Or is dh over getting house ready to sell?

[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

Generally I would say to just tidy and freshen up, then pop on the market. That is what most people I know have done, as people really do like to put their stamp on things when they move in and might prefer getting a bargain.

A real deep clean, fresh neutral paint and declutter will go such a long way to making the house look better. Also a good clean up outside- clean any green mildew off walls and patios, cut back any hedges to open up the garden and let in light.

However- disclaimer. If there is ay really threadbare carpet it might be worth getting a cheap replacement down, especially if it's currently bright or patterned, so you can make it more of a blank canvas. Lots of shops have offcuts.

Also, if you/your DH can do the work yourselves then it just may be worth replacing a really rickety kitchen with something from Ikea or similar. If you'd have to get the trades in then not a chance! You won't make the money back. Just fix any broken bits and give it all a good clean and sell it as a 'perfect chance to put your stamp on a house'.

Unless laminate is expensive and well done it just looks cheap. Don’t do this, especially not upstairs. I would rip it all out if I bought your house and replace with carpet. Same with the kitchen. People do houses up, they don’t keep what’s there already.

@FauxFox

You won’t get your money back - better to sell for less than endure the time, cost and hassle of all that. (EA here )

I disagree with this. I’m shocked at how many people aren’t willing to do any work and want the house perfect when they move in. Even when they are willing to do work they want way more than it would cost knocked off to cover the hassle.

We bought a semi for £222k and it needed a new kitchen and flooring and general plastering and decoration. We paid £50k for the work then it was valued at £380k. We’d been trying to sell FILs flat and it needed painting, we had quotes for £2k to do the work, it was valued at £240k if decorated and £220k if not. Even at a £20k reduction we only had 3 viewings in 6 months and then all 3 said the work was too much and it shouldn’t be shown in such a state. We were so shocked we thought some first time buyer would snap it up and do the decorating themselves - as we would have. But round here everyone wants it done. Especially kitchens and bathrooms, they are seen as a real ballache. My neighbours just sold for £150k under the valuation price because they needed a new kitchen, everyone else who viewed it said they couldn’t be arsed with the hassle, although the rest of the house was perfect.

Here is an article about how much a new kitchen can add value to your property www.loveproperty.com/news/93250/this-is-how-much-a-new-kitchen-and-bathroom-could-add-to-your-homes-value

If the kitchen really is on the brink of collapse I'd put in a cheap, basic plain one. The new owners can replace it all, live with it or change cupboard doors. You then have a nicer/better kitchen whilst still living there as well.
Or find something second hand online? Even if it's not the perfect style or fit, you'll have a kitchen that's not falling apart!

For a house like this that is likely to appeal to first-time buyers, it isn't really worth doing the work. When we bought our first home, nothing had been done to it for around 40 years but it was good solid construction. We got it at a good price, had to live in a building site for a few months, but ended up with a house done completely according to our tastes and needs and were very happy there. If it had been more expensive because they'd plastered over the cracks and put in a cheap and cheerful new kitchen and bathroom it would have been a pain.

@30PercentRecycled

People feel like they've got a bargain when they get a fixer upper even if the amount you knock off the price is exactly the same as it will cost them to do it up.

Plenty of people will find the house more attractive as it is because they aren't paying for your taste and can justify making it their own.

This, 100%

I think the whole house has to balance and it depends on the target market. We were aiming to sell a family home so being done and comfortable to live in was key.

Having a new cheap kitchen and cheap laminate is a negative. Really wasteful and very few cheap kitchens actually use the space well. Especially the corner cupboards. I also have a hankering for pan drawers rather than needing to put my entire head and shoulders into the corner cupboard to dig out a stock pot or muffin tins from around the corner. Also the built in space for a fridge will probably (because Murphy's Law) be the wrong shape or size...

We looked at a house where there was nowhere we could have put a table in the kitchen despite it being quite a big room because the layout was weird.

That’s not the way it goes here @MrsKoala. People want to choose their own kitchens, you wouldn’t get your money back here.

The suggested work will cost a minumum of 20 K (plus all the stress and disruption ). That's money gone.

You say that in its current state the house is valued at 145 K,.
To recover that 20 K, you would have to sell for 165 K . But as you already spent the 20 k, you're no better off than if you sold at 145. (slightly worse, because your selling agent will take a percentage).

To be worth investing 20 k,  you need to make a profit, which means selling at  over 170 K.  And every price raise eliminates some potential buyers who can only afford 145K.

Using rightmove's "sold prices search" take a look at  similar size /type properties sold in your road (or very nearby) .  What's the top price in the past year?  If they all sell around 145 to 155,  and you price yours at 170, you won;t even get viewers through the door.  

Bear in mind that many experienced  buyers  choose a property on stuff the seller can't change;  location, aspect, plot size, access and local amenities, and the condition of the walls and roof.  Horrible  interior decor  is superficial and can be changed later,  to their own taste.  

As a buyer, I don't want to spend an extra 20 K to buy your taste in paint and carpets . I'd rather pay 145 and choose my own upgrade. I have hardline preferences in kitchen layout and design, so however new and shiny yours is, if its all wrong that's a groan from me. Puhlease don't slap a coat of paint on all the woodwork, because that's more for me to strip off. And I'd rather move in to bare floorboards than new cheap polypropylene carpet.

I 


all the mess and stress to be worthwhile, you would have to sell for

When we sold 3 years ago the house definitely needed a new kitchen the rest only needed painting. Most floors were wooden or tiled.. The lino in the kitchen was only a few years. It sold after only few weeks on the market. The new owners put in a new kitchen to their taste. Glad we didn't do it as I don't think we would have got any more money. The estate agent certainly didn't advise it.

I would be actively be put off a house that had a brand new kitchen because the chances of it being to my exact taste are practically zero.

When we bought 18 months ago all the EA said that houses in need of refurbishment actually attract premium prices because most people feel the same way.

@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

The voice of common sense.

IME decluttering, a coat of magnolia and making the house smell good are all that's needed but given that an EA can give expert, local advice at no cost to you go ahead and ask them.

his 'horrible wardrobe doors' is someone else's fantastic find

^^This we've just bought (doer upper, so we can have it the way we want) and bedroom 2 has a fitted wardrobe with mirror doors. The last thing I would want would be to see myself in the mirror first thing in the morning, but teenage (keen dancer) DD fell in love with them straight away!

Just take an appropriate chunk off the asking price and sell it as is.

Does he realise how much hassle and potential expense doing up a house and putting kitchens in, etc, is? It doesn’t make sense to do it unless it will add a huge amount to asking price.

I have bought and sold a number of houses and usually ones done up to the best standard go fastest. Not at the moment people want them a bit cheaper and to do it themselves! I would do the boiler, make sure its very clean with maybe a quick lick of emulsion.

I know someone who changed their kitchen and sold shortly afterwards. It was ripped out by the new owners a year later.

Declutter and clean but I wouldn't bother with the new kitchen. Waste of money.

@Shitpipe

But the kitchen could well collapse any day now!

to many buyers, that's a positive selling point.

Because they have every intention of ripping it out and starting again from scratch, to have the kitchen they want that suits their lifestyle.

I agree with OP's assessment. The only thing I would do from your DH's list is fill the crack and repaint the area, no wallpapering. If the boiler is ancient I would probably replace it (we did ours recently and got a really good deal on Boxt), that saves on having to provide service history as it's under a year old.

The thing with all the changes your DH wants to make is that they won't improve the market value of your house, just make it more sellable... to some potential buyers, others will be put off. Being clean with no obvious structural defects (like cracks, even superficial plaster only ones) automatically improves the appeal factor. So yes to cleaning patios/drives with a jet wash, yes to deep clean of carpets etc, no to replacing any fixtures and fittings, flooring. Clean and tidy is the most effective, broadly appealing to more viewers.

Doing the work may make it more sellable quickly, but it’s just a waste because FTB will have a dream about the kind of place they want and will still want to put their own stamp on it. Better to price it with room to spend that amount on doing it themselves - especially as a FTB won’t have to move out of one house and into the other on the same day - they may have an overlap during which to do the work before moving in.

I’d fix the crack and maybe the boiler too, but even then, people may have their own preferences about boiler type or might be planning the extension themselves and need a bigger boiler etc.

We ripped out a barely used kitchen because the layout didn’t suit us and we didn’t like the colour. When moving in here we intended to stay for good, so wanted to start out with it as we wanted it, not live with a kitchen we didn’t like for years before changing it. We sold it on eBay for a few hundred quid, but I imagine if you’d just put it in for £7k+ that would be small comfort!

Haven't read the thread, but in general it makes no sense to do up a house in order to sell it. It will add less to the price than the cost of the work. It's also silly as the buyer may have different taste in kitchen cabinets, paint, carpets etc. It's much more logical to advertise it as price-reduced because it needs work.

I’d repaint in a trade emulsion in a neutral colour if any areas look grubby and hire a carpet cleaner for the week and do all the carpets. I’d probably try and sell without doing the kitchen first tbh. The rest can be spruced up with a bit of styling to make it look nicer.

I wouldn’t want laminate in my house and I’d personally want to do my own kitchen. As long as things look clean and the buyer can imagine putting their stamp on the place, I don’t think you’d have an issue selling.

I’m so surprised at this thread. @Alsohuman it must be different here then. Because one of the main issues that mean ftb aren’t able to do do the work even if willing is the cost and mortgage lenders. A ftb could be approved of a mortgage for £150k and may have a 10% deposit, but Lenders will only give what they value the property at, so if they value a property requiring work at £110k then the borrowers can only have that amount. They may have the £11k as a 10% deposit but the leftover £4K isn’t going to cover the £30k of work necessary.

The first flat I bought had to be liveable in and done because, even though I’d seen better fixer uppers I could only borrow the valuation amount and there’s no way I’d be able to save £20k in the next 5 years I was going to live there.

I’m currently buying a flat for £80k. It needs £20k work and then will be valued at £120-130k. It was on for 6 months and had had loads of ftb look but they couldn’t or wouldn’t do the work required.

This is how property developers make money, especially in family homes, because not many people with kids want to live in a building site. I’ve just finished a loft conversion which cost £40k but has added double that in value.

Sorry, been working all morning. Feeling v smug at all these responses.

He'd bought and sold houses before he met me (but had no money as ex took everything- He'd been trusting and naive), whereas this is my first. If anything, is me who doesn't want to move, but the house is too small and I'm just sucking it up.

The house is v v light and has a lovely feel. I think he's forgetting that.

He keeps spouting bollocks like:"you've got to speculate to accumulate", so it may be just me moving at this rate.

I'll post a pic when I get in, but kitchen work top is separating from units, drawers are warped and backless.