What do you prefer when buying a house?

[CVVFan]

I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority group that prefer either houses that are ready to move in or that are liveable for at least 2-3 years. I never buy based on a vision/project/putting my stamp on it.

We’re selling our house in 4 years, and quite frankly as much as it’s liveable for whoever buys it, it does look outdated.

I think we’re already on negative equity, so we think we’ll at least need to refresh the kitchen somehow (and possibly the bathrooms) the question is how much work is it sensible considering we’re selling it? The whole pint of the remedial work would be to sell it faster and not get cheeky offers because to some it might look more like a project than a liveable house.

That’s the only bit of the renovation plan that’s solely for me/our needs, so not getting the money back on that one is more of a moot point.

It would be price dependent, but I think I'd rather buy a house that I could live with for a while before replacing kitchen and bathrooms. However, if it was to my taste, a newly renovated kitchen and bathrooms would also be welcome. But there in lies the problem, what is your taste isn't necessarily mine.

Our house has a kitchen we we think is over 25 years old but perfectly serviceable. We are doing a small change to the layout to put in a door where there is a window, so I will be doing a very light update by painting the doors, replacing handles, removing wall tiles & painting the walls the colour I'd like the tiles to eventually be.

In your case, @CVVFan if your kitchen & bathrooms are in good condition, just a bit tired, I'd look at cleaning it thoroughly, adjusting hinges so doors sit properly, maybe paint or vinyl wrap the doors, put on new hardware, and maybe see how much to put down new vinyl flooring.

I dislike kitchen islands, bifold doors and skylights and object to paying extra for them. I always go for a clean and working kitchen and bathroom. Don’t care if it’s dated.

For many prospective buyers it would actually put them off the property.

i would prefer a garage over a cheap window less basic Reno of a garage

Realistically is just the lack of a window (there would still be windows as there are garage doors with some) but that’s basically to give the flexibility of turning back into a garage if thats what the buyer wants

What would flooring be?
You wouldn’t insulate, plaster and paint?
heating? Wiring?

So now there would be windows?

I mean it’s one garage door va the other, I wouldn’t call that a window.

theres already outlets and lights. The only insulation needed is for the garage door and the floor.

plastering according to my DH is easy

and the radiator is just pulling the plumbing from the other side of the wall, so easy.

Now with photos

Ok op
look forward to the update!

But there is a whole continuum between 'brand spanking new, shiny and fashionable' and 'falling apart and scruffy'.

We don't know what the OP's kitchen is like.
I look at houses on line a lot. Overwhelmingly, I prefer kitchens which I'm confident people on here would call 'dated'. The same as a pp, I don't like kitchen islands at all, I don't like the 'shiny' floors and cupboard doors, I don't like bi-fold doors across the back of the house. If the two houses were the SAME price, I prefer the more 'old fashioned' kitchens. I certainly wouldn't pay £££ more for a kitchen I liked less.

Probably not the best because I was in the middle of decorating a cake but you get an idea

What would you envisage doing for £8k to the kitchen and both bathrooms op?

Changing tiles and sink for the kitchen, and the bathtub panel and sinks for the main bathroom.

sink and adding a sliding door to the en-suite

might it just serve to draw attention to and highlight all the other areas looking very dated in the kitchen and bathrooms? That’s the risk with doing just a couple of tart-ups

Maybe…. But that’s what makes them look super dated, again everything is perfectly usable just looks 30 years old

How long have you lived there op?

the bathrooms and kitchen haven’t been updated for >25 years and there’s been 6 of you living there most recently?!

Definitely not the bathrooms! The kitchen they’ve re-painted the doors (not in any particular great spec but passable).

Ive been here for 4 years now, but only last year we started the renovations (we’ve changed the floors).

You bought it very dated OP? Yes it will be more dated when you come to sell but the difference between a 20 year old bathroom and 30 year old bathroom… well in both cases, buyers will be looking to replace.

Presumably that was your plan when you purchased 4 years ago??

We actually didn’t think about replacing anything. It was an odd time when houses were selling within hours. We only got 1 view and we were also desperate because we simply didn’t have enough rooms in our other house. (Our then toddler didn’t have a room).

in all honesty from the viewing I didn’t notice the kitchen and bathrooms were the original ones. The one thing I remember was that the main bedroom was claustrophobic

And you didn’t go back before exchange?

Nope, it was a super chaotic time. We almost didn’t exchange before the stamp duty increased.

I think you underestimate how many families are in the same position. We have 3 DCs who cannot share (eldest is autistic, younger two are boy/girl) and DH needs somewhere to work from home.

If it works for you it will work for others.

Consider a second hand kitchen? We got one for £500 including all the appliances. We’d moved into a doer upper and had a very very limited pot pennies to work with and the existing kitchen literally fell apart when we were cleaning it when we moved in. The whole kitchen ended up costing £2000. (After and before).
or just change the doors/work surfaces?

Wow that’s exactly how our kitchen would look like if it had the original door paintwork. So I reckon your original kitchen is as old as mine