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?

Lots of people want a project and to put their own stamp on things. We had a real struggle to find something not too “done” lots of people had obviously bought, completely renovated and sold. Meaning if we offered we couldn’t really do anything other than decorating, no adding value etc.

As others have said, “tidy” the place up like get rid of the carpets, mouldy wallpaper etc, move all bits and bobs out but get it on the market as a project.
Offset costs from the future sale into finding someone to clear the place out if you’re struggling?

Also don’t sand the floorboard in an upper floor property, the neighbours below will hate you! Lol,

I would get a few agents around to get an idea of value once all cleared. Have a look at what similar properties in the area go for.

Once you have this info I would then cost how much it would be to do it up to see whether it is worth the effort bearing in mind the following:-

How much capital gains tax would you have to pay out on the sale? This is your most important consideration and will enable you to make a decision.

If it's an upper floor maisonette, does that mean it's leasehold? I'd work out how much is left on the lease before attempting to sell. You may need to go for option 2 to make it attractive enough for buyers if there's relatively little time left on the lease. If the house was in the state it was, I'd be amazed if you could put your hand on financial paperwork like this to check who owns the outer shell of the building.

Strip it all back and clean it.

Painting a whole flat.....sheesh I mean that’s some effort.

Clear the garden- I think that’s crucial

It's in London so presumably doing it up a bit could ensure you make some good money on it.

Depending on location (is it desirable?) I'd go the full hog and do the work, and sell it on for a decent price. Although I would speak to an EA first to see what you'd be likely to achieve in current state VS done up.
Sounds like you worked really hard clearing it out. If you feel up to seeing this project through, it could pay off!

ok be careful. A lot of theoretical advice from many people who havent done it. You may get away with a small diy improvement or decoration etc but you may actually make things worse. If you take the wallpaper off you may find, for example, the plaster comes off too. You could revealdamp issues, structural cracks etc. Similarly pulling the carpets up may reveal woodworm infested floorboards. You have inherited this and often it is just worth taking the easy money and leave someone else to work for the extra money. Put it on with a couple of local agents (one will leave you vulnerable to an inside deal) and they will have a list of people interested in buying places like this. If you are not happy with the price then you can try an imporovement strategy but you might be pleasantlt surprised at what you get.

I vote 1. Literally all l would do is skip the carpets and clear the garage / sheds. The garage and sheds would need to be done for the sale anyway

Clear garden and house. Sell at auction.

I am in favour of option two as long as you don't get carried away. And clear the garden. Not landscape but get it just cleared so you can see it.

The thing about doing nothing is that people can then start to wonder if there is more wrong than there actually is. This is what would worry me. Or immediately walk through the door and take five to ten grand off the price, even if you've discounted it already.

I might feel differently if shown pictures. I do get what people are saying about 'just sell.' You could always try that and if it doesn't go then you could rethink and do something then.

put it on as it is - its stressful enough selling a house without putting your health at risk

clean it out, leave bathroom and kitchen for mortgage purposes but strip all other rubbish and detritus out and send it to auction. You don't need the hassle of it. Main thing is be smart as to its value. Don't believe them when they say many many thousands to put right etc, if its structurally sound then its just extreme decoration.

how long before you have to start paying council tax on it? Look closely at your monthly costs, it'll take much longer than you think. I'd say sell it now, get shot of it and enjoy your life a little bit more with the proceeds.

I'd get a lcoal estate agent in for a quick look and ask them what they think it would be worth your while doing, out of the options. If they would advise anyway.

Otherwise option 1 - less stress for you. You might get less money, but it is money in the hand.

Proper fixer uppers are very popular anyway.

Sell as a fixer-upper. Much better to let people refurbish it themselves, have seen so many 'refurbished' places where they have clearly carpeted/painted over all the problems.

If you are going to strip the wallpaper, do that before ripping out the carpet as the bits of wallpaper will stick to the floor boards and then you will spend time getting it off. Wear a mask pulling up the carpet.

I would employ a local gardener to clear and remove the garden rubbish, it shouldn't cost much.

Hire a skip a clear the garage, chuck the old carpets in there too.

Give it a good clean and please don't put laminate down in a first floor flat, the noise for the neighbours would be horrendous.

Good luck.

clear it and give someone the bare bones of a fixer upper - a lot of people like that, you get a chance to do everything exactly the way you want it. I think all you need is to clear it and strip it back so size etc can be seen, rip up carpets, but don't replace with anything new or repaint.

Make sure you get at least three agents.

I know someone who got one estate agent round who valued the property very low, suggested an auction, and a short time later mentioned he happened to know someone who might be interested. Trusting the estate agent, she then sold the property at a ridiculously low price. I'm sure she would have got more at an auction.

I think the advice about making sure it’s painted white to show potential only really applies to your standard buyer - someone that’s going to have to completely renovate won’t be swayed, but it’s such widespread advice that it’s hard to get out of that mindset.

It’s hard when you’re looking at the sums to forget to factor in mental and physical cost on you, remember to look after yourself.

Good luck!

I'd just sell it as it is. Your time is worth money and the amount of time you'd spend getting it half-smartened up probably won't make much difference in price if it is a proper doer-upper.

Empty it completely and sell as it is, maybe clear the garden so the size can be appreciated but other than that tarting it up is a waste of money.

Talk it through with local estate agents. They'll know the market and its chances in different states.

Definitely don't do 3. People like to choose their own kitchens and bathrooms and can price that work fairly easily, so are comfortable with factoring it into their offer. The 'wrong style' would be pulled straight back out, so it's a waste of your precious cash. You're not a property developer and you'd be mad to risk your only capital.

Given your skills, 2 is worth considering.

But honestly, if it's in an area with a lively market, I'd go for 'rip out carpets and raze garden, only'.

There's a value to scruffy houses, which is that buyers can see you're not trying to cover anything up with a quick paint job. That's actually a big selling point. No surprise damp patches or hidden wiring.

Sell it to a cash buyer/developer. They will buy anything in any condition as long as the price is right .

I was on the opposite side of something like this, so will just give my prespective.

We have just bought a completely derelict house which we are not just having to "do up", but pretty much rebuild. (We joke that what we have bought is a plot of land with planning permission, not a house, even though there is a "house" there). We were delighted to buy it as it was the only way we were ever going to afford to buy a house (never owned a property before), we bought it for cash. So, there is potentially a market for something completely derelict. Our situation is that I had a lump sum which would just pay for the derelict house, and my DH is retired and so is able to completely dedicate himself to rebuilding the house. If the owners had done some fixing and then needed to recoup their money, we could not have afforded the house. What we have now is almost a tabula rasa to make the house exactly what we want, and to build it as fast or as slow as neccessary, depending on my income, which varies month to month.

So, just saying, our situation may not be the norm, but there is a market for complete "nightmares" out there if the price is right. Not saying you should necessarily sell it as it is, but it is definitely a possibility...

Having done many house projects and renovations in the past I'd sell it on as is.
It is pointless doing ANY renovations unless they are perfect.
No point doing a cheap kitchen and bathroom - buyers will see right through it. Sell it and let the right people do it up themselves. Save yourself tons of aggravation and grief.
If it can be emptied then great, maybe get a house clearance company in after taking anything you want.

I would be inclined to option 2 if you think that could all be completed say by April/May, traditionally a good time to put a house on the market.

The comments about checking if it is leasehold and the three agents are well made.