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 sell as is. It takes so much energy to do what you're thinking and will be a weight. Better to forgo the stress and leave it to someone who's used to dealing with this sort of thing. I've often seen houses on right move in this state.

Classic Homes Under the Hammer territory here, I'd sell it as is if it were me and let whoever buys it do what they choose. The most I'd do is get the garden cleared and the carpets taken out, that kind of thing, so people can more easily see the potential in it. Painting it etc is only going to add time and money, how often do you see half done projects end up back on HUTH? Ok I'm a bit obsessed...
In normal times and if you were fit and nearby it might have been a worthwhile venture doing it up and selling/renting but in the circumstances I'd just get rid and get the money in the bank tbh

On

@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.

Totally agree with this.

Having just bought a house which was a doer upper, I would pay someone to clear junk out so it's all empty, strip the carpets out, and clear the garden so they can see the size etc. And leave everything else, it's clearly a doer upper to potential buyers so no point doing half a job which will be difficult for you and not really of any value to a buyer. Good luck

Getting the garden cut back and cleared to show the space and emptying the garage would be the only things I bother doing.

A relative did your number 2 ended up spending £8k in tradespeople, fixtures/ fittings and decoration made a difference of £10k in value to the house. Overall it took 2 months and a lot of not just physical time but mentally took it’s toll. That extra £2k was really not worth it.
I would stick it on the market or auction and take whatever cash you can and invest to secure your future.

Sell as it is.

Have four local agents in to value. They will know local investors on the look out for property.

No need to spend your money. Investors or canny home purchasers will be able to see beyond the immediate state of the property and focus on size location and structure. Yes you get less, but you save any money you would have spent doing it up. And the purchaser gets to use that money to do what they want to do.

I agree with AndWhat - the superficial things you suggest will not add to the value. It's likely to need rewiring and possibly replumbing. There is no point stripping wallpaper or painting a surface that is likely to need ripping out in order to properly modernise the place. None at all.

I am going through this at the moment OP. I am selling my aunt's house in a popular London suburb. Admittedly my aunt's house isn't in the state your mum's place is in but it has been empty for 9 months as my aunt moved to a care home. When the EAs came round to value it for probate I asked them whether it would be a good idea to decorate/modernise the house, get the garden landscaped etc. and all said no. In fact they said not to even worry about having it cleared and cleaned before starting viewings!

Bearing in mind your situation I would go with Option 1 + clear out the rotten carpets and wallpaper and perhaps clear the garden if it's not too expensive. I wouldn't redecorate or re-lay carpet as the new owner would want to do this themselves.

I think I'd also consider sale by auction or "best and final offers" as other pp have suggested.

@happytoday73

Option 1. Chances are estate agent has list of builders who turn over houses like this. Especially important to see now while stamp duty holiday.

Dont bother spending any more time on it

That is a good point do not miss the stamp duty window. Prices will collapse then.

Haven't read many PP but what about the electrics and plumbing?
They will need doing - so there's no point in doing much work decorating and putting new carpet as the walls will have to be chased in and floor boards taken up for new wiring and pipes for water and gas. So would say - sell as is.

Yeah, probably 2, but if if gets too much it's fine to give up and sell it. Even just a couple of 'cleaned up' rooms will help give an idea of what it could be like. I don't think it's worth getting into kitchens and bathrooms, it's just too much work and buyers may replace it anyway.

I'd make my decision based on what the local estate agents say.

I’d strip out the carpets and wallpaper, but wouldn’t bother putting anything in.

When I was a first time buyer, properties that had been completely stripped back seemed less daunting than ones that looked like somebody had died there.

Do 2. I employed a decorator to do everything magnolia, some walls were bright blue, just horrible. I scrubbed it and cleared all brambles, nettles and catshit. Honestly, given your lack of transport and the tip being closed possibly, I’d employ someone to strip ancient paper, re-paint neutrally. I think it’ll sell better if clean.

I'd be inclined to sell as is. I'd be concerned that you started to remove the wall paper, the plaster could start to come away and then you're not just paying a decorator, you're paying for a plasterer too.

I'd be more likely to buy a house that I could see needed a lot of work done to it, than a house that's had a bodged facelift. I'd wonder what you'd cut corners on that I couldn't see (electrics, plumbing, etc). I'd much rather know that I was having to go in and do everything and budget accordingly.

I would rip up all carpets to start with, and simply scrub floorboards clean. Paint windowframes white. I would not put down flooring as cheap flooring won’t add value. Nor would I put in a new bathroom, unless anything is broken. So basically get it looking and smelling clean and fresh, but don't decorate apart from the window frames.
The sheer hassle of it all might not be worth any value increase. Although I might think about stripping the wallpaper and painting everything a soft white.

Option 1. But I’d empty it out completely and remove the threadbare carpets and empty the garage.

If you manage to strip the wallpaper and give it a good clean, it may well appeal to buyers who want to do it up in their own style

I have bough houses that have condemned

No-one want someone else's tart up
Either renovate to a high standard or sell as is

Our neighbours spent ages doing up their house for sale- new patio doors, decorating new kitchen.

Within 48 hours it was all being taken away as scrap in skips

Unless you are doing everything then do nothing. If it has a kitchen (one of ours was a sink, 1 cupboard with a toilet in the corner) and a basic bathroom (our was a bath in a cupboard- no toilet that was in the kitchen) it will get a mortgage.

Based solely on my viewings of Homes Under The Hammer, I’d sell it as is. Someone will buy it to develop. Stripping wallpaper and carpet up would make it easy for developers to see what they are working with.

But really if it were me I’d speak to an estate agent or two. I have to say there are some right old wrecks by us that sold for what I consider to be silly amounts at auction. An estate agent will have a better idea of what kind of buyers are out there.

@TomHanksintheMoneyPit

It's London btw.

Fortunately my mum already owns lots of power tools including a a heavy duty sander and a massive steamer (for wallpaper stripping).

I reckon based on past experience that I can pull up carpets (will take the advice to leave the floorboards bare - thank you!), remove wallpaper and re-paint very cheaply. Not to be presented it to potential buyers as a finished property, just to present it as more of a neutral canvas.

I'd never strip floors myself again. I did just one room, it wasn't the heavy duty stripper {like an upright hoover} that did my an injury, but the ''Edger''..It slipped a disc that later requited surgery. It was like trying to hold onto a bolting Shetland pony/Pitbull, bent over, the strength of those edgers is immense.

Plus you have to bang down every nail to 3mm at least below the surface with a hammer and punch..Hard, hard physical work.

A maisonette in London will be a valuable thing {depending on postcode}...My neighbour died in her Nineties, and they hadn't done anything since the 1950's, the new people have spent over a year doing it up {while living elsewhere} and it looks stunning now.
They had professional floor sanders in.

I was warned floor sanding was hard graft....but had no idea how much 'til I tried it..

Definitely sell as it is. The wallpaper could be hiding damage that you'd have to deal with (as I discovered when I bought my flat).

@Aozora13

We were in this position. We got the house cleared and then put in on the market as it was. Estate agent advised us not to bother spending any money on smartening round the edges as it clearly needed a full refurb so any improvements would just be undone immediately by the new buyers so wouldn’t affect the price.

This! Get a local estate agent's opinion next time you are there.