Dilemma about rented house we own...

[kreecherlivesupstairs]

We've had this house for about 11 years now. We own it outright and want to sell so we can buy somewhere down here.
Should we
a) sell it as is.
b) spend around £4k on a new bathroom, decorating and new laminate floor and hope to recoup it when/if we sell.
The current tenants have been in for about three years. They are happy with what needs to be done as their rent is low and hasn't increased since they moved in.
What to do? is it better in the long term to do the work to make it more presentable and hence appealing, or leave it for the new owner to do what they want?
The issue is compounded by us living 200+ miles away and not being handy in any shape or form. We'd need trades people in to do the work.

When we put our flat on the market, the kitchen could have been done with being replaced. The estate agent told us that it wouldn't put any more money on it so we painted the whole place to freshen it up and it sold for asking price.

Interesting thanks. TBH, the whole house could do with re-papering and painting. The woodwork is dark brown and has a dado rail.
As I said though, we live in Norfolk and the house is in Manchester so too far to travel (and put the tenants out for a couple of days).

I would think it depends how hot the market is where you are.
Some places are so popular it'll always sell regardless of condition. In other places it might not sell so quickly so if you're after a speedy sale by looking its best it'll sell. Ultimately it'll sell quicker and potentially for more the better it looks as more viewers are likely to fall in love with it.
I wonder if you've offered it to your tenants?
You could have a watch on the houses that are similar and see what your competition would be like?
Good luck!

Is the market good where the house is? If it is, I wouldn't bother doing anything to it.

leave it. New bathroom etc makes it easier to sell but you don't get the money back.

you also need to issue the correct notice to the tenants, as unless you are selling it as a buy-to-let you can't complete the sale unless it is vacant.

Excellent advice as usual. The house is on a very small estate in what is a bit of a rough area. The estate itself isn't.
AFAIK, houses don't move much there.
The tenants are not in a position to buy it unfortunately. I know they love it. Which is another thing to consider. When is it best to try to sell it and give them sufficient notice to find somewhere else.

the minimum notice you can give them is two months.

probably the best bet is to let them know that this is your plan, and see if there is anything coming up in their lives that would affect timescales. That way the notice coming through the door won't be a shock. If it is going to be a slow seller then they may want to stay until you have a buyer, at which point you issue notice. Perhaps you could get the buyer to accept two months between exchange and completion.

But if they have been on a cheap rent in a place they love they aren't going to be happy, although realistically they must have known this wouldn't be forever.

When I bought my house I looked for places thst where clean and tidy but not newly done, because I didn't want to rip out something new to put in my dream kitchen so if I was selling I would probably spruce up with paint but not new kitchen.
With regard to the tenants I would give as much notice as possible so you can get the house empty, I wouldn't consider buying a house that had sitting tenants in case they refused to go.

Thanks for that. I'll contact the EA tomorrow so they can let the tenants know.
I imagine they are aware something is in the offing TBH, we were there about a month ago measuring up. The plan then was to do a major overhaul.
I doubt they think it's for their benefit.
I just don't want to be that bastard LL that a lot of people complain about.