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 would do bare minimum to sell. Paint, change flooring. That’s it- buyers often like to put in new bathroom and kitchen anyway to their own taste.

I would leave wallpaper and carpets unless they're truly filthy and hanging off.

That's the issue, they really truly are. I can't even describe what a dreadful condition they're in. The squatter had dogs who pissed everywhere, and the carpet in the living room is completely rotted - it falls apart in your hand. The wallpaper in the bedroom looks at first sight like it's covered in black mould, but it's just filth.

Do not go to auction. Best and final offers by a certain date might work ask three good estate agents their advice.
Get someone to clear the garden, so its not overgrown, there's no rubbish and people can see it. Get someone to clean the house thoroughly, old and tatty is fine, dirty not great.
At the moment houses that need cosmetic work (kitchen, bathroom, news doors, heating decorating) aren't really fetching that much less than done ones.

I bought a house in the state your mums is in, but mine had the added complication of some damp downstairs and woodworm upstairs! We've replaced every single floor covering, decorated every single wall, new bathroom, new kitchen, replaced the windows, had 4 rooms plastered and both the front and back gardens done. It took 4-5 years though.

There are definitely people willing to buy fixer uppers, and if you could get it stripped right back so people can see what they are buying, that would help. I saw one fixer upper that was so full it wasn't worth the chance that there was a big problem lurking beneath the mess!

Really? You'd buy a house that looked totally neglected and filthy, over one that looked clean and neutral?

Have you never watched 'Homes under the Hammer'? Loads of people want to buy the worst house on the street because that's where the profit margins are greatest. Obviously it will have to be priced to allow for the £xxK of work that needs to be done on it, though.

I just went through a similar experience. I visited the house once to clear out any papers or items of value (there were none). Then I asked an estate agent to put it on the market, priced to sell. They arranged for a house clearance firm to empty the property. A developer bought it. Zero effort on my part.

Do the sums first, but I would lean toward option 1. My late uncle was a hoarder, we cleared everything out and threw away carpets etc. No work done on it, but the neighbours were thrilled to be able to snap it up for a great price and then did it up and knocked through. They were a lovely family and would never have managed it otherwise. Ask the other people who live in the house if they are interested. It was done in about 6 weeks. There's no point making a bit of extra money if it drags things out for ages and adversely affects your mental health.

I’ve been in a similar-ish position. Is there anything valuable in your mother’s garage? If not:

1. House clearance. Could be expensive if it’s that bad, but worth it for your sanity.
2. Get a quote or two from local builders to get it to rental standard. Then add 50% (bitter experience). This is your base case value.
3. Consider putting it on the market with an estate agent as you’ve described: a structurally sound doer upper. Ask them for a valuation as is and if done to reasonable standard. You can then see the discount they apply.
4. If they apply a reasonable discount (eg broadly in line with “as okay” value - builder quote) put in on the market. Then be prepared to take, say, 10-15% below for your own sanity....but at least you’ll know you haven’t been completely ripped off.
5. If you don’t sell, you can then get the work done and try again.

1. But with the sheds cleared and the carpets taken up.

De-cluttering and neutral decor is basically window dressing for houses that are not 'projects'. Your Mum's maisonette is a project. Just get it sold.

Definitely do not risk your savings.

could you ask an estate agent's advice? maybe ask them to value as is, and then ask if you made the suggested basic amends what the price difference was worth? then use that to make a deision.

Get 3 local estate agents out to value it now and with improvements done.

Do a proper costing of the work and compare.

Make this a decision based on the maths not emotions.

@SoupDragon

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 think this is very good advice. Unless the place was in a startlingly good location and you think it would be worth investing more to do option 3 in order to either raise the sale price or even rent it out, then you're better off doing what @SoupDragon suggests.

If leasehold, check how long is left in the lease. That can affect the price and "mortgagability" for buyers.

I would empty it and sell as is, probably via auction. It sounds like an investors type of property. There's lots of people playing at property development these days, lots of them under estimate the cost of doing the work, which means they will pay over the odds for the property. You may well be surprised what it sells for. At the very least it will be off of your hands and you will not be the one with the ongoing bills and uncertainty of renovation costs. Don't underestimate how hard it is to get tradesmen, even if you have money to throw at it.

Okay this thread has been SUPER useful. Thank you all so much.

I'm leaving in a few minutes to visit the house, so will have a really good look and a good think with all of this in mind.

Will update in due course, and thank you again!

Just put it up for sale. Don't do anything. Don't put any of your time or effort into it.

People who are wanting to buy a do-er-upper have more imagination than the general public (who you need to sell the dream to).

They are also not looking at the superficial - they are looking at the structural elements, for subsidence, mold etc. Those are the things that will put them off not horrible carpets.

I suggest you get professional advice which would not necessarily cost anything.
In your shoes I would have paid someone to empty it.

Earlier this year I inherited my mother's house which while not in the state you describe was in dire need of renovating. I got a charity to empty the house and then got three estate estate agents to look at it. I asked them to value it as it was and had a long discussion with each one on my options.
My options were the same as yours but with number four possibility of keeping as a rental.

All the estate agents were unanimous in saying don't spend anything on doing it up.

Plenty of people want fixer-uppers! If only because they don’t want to pay a premium for someone else’s idea of a nice kitchen etc. - it’s so rarely what you’d choose for yourself.

FWIW I’ve done two flats that were absolute hellholes.
As long as you price it reasonably, give the work that needs doing, I’m sure it’ll sell quite easily.

Do be sure to ask the estate agents for a realistic valuation, not what they think you want to hear, because ten to one, that’s what they’ll give you otherwise.

I might add that from experience, doing such places up is almost certain to cost quite a lot more than you had bargained for - which, quite apart from all the time and hassle involved, is a very good reason for letting someone else do it!

The fact that you have health problems and would need to spend hours on public transport to get all this work done and keep meeting Estate Agents and trades people there....and then monitor the work on the basis of a 3 hour round trip...just sell.

You have a salary, you have savings, unless you fancy a career as a landlady, I would just sell.

But if you have the appetite and energy to do all the research (costs v net rental income taking into account management charges, void periods, tax...repairs and renewals etc) get it done up and rent it out .

The squatter had dogs who pissed everywhere, and the carpet in the living room is completely rotted - it falls apart in your hand. The wallpaper in the bedroom looks at first sight like it's covered in black mould, but it's just filth.

That'd really put me off a place, but bare walls and floorboards are much more appealing imo. It makes me think of what I could do to make it a home rather than, 'God look at how much work that'd take before making it a home again iyswim?

It doesn't take much skill to get all of that done, but its bloody hard work!!!

Having bought a house a few years ago that was nicknamed cat piss mansions because it was so vile and smelly I would say sell it now. There were so many people after this house, precisely because it was a hovel - lots of people would rather buy a dump and make it their own than pay more for someone else's taste.

I would say clear and sell. It's not worth putting flooring down - no one will want cheap carpet and it would get ruined anyway as there is so much work to be done. I don't even think it's worth painting as the walls will almost certainly need plastering. Just pay a house clearance, clean as much as possible and sell.

I'd pull the carpets up leaving bare floorboards. As to the wallpaper it depends if you are sure the plaster won't fall off with it.

I would go for option 1. Why spend time and money on short term fixing and tidying when it's target buyer will be a developer or someone who is able to do it up while living elsewhere and who are very likely to remove any flooring you put down, etc

Having bought and resold a couple of properties in poor condition for profit, I would get it sold now. Forget option 2 as you will get no more money for it. Odds on it will need replastering so painting will be a monumental waste of money and narrow your market as you will want to recoup these costs.

The market is still pretty buoyant and the property has the all important much desired outdoor space. There are plenty of cash buyers around atm. You don’t know what’s round the corner with brexit. So I’d go for it, manky carpet and all.