Advice please on selling DF's house

[Gingerpoppy]

Very elderly father is about to go into residential care, he's 92 and has lived independently up until now on his own but is just unable to cope anymore.

His house is big and barely been touched for over 45 years. He's not got rid of a thing and maintenance has been minimal at best. I suppose what I'm asking help for is how 'good' do we make the house before selling it? The whole lot will be ripped out by the new owner, bathrooms, kitchen, carpets etc all will go. There's a hole in a bedroom ceiling which is full of damp, I fear we will unearth a whole load of issues if we start digging about up there. Are we better off just putting it up for auction or should we try the market first?

Is it best to clear out absolutely everything, including the old carpets or leave them down? Presumably no one wants to see his furniture in situ?

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

I’ve just had to do private and sell a house “ in need of some modernisation” but in the catchment area of best local schools.
The estate agent didn’t batt an eyelid at the artex/wallpaper/ancient but working back boiler etc ( there were no big holes or damp though) and said empty most furniture, clean, cut the grass etc.
I cleared all of the furniture except the best bedroom, left that in situ to show how much space there was even with a king sized bed. Had many trips to the top to declutter, gave some furniture away, got a local man and van in to dispose of the rest ( much cheaper than house clearance)
Employed a grass cutter once a fortnight to keep it neat and weed free.
Paid a local cleaner ( £200 for a 4 bed one bathroom, one downstairs toilet) to go through the house.
Put it on the market when I applied for probate and it sold the first day - they were prepared to wait as it was near the school they wanted, a decent size and price.
It didn’t bother them at all that the decor was “ tired”, no redecorating had been done for 30 years.
The neighbours tell me they’ve already replaced the heating, stripped the walls etc
As long as it is structurally sound as will be seen in buyers survey, my advice would be to sell “ as seen”

By the way, yes, you have to let the insurers know. The insurers if the house were happy for 3 months then write to tell me they no longer insure empty houses so I had to go with a specialist one. A condition was that I had to check it once a week

Clear it out of all furniture. Give it a clean, but leave the old carpets down to prevent things like mice coming through the floorboards.

Price realistically for a quick sale. Take what EAs suggest as a valuation with a pinch of salt and look to see what the actual sale prices of recent properties in similar condition were

Another “no” to repairs. Can be very stressful and expensive and can take months/years. I’ve done a few repairs at my mother’s home. Getting quotes, dealing with builders at a different address, the length of time it takes for even simple things - all very stressful. Leave it to those in the trade. Just clean and empty it basically to show it off at its basic best.

@Gingerpoppy just to give you hope - as we had very little 8 months ago.

I was very frank when asking Estate Agents to look - none batted an eye at looking and some said they’d seen worse (very hard to imagine!) Valuations given when it was still rammed full and gave us an idea of value sold as seen.

EA who worked with builders showed builder around when it was slightly less cluttered and still offered. He knew the area and the houses and was keen because we were able to sell quickly. Offer was reasonable based on all agents’ valuations.

We didn’t have to get a survey - solicitor said ‘sold as seen’ means it is on the buyer to discover issues - and solicitor often sees sales where sellers in these circumstances live miles from the property and might not even see it themselves.

We did not have to clean (as they were going to knock walls down and strip everything).

We did not have to mow. Garden was a mess of brambles and garage was a shambles (cutting the grass at the back wasn’t realistic!). Clearance firm cleared garden and strimmed the grass in the front.

Our time was needed on the sifting of contents. It was still a LOT of work to sort through and some of us were at a distance.

Specialist insurance is important and talk to the neighbours if you can, who may keep an eye for you.

Estate Agents earned their money - as it’s tucked away I’d say it’s about finding the right EA.

Good luck 🍀

I would add even if not 100% structurally sound - it’s still better to go ahead and sell it. Structural issues take even longer to fix and one repair can unearth deeper problems as you say OP, eg asbestos.

No. Don’t fix “damp” ceiling patches. They are not always straightforward!!!

We told the insurance company and they withdrew some cover until renewal date as a result even though someone stays every 60 days and my brother checks weekly.

At renewal they want us to move insurer to.one they recommend that covers this type of risk which they dont once the annual renewal date arrives.

So you will have to find out what his particular cover requires by asking them.

I totally cleared my in-laws bungalow (registered house clearance company) although left carpet and curtains up and gave it a clean as in washed windows, removed cobwebs, cleaned bathroom and kitchen and hoovered/swept the flooring. Basically it allowed the prospective purchases to see the bare bones of the place and imagine its potential. Priced it accordingly as we knew it needed gutting inside and outside along with the garden and outbuildings. On the market and had an offer in three weeks.
insurance was sorted with the insurers already used. Just explained the situation and they were happy to continue cover. We had to visit overnight once every 28 days. We left the heating and electric connected right up to handover of keys.

Fantastic! Thank you all so much! Neighbours are great and will keep an eye and will inform insurance company

I'm in exactly the same position .. I've de personalised her house and cleaned it . I got the carpets and windows cleaned but then sold as it is ..
Someone will buy it as a project so don't spend money on it . More hassle than it's worth and it might not to to the buyers taste

It's all a ball ache .

We put a couple of table lamps on timers in a couple of rooms. But tell neighbours ! Good luck