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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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?