Selling MILs house- advice on doing it up? Calling Kirsty and Phil!

[Maybelady]

We are selling my MILs house- she died recently. I wonder how much the condition matters? We've decided to repaint the outside paintwork etc and have the garden tidied up.
Inside, the bathroom and kitchen are very dated but we won't replace because it's a house that could easily be extended, and we live too far away to be onsite to oversee it all.

However, is it worth giving all the walls inside a lick of paint and replacing the carpets with something cheap plain and neutral?
The house is a traditional very quality build older semi and will possibly be bought and extended by a family as it has a large garden. Is it worth spending perhaps £5K to add something to the asking price?

It's a difficult one without seeing it, certainly there are lots of people who make a fortune from doing up houses, and generally speaking a neutral decor helps - but kitchens and bathrooms do put people off.

I'd get an EA in to value it and ask them - they will know what sort of prices houses are attracting in the area.

Rightmove sold prices is also good so you can compare what houses got in various condition.

Thanks. We've done a bit of research and the going rate for one in that road is around £250K for ones with 'ok' bathrooms and kitchens. So we might get £20K less with it as it is. We just don't have time to manage that- DH has a very busy job with travel, and we live 5 hrs away.

I had been led to believe that it's a waste of time doing kitchens and bathrooms because someone will rip them out and start again. They are not in a dire state- perfectly usable- but the kitchen was replaced around 20 years back and the bathroom is pink suite. It's ripe for an extension of the side to make a bigger house and most people would change the kitchen etc then.

Sorry about your bereavement. I would make sure it is super clean and tidy and leave it as it is. If there is scope for a big refurb then any minor work done will probably only enhance the price by exactly what you spent. Why have the hassle if you live away from it. People love a doer upper so will look past anything dated.

I think you need to sell it as a doer upper. If you're not going to replace the kitchen and bathroom then I wouldn't bother with the rest of the rooms.
If the curtains or carpets are particularly hideous I would take them down and maybe not replace them. People have a much better idea of somewhere's potential if it is very plain and there isn't a 1970's hideous carpet shouting at them.

I would just make sure it's clean and smells fresh. Sounds like the whole house will need updating and it's better to sell as is so someone can do it to their taste.

Thanks. I think that's what we thought. It's a quality house- oak herringbone parquet in hall etc, oak front door, bay windows- you know the sort. It's not in awful condition but is dated and ripe for extending into a 4-bed 2 baths etc. It will be sold empty- we will clear it all except for the carpets and curtains.

I'd prefer to buy a house with - as you suggest £20 000 off the price of others in the street, and be able to choose what bathroom, kitchen or carpets I wanted, than to pay to cover the costs of someone else covering the whole house in either the impractical beige, or laminate, that you see on so many details. Same with kitchens - I would rather choose my own style.

Sell it as it is. If the kitchen and bathroom need updating, chances are the people who buy it would do just that and so the prospect of also painting and re-carpeting the other rooms wouldn't put potential buyers off.

If any of the walls are particularly dark, you could paint cream just so the space looked brighter, and give woodwork etc a good scrub.

Although it wouldn't cost much to get some really cheap carpet and put it throughout if what's there is a bit minging. You don't have to change the underlay, just the cheapest, plainest carpet available.

If the carpet is really ghastly (dirty or really ugly) I'd consider taking it up so buyers can see that the boards are ok. I bought a house in that state once... No hidden nasties. Otherwise, just make sure the selling points (original floors and doors) are fully visible... Good scrub and polish might help. Maybe a lick of paint over garish papers or weird coloured woodwork, but nothing expensive.

Sounds like somebody will get a real gem of a house.

Maybe make up a Byers guide - and leave it there for people to thumb through - add sketches for the possible extension and your reason for pricing/ selling it as it is, with the existing bathroom and kitchen, as these will benefit from being replaced when someone extends in their own style !
Add general stuff like local schools and bin days etc - should do the trick I hope!

Give it a really good clean and sell it as it is.

I tend to look beyond the decor if a house feels loved and clean. A lot of houses we looked at weren't!

If it needs electrics and damp proofing don't bother. The buyer would only have to undo the work

Also I would want to put my own stamp on things. Choose my own carpets etc

We sold DF's house last year. How much you do probably depends to some extent on the market in your area. Where DF lived, houses sell very easily and so we only had to clean and clear it, keep it warm and address one or two minor problems regarding the guttering.
Make sure it has kerb appeal, so keeping garden under control (front and rear) is a must.
Personally, I wouldn't waste money on anything like carpets - and definitely not on kitchen/bathroom. DF's house was a 3 bed semi in a very desirable and affluent area and all of these houses are converted into 4 bedroom/2 bathroom/large kitchen and living area houses before the purchasers move in.

agree with previous comments. also beware that £250k is a stamp duty threshold so people won't want to pay more than that. that will be your absolute ceiling.

I'd also ask the estate agent about whether or not it's worth getting plans done and planning permission for an extension - often that will add value onto the house, even if you don't do the extension yourself. Or even outline planning permission.

(disclaimer - have watched too many property programmes but don't know the technical differences between all these!)

good luck!

I would probably sell it as it is. I would clean it thoroughly - probably worth investing in a carpet cleaner of some sort - we got one for £70 from Robert Dyas which we find really useful. It isn't a fancy steam one but you put the liquid in it and it works really well. Even if carpets are hideously patterned if they are nice and clean people will notice. So clean the carpets and windows, take down net curtains if there are any, perhaps put neutral curtains up if too many patterns in room, wash down walls or paint quickly and cheaply or touch up any scratches or scuffs on doors, woodwork or walls.

We have just done up a house my MIL lived in. She had dropped food on the carpet so we took it up and bought a cheap carpet from B&Q for the living room bedroom and the front and back hall. I wallpapered a couple of walls and emulsioned the others. We got inexpensive cream curtains and duck egg ones in the bedroom. I am getting someone in to paint the guttering and do one or two minor jobs but reckon I have spent less than £1000 in total. When the guy came to value it he told me it was worth between x and y but was definitely nearer the top end. The garden has also been tidied up, hedge cut etc. I did not change the kitchen units or the gas fire because someone else can do it when they buy it.

Sell it as is

As long as it's clean, clear and looks like it was properly looked after, no need for redecoration IMO. You can hire a Rug Doctor to give the carpets the clean of their life.

If your target market is a family, just clean unless it is all so hideous that it is unsellable. If you start removing carpets you just make it easier for the surveyor to find dry rot, woodworm etc.
If you want to appeal to BTL market then a quick spruce up would be good but probably not necessary.

Sorry for your loss. We had to do this in April, with a very dated house in a depressed market (Belfast). Advice from the agent was a deep clean and nothing else. Comparable (done-up) houses were going for about £25K more, and it would have cost us at least £10 - £15K to deal with things - it needed to be replumbed, although it was perfectly functional. As mentioned up-thread, people will rip out new things if they don't suit them, so it would have been a waste of time and money - better to get what we did with not much hassle than do it up and have it sitting on the market because it wasn't to someone else's taste. Good luck.

i wouldnt unless it was totally wrecked. my one peice of advice though, especially as you will not be there for viewings is to pick your agent carefully and make them FULLY aware that you know what the value is. I would tell them that you require a no nonsense offer of X, otherwise you will take off the market and renovate yourself. I had this with an empty house, where the agent was basically telling people that we were desperate to sell. I sent some friends to view after every person who had viewed had made a silly low offer.

I agree with a deep clean. Either hire a rug doctor of pay someone to do the carpets, clean the windows inside and out, damp dust lightbulbs etc.