and they may strip all your hard work away.
The price reflects the condition. See where you stand first with an evaluation.

11 months ago I bought a house that had been derelict for ten years. Everything needed ripping out and starting again. First time buyer with a young family and a very handy husband, my house now feels like a little palace and we got it VERY cheap. Best thing I did. Someone will snap it up even if you put it on the market now.

But this is not a BTL?

Don't forget that time is ticking not only on the stamp duty holiday, which means that you won't have time to do much if you want to sell whilst prices are artificially inflated (many forecasts then predict a 15% price drop) but there is some chance you would get an IHT rebate if you sell the property on the open market for less than probate value. If you sell for above you would, as far as I know, be liable for CGT. (Though you might be able to offset the cost of documented structural works.)

(Note I am not a lawyer or accountant but am also in the process of trying to divide my late mother's estate, with the added complication that the additional Covid19 tenancy protections mean that we cannot gain vacant possession in the short term. Hence we are looking closely at options. And before anyone calls foul, the affluent tenant is on a low rent and uses the property as a holiday/second home.)