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'd take the worst of the look off it, but only you know the real state of it so that will be up to you. No point taking out bathroom and kitchen as PP have said, a neutral painting of the walls and lifting the dirty carpets seems appropriate and clearing the garden shouldnt cost you a disproportionate amount on the return and hopefully won't take too much time. I agree as well about selling ASAP to be safe as we don't quite know what way things will go in the near future and if the market takes a dip, it may be years before you'd get the same for it again. Good luck!!

@Aozora13

I would also say that for us part of the rationale for considering the “option 2” route was that we felt a bit ashamed and wanted to “protect” MIL from people judging the state of her house. We got the place professionally cleaned and the estate agent said even that we didn’t need to do, but it made us feel a bit better. In the end I’m glad we didn’t bother doing more than a clear and a clean - the EA did all the viewings etc and we actually got a really good price.

I would feel the same. The trouble with selling something that looks absolutely filthy is that you will encourage really lowball offers because it looks like you are desperate to sell.

Whereas something that is clean, painted but unrenovated looks like you have time to find the right buyer, and will also attract buyers who want to move in straight away and maybe renovate over time, along with investors who will rip everything out.

I wouldn't add anything to it. Just take away the bad stuff. Strip it. Sell it bare. Let the buyer see it as a blank canvas. No need to redecorate.

Employ someone to do this for you. Job done.

A bungalow in the corner of our cul de sac, old fashioned, owner died family cleared it out. Board went up was sold same day to a developer. Since completion has been full on, gardener, builder in every day seven days a week. Kitchens, bathrooms, carpets, painters, joiners. I have trouble getting out when there are more than two vans there. The workers say it is a buy to let.

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.

As Soupdragon suggests.

I'd clear it and sell it. The time and effort wouldn't be worth the extra money you may (or may not) make on the property.

When our mother died earlier than a year, my sister and I discussed spending about 3K to make her house look presentable. 2 estate agents advised us that as long as it was clean and empty, it would sell, and money spent on superficial stuff would make no difference to the selling price.

Put it on the market as is, ad long as it is clean.

Have to spoken to a estate agent who could advise? If there isn't much difference between options two and three then I would be inclined to just freshen it up with a neutral print thought and some clean flooring.

You need to weigh up if the cost of fitting a new kitchen and bathroom is worth it

I reckon the local estate agents will have property developers on the books that they can ring up and will decide whether they want it or not very quickly.

Negotiate hard on estate agent fees

The time and effort it will take you will not be worth it even with current appalling low interest rates. Lease may state rooms have to be carpeted so no point doing anything with floorboards.

If you can flip quickly that's a different kettle of fish but you're not able to.

Go for number three. We've been there did up the property adequately and have rented it out. All monies spent back within a year, still own the property and have a rental income.

Go for number three. We've been there did up the property adequately and have rented it out. All monies spent back within a year, still own the property and have a rental income.

Really? In London in the current market?

Workers are leaving London in droves now they have found they can live somewhere cheaper and wfh. The longer term rental market has been flooded with former AirBnB properties. There are huge numbers of new properties being built: Nine Elms, Olympic Park, wherever you look.

I have read some daft advice on MN, but this takes the biscuit.

No. Phone up four agents today. Get them round this week. There are investors out there looking for bargains, encourage by the stamp duty holiday and low interest rates. Get rid. The future is too uncertain.

I have NEVER bought a place where the decor was to my taste. I once bought one where the seller was at pains to tell me what a fortune he'd paid for the wall coverings woven from hessian or was it bamboo. So what, I hated it. It's all going to be stripped, scrubbed and redecorated the way I want it. Experienced /competent buyers totally ignore the decor, curtains, furnishings, hideous ornaments, smokers smell etc.

Get all the ancient carpets (and curtains) stripped out so at least they won't make the place smell of smoking and cat pee. Showing potential buyers a naked original floor can be a positive selling point ( dry smooth tiles or concrete floor/ perfect old floorboards).

This type of work needs to be significant to have any impact on increasing the price enough to cover spending money in it. Doing the minimum you’re not going to get any of the money back

Best to put into auction and not spend any more money in it.

If you’re sure there’s nothing of value in the horded junk, don’t even bother to clear it at that too has a cost attached to it. Sell as is.

OP, it would be nice to see some photos?

Obviously the easiest option is to sell it as it is at an auction to a developer. But the developer will want to make 50-100k profit.
Surely by at least clearing the garden & sheds and removing the stinky carpet and putting it on with an estate agent you have a chance of attracting the young couples who want to live in it and are likely to pay a lot more than a developer.

I’d say option one - maybe pull up all the carpets and clear garden a bit so you can see scale.

Don’t put laminate down.

Why don't you get a couple of local estate agents to give you the values you could sell the property for in the 3 different scenarios you've given. You can then cost out each option to see if the return is worth the effort/investment.

I think probably option 1, but it depends on the area.

If it is in zone 2 london for example, then I definitely wouldn’t do option 2 as when buying a flat of that sort of value people won’t want “cheap laminate” flooring.

I am looking to move and we would only be interested in options 1 or 3 if it was done to our taste. With option 2, I would want to pay the same as for option 1 as I would intend to rip out all the cheap stuff. But actually I find this really off putting as I hate the idea of the waste.

I am looking at a lot of properties at the moment and the thing I hate most is when there is an obvious recent cheap patch up. It makes you wonder what they are hiding and assume everything is done cheaply and needs redoing.

If you do decide on option 3, make sure that the kitchen and bathroom are nice enough for the price of the home. Eg. If someone is buying a flat for £600k to £900k they don’t want the cheapest possible kitchen available and this is really off putting.

Do not put any work or effort into it.

If it is priced right it will sell, either put it on with an estate agent or get it sold at auction. Stop thinking that everyone who buys a property is a family moving in.

Nick Morris is mid renovation of a 1936 bungalow which hasn't been touched for 40 years including the back garden. This is the tour of the bungalow before he started gutting it out complete with mouldy walls etc

here is an example of what I think you shouldn’t do:
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/97435331#/media

For a flat that is asking £725k, this has been redone far too cheaply. This has clearly just all been ripped out and completely redone, but they have gone for the cheapest kitchen, detailing, carpets etc. (Although the bathrooms are quite nice).

It has been on the market for ages and was reduced down to this price a couple months ago. I bet they are regretting not going for option 1.

There’s been lots of great advice here @TomHanksintheMoneyPit.
Whatever you do, please stay away from option 2. We renovate houses and the number I see where the homeowner wants an extra £10k because of freshly painted walls, when really the walls need replastering and other work and this can cause a house to sit for too long on the market as we and other developers will end up offering the same for it as a house with mouldy tatty wallpaper as we can see that the workload to a renovator is the same regardless.
I like previous posters’ suggestions of stripping the wallpaper and removing the carpets but leaving it bare - if we saw a house like this in its “bare bones” state, it makes it easier to make an offer that both are happy with as we wouldn’t be deducting money on “what ifs” and you wouldn’t be paying out for paint and carpets that we wouldn’t be factoring into our offer as we would plan to remove these.
Hope your visit to the house goes well and helps you decide.

We have done a couple of renovations from probate. Second one sounded like yours except that it was a 1930s place with nicely authentic woodworm and wringing damp. We werent put off by the state of the place at the start. It was just lovely knowing where it had come from to where it got to.

Leave as is and sell.

I would sell as is, or perhaps just clear it out. Your property will appeal to those wanting a project.

Please don't bother with painting walls - any buyer will want to do that and choose their own colours. And for pity's sake, don't put any cheap laminate flooring down - it's disgusting, and a huge turn-off for many, especially if floorboards are salvageable.

Good luck!

Option 1. Option 2 involves more work for you, it will not make a substantial difference to the value and will be of no interest to developers. Option 3 would be madness.

Don't rip out the kitchen and bathroom to leave empty, as this makes them technically uninhabitable and buyers will struggle to get a mortgage.

I'd suggest paying for someone to rip up and dispose of the carpets, house clearance to clear the garage, a gardener to clear the garden, and a professional cleaning company to clean.

Don't do a half-arsed development job- it's the worst of all worlds. developers would want to install from scratch so they know what they're dealing with. Buyers who don't want to do work would expect everything completed. And supervising building work is enough of a pain when you are close by, it'd be a nightmare in your position.