AIBU to think we need to do this work before selling up?

[Swearlikemalcolmtucker]

We bought a house last year. The plan was to stay for five years then sell up and move further out where we have family. We were tied to a train station when we bought but since Covid, DH has had his way of working completely changed and it’s now been written into his contract that he won’t be office based again.

Because we thought we were staying for a while, we bought a house that needs work.

I think we still need to do some work to it before selling, not the same amount, but to make it up to date and attractive.

It currently has some very out of date decor, a leaky conservatory roof, needs a new front door, the deck needs replacing.

I think we should paint the out of date decor all cream throughout, replace the front door, replace the deck and fix the conservatory roof and then put it on the market. We can’t go and find a property at the moment due to Covid and the tier system, so my view is that the deck/conservatory can be done during this partial lockdown as it’s practically outdoor work anyway, as can the front door and we can paint the interior cream ourselves.

DH Thinks we should just put it up as is and expect to knock a bit off if we get a buyer and they do a full survey.

What do you think? What would you do?

Get an estate agent to value it as it is
Get a builder to give you a quote
Then decide

The more negatives against a property the harder it will be to sell. Get quotes on the work you've mentioned and have the house valued

Our friends want to sell but their kitchen is tiny. No point spending 20k on an extension of it only adds 10k so they're leaving it as it is

I'd consider the repaint and front door at least, depending on cost and difficulty. Many people have trouble seeing past the surface stuff when they are looking to buy and front door and new paint make a good impression.

I'd at least have the leaking conservatory roof fixed.

Depends on your area completely No one here can advise you. You need to see how quickly things sell around you.

You need a realistic price. If your property is only ever going to go below market rate, not much point.

Some people would prefer an untouched property: if you buy a project, dated paint or wall paper inspire more confidence than something quickly patched up hiding the issues.

Fix the leak who knows what damage is being caused by this a new front door will be a benefit too and its cheap as chips to paint so why wouldn't you

To be honest, if I was buying a house with a conservatory, the first thing I'd do is get rid of the conservatory

If there are similar houses around, have they been extended instead? You might find that a conservatory is a huge selling point, or will only be knocked down to make place for an extension.

It's impossible to know without knowing where you are.

Do anything that's relatively cheap to do. It's not just about whether or not it adds value - if viewers feel a property isn't well looked after, they might wonder what else needs doing that's not visible. So less likely to make an offer in the first place, and could well deduct more than just the cost of the jobs from their offer if they do.

Most of that is very simple and possible to do yourself. Do those bits and leave the bits that need a professional. What you have described is not a lot of work at all.

We’ve had it valued as is and houses on our street have all sold for asking or just below asking price.
The work is affordable so I don’t see why we wouldn’t - especially the conservatory roof and the front door.
But DH just thinks put it on and see if it sells as is then we have saved ourselves the hassle but tbh we know someone who will do the deck/front door/fix the conservatory roof in one hit so I just think it’s a no brainer.

Jc, If that is considered 'renovations' or 'work' nowadays, I'm going to buy a few 'wreaks'.

The estate agent told me that replacing eg windows etc was an expense that I wouldn’t get back in the sale price, so anything over and above, don’t bother. Front door tho, is quite important re first impressions, so get it priced up. People will decorate to their taste inside, so I don’t think painting it neutrally is worth while.

How much potential cash are you talking, and the difference in doing/not doing the work?

Lots of people LOVE the idea of getting a good house for even slightly below the average for the area - a doer-upper... and resent paying 'over the odds' for something which has just had a slap of paint but still needs the big jobs done. Reverse psychology.

You could find that your tired house sells like a hot cake if you take off even the small amount that the work would cost and put it on.

How much to fix a leaking f roof? The rest sounds fine to sell as is but a leaking roof, coming up in survey would probably make most people offer less to get it fixed.

A naff looking front door will already be know about when people offer.

Just to clarify if we were staying in the property we would do a lot more work, knocking down walls and things and knocking down the conservatory. That’s what I meant by work, to get it how we would like.
But obviously not going to do that level of work if we are going to leave.

If it was mine I'd want to sort out the leak if it's bad and do the interior painting, but that's about it to be honest. The chances are a new owner is going to want to do the same sort of things that you would do if you were staying, so there's little point in doing things like changing the front door when a new owner would want to change to their own preference.

I'd probably get rid of the decking altogether if it's tatty, they don't have a good reputation and more people are likely to want to get rid than not, so it would be just another job on the list really. The conservatory will probably end up being removed in favour of an extension or upgrade, if the leak isn't terrible I'd just leave it if it doesn't affect the structure of the house.

I'd just do a cosmetic tidy indoors, make it look clean and neutral, see how it goes at that.

I'd fix the leak in the conservatory as worries about damp would be an issue for me.

The decking I'd leave as lots of people don't like it thinking of it as a rat haven.

New front door would probably a good idea. Although I'm not sure what's actually wrong with it? If it's "ugly" then 1st impressions can mean a lot & a "nice" looking house will get more views on rightmove etc.

Paint if you have a chance but I don't think it's that big a deal.

You’d be mad to sell after a year. Two sets of legal fees, two sets of moving fees and, unless you can sell and buy VERY quickly, you’ll miss the stamp duty holiday for the new purchase. It’s a huge expense.

What’s really changed apart from not needing to commute anymore (assuming your husband stays in this job forever)? If you were happy to spend five years there before, why the rush to sell now?

I'd get quotes for the work and unless they are extortionate, do the work. I also wonder whether to wait afterwards as per your original plan.

I would definitely repair the leak. It's difficult to judge the front door without seeing it but kerb appeal makes quite a difference to getting people in to view. Neutral decor does help to sell as lots of people can't see past old fashioned or garish colours. The decking may not be worth doing.

I like doing work to a house so I’d prefer to buy one I can make my own!

@StillCoughingandLaughing a lot has changed. My husband’s salary has increased significantly, we’ve inherited some money, and the fact he doesn’t have to commute means rather than put time and money into this house we can jump ahead and go where we want to go before we are priced out and everyone does the same thing due to the likelihood of more flexible working.
We were first time buyers before so our fees were very low. We’ve allowed for the fact that we will incur higher fees this time around.

The leak isn’t causing issues it’s just an old lean to type and the seal has worn off the outside so it would be an easy fix and not too expensive. It’s not causing any issues in the structure of the house and it’s not currently causing any damp and only leaks when train is really torrential.

Front door - old and the wood is warped and there’s a big gap around it which lets the cold in!

Also, the decking has a hole in it! The previous owners put it down without a proper grid underneath for support so my husband went straight through it not long after we moved in. Of course we could just repair that particular piece and restain.

I’d do the leak. I wouldn’t paint as most people will be assuming they’ll decorate to their own taste anyway. Same true of the front door and the deck - they may want something different. What they definitely don’t want is a leak.

I’d also fix it, people always knock more off than it costs to fix. Substantially more.