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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Or is dh over getting house ready to sell?

258 replies

Shitpipe · 16/03/2021 07:03

Recently found out our extension won't be happening. So we need to move.

House is 1970s semi in popular area. It's a ftb house. We were ftb 15 years ago. Valued at 145.

To get ready to sell dh wants to:
Do new kitchen
New boiler
Laminate floor throughout whole house
Paint all rooms
Get rid of built in bookshelves
New wardrobe doors in our bedroom
Wallpaper hall and landing to hide the plaster crack

I accept new kitchen/boiler. Kitchen is no longer fit for purpose.
I think carpets could have a deep clean. Although they're a bit tufty where cats have had a go.
Agree with paint.

I think he's being over the top. H

OP posts:
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7
Bythemillpond · 19/03/2021 13:43

I think you have to decide if you actually want to sell or not as I get the impression that you are in two minds.

If you want to sell then get a box and bubble wrap and if it isn’t in a cupboard pack it away.
Clean your deep clean your kitchen and carpets and thoroughly clean everything then. Put it out for sale sooner rather than later.

You have till June to complete on your house and buy another otherwise if your buyer misses the stamp duty deadline then any work you have done to uplift the value will be for nothing. Equally it will save you several thousand of you buy before the deadline

Original poster
Shitpipe · 19/03/2021 17:22

Estate agent just been.
Verdict: do nothing. Get it on the market ASAP.

It's wrong to feel smug isn't it?

And bythemillpond I really, really don't want to sell. But I don't want to get to a point where there are 4 adults squashed into a house together. I want them to bring their mates round and have space. The only way around it is to sell now.

OP posts:
30PercentRecycled · 19/03/2021 20:12

How is DH taking it?

Acovic · 19/03/2021 20:24

Good luck with the sale,

We had to sell a house earlier in the year - 1970s family home, desirable area, big plot, the house was in reasonable nick (most of the expensive stuff - roof/ boiler/ electrics) had been done but the "new" kitchen was fitted in 1995 and the bathrooms were original. Most of the decor was a bit tired.

Our estate agent advised to just sell as was.

We sold for the highest price ever on the street including some that had been extended to have an extra bedroom. Combination of plot size and availability (they tend to only come on the market in the event of death or divorce)

Original poster
Shitpipe · 19/03/2021 20:31

He's pissed off he's wrong. Grin

OP posts:
ReceptacleForTheRespectable · 19/03/2021 20:33

@Shitpipe

Recently found out our extension won't be happening. So we need to move.

House is 1970s semi in popular area. It's a ftb house. We were ftb 15 years ago. Valued at 145.

To get ready to sell dh wants to:
Do new kitchen
New boiler
Laminate floor throughout whole house
Paint all rooms
Get rid of built in bookshelves
New wardrobe doors in our bedroom
Wallpaper hall and landing to hide the plaster crack

I accept new kitchen/boiler. Kitchen is no longer fit for purpose.
I think carpets could have a deep clean. Although they're a bit tufty where cats have had a go.
Agree with paint.

I think he's being over the top. H

New boiler, maybe. New kitchen? No way.

Your taste is unlikely to match that of the buyer, so you'll out some people off. Just mentally mark the price down by the amount the kitchen would have cost you anyway, and the buyer can then renovate to their taste.

TillyTopper · 19/03/2021 20:34

Get 2-3 valuations, talk to the valuers about your plans. Then make sure you get a spreadsheet out and calculate what you'd spend versus what you'd need to the house for. Then you can see if it's worth it.

Original poster
Shitpipe · 19/03/2021 20:46

Got another valuation next week, so we'll see.

Guess I'm thinking of when we bought. There was no way we'd have stretched to a new kitchen. But she reckons it's not necessarily 1st time buyer house.

OP posts:
GettingItOutThere · 19/03/2021 21:09

i bought a house a very long time ago, and the kitchen and bathroom were awful/old/falling to bits, house needed work etc

just knocked a few grand off but honestly didnt put me off the house at all, just can have the vision to see through it.

If i sell a house, it gets a fresh coat of paint, place tidy and decluttered, carpets cleaned and everywhere tidy.

I honestly hate viewing houses which are cluttered but i can see past this and shit decor!

Original poster
Shitpipe · 19/03/2021 21:27

I'm just scared I won't find a house I love as much as this one. Our neighbours feed our cats, we bring each others' bins in, we have street parties, we chat. And it's a cul de sac. And so sunny!

But downstairs is pretty much all one room.

OP posts:
Bythemillpond · 20/03/2021 02:12

Ultimately most or maybe all of the people who make your cul de sac so great will one day move on.
I think you have got to think long term about what you need from a house and not about the people.
It isn’t as though you will stop being friends, it is just a case of not living on the same street.

partyatthepalace · 20/03/2021 02:27

@Nowthereistwo

Get the estate agents round and ask their opinion and price for current condition vs refurbished.

You might find it's not worth the money and hassle

Exactly this - they'll tell you what's worth doing and what isn't.

Get 3 different ones round and get quotes for price and time to sell at the same time.

Original poster
Shitpipe · 20/03/2021 07:00

I know, it's just the things like having people take your parcels out look out for your house when you're away or feed the cats. Or just to chat to when they're cleaning the car etc. I think it's the fear of starting again.

OP posts:
Bythemillpond · 20/03/2021 14:04

What happens in a few years if those people move. You are basing staying on people you have no control over.

I think the doing up of the house before selling is more about putting off moving than the actual work.

Original poster
Shitpipe · 20/03/2021 15:26

No, I think the doing the house up bit is because he thinks it will add way more money than it would. He forgets we bought at the height of the boom. We're lucky were making anything at all.

And in his head, decorating is easy- because he doesn't see the effort in PREPARING to decorate, like the decluttering.
"What we going to do with x?"
"Well find somewhere. "
"Where? If we had space for it, it wouldn't be there."
" stop being so negative."Hmm

He's ok with explicit direction. But I have to be firm, or threaten to do it all myself. Now.

OP posts:
notdaddycool · 20/03/2021 16:13

Mend the crack, rising that area- job done.

TheWernethWife · 20/03/2021 17:03

Can't you extend downstairs?

Original poster
Shitpipe · 20/03/2021 19:34

We can extend sideways and halfway across the back. 2 storey. But it wouldn't be the house we wanted. Can't come out the front. We've looked at every possible way of doing it, but we can't.

OP posts:
Bythemillpond · 21/03/2021 15:42

Shitpipe your Dh needs to realise what ever he spends isn’t going to boost the price up if it takes so long to do people muss put on the stamp duty holiday. Equally you will miss out and have to fork out even money when you come to buy.

In normal times I can understand his logic but we are not living in normal times and I can guarantee people will for a while after the holiday ends, expect what they have to pay in Stamp Duty to come off the sale price.

Original poster
Shitpipe · 21/03/2021 16:56

So.
New boiler etc will cost 3200. It can be done next week.

Current boiler is only working through sheer .

OP posts:
Original poster
Shitpipe · 21/03/2021 16:57

Habit.

Would you do the boiler? He's accepted we're doing nothing else.

OP posts:
tabulahrasa · 21/03/2021 17:20

@Shitpipe

Habit.

Would you do the boiler? He's accepted we're doing nothing else.

If you’re doing nothing else - I wouldn’t do the boiler either...

We had ours done a couple of months ago and every single person we spoke to knew “someone” who would do it for 2k... then the quotes were nearly twice that.

So people seem to think it’s a lot cheaper than it is and I think they’d only mentally knock 2k off if it’s not done but you couldn’t add the actual price on to the selling price.

It’s like the opposite of the kitchen thing, where people think it’ll cost 10k+ but you can do it fairly easily for about 3k...

Original poster
Shitpipe · 21/03/2021 18:51

Plumber gave us the quote. I suppose it's cos the kitchen is bearable, but a new boiler is pretty vital.

OP posts:
Quartz2208 · 21/03/2021 19:19

how likely is the boiler to go in the next few months that you are going to be in the house

Would it make living in the house easier

I would also do a thorough clean and declutter as much as you can

BoJoHoNo · 21/03/2021 19:23

I wouldn't bother with the boiler at the moment and just get your house on the market, but priced realistically to reflect some work needing to be done. When we bought our house, the boiler was only a couple of years old, but had been installed incorrectly so was fecked and needed replacing. Likewise, the roof was fairly new wasn't actually screwed down properly, so that needed attention. Unless I was buying new from a developer these are all the types of scenarios I would factor into my offer. Even after spending the money on rectifying these issues we're looking to be in profit having bought his house when we did.