selling my house which is a bit of a project

[BelleOfTheBoys]

Help. This might be long, sorry.

DH and I bought our first home, a 3 bed end terrace, 2 years ago. My DFIL wanted us to buy a much larger total renovation a few streets away but neither DH or I are into DIY at all (DFIL is a diy nut, for context) so we said no, and instead bought this smaller house. We put in an offer and moved in with his parents. Following some border disputes with the local council it took about 9 months to move in, during which time I accidentally became pregnant with DS2, now 16mo.

Where did all this go wrong? What appeared to be a perfectly sized house which didn't need any work has rapidly become a bit of a nightmare. The small amount of damp turned out to be in every room. In the process of correcting and fixing this, we uncovered problem after problem. A window fell out. DFIL went up a ladder to patch a hole in the render and when I got home from work that day all the render on the long side of the house had fallen off. The bathroom has started leaking from the roof. The garden is now just a huge pile of rubble from all the damp work and render trouble. Not a single room looks nice.

I work full time in a demanding job and I've got two children under 4. I also have a DIY phobic DH and I loathe Diy. We thought we were Buying a little starter home for me, dh and ds1, and now all 4 of us live in this half finished ramshackle project.

It doesn't help that I hate my job, and I have problems with anxiety and eating disorders. The house is contributing to the problems as I find it so stressful - I've recently started having panic attacks again. I really want to sell up and run - the state of the place really gets me down and the work it needs is so overwhelming. I want to put it on the market as a project, DH thinks we need to remortgage and do some of the work before we sell. I think this is a waste of time and money.

We're in quite a strong position to move as the house was a bargain (now I see why!!, our mortgage is very small and it's only in dh's name as I was unemployed when we bought. I now make more than he does so ffinancially we're in a good position and have been told we can add 45k to our current mortgage - this would more than enough to buy the 4 bed new build type house I so badly want.

I guess my questions are:

1. How do I go about selling this house knowing it clearly looks like a project?
2. Can I even do this or is dh right that none will want it and so do we HAVE to do all this work before we can sell?

Aargh. I feel like we've made such a huge mistake and I just want out. Opinions and hand holding pls as I am getting sick thinking about all this :(

You could probably sell it as it is but expect offers to be well below listing price. We are on the way to putting ours on the market. We have 90s wallpaper in one room, a not the best installed bathroom and chipped/ yellowing woodwork in the hall. The afore are the work of the previous owner. we are pricing accordingly.

Could you get any of the rooms done do you think? It's easier, less demoralising and more encouraging to completely finish one room than trying to, say, sort out and paint all woodwork throughout.

If the kitchen and bathroom both need to be overhauled they will have a more detrimental effect on trying to sell than other rooms.

second thoughts are that i would try to do maybe just the hallway to create a pleasant entrance.

hire a skip and tag team with your DH/fil one weekend the care of DCs and start clearing rubble from garden.

clear away junk and take to charity shop just to get rid rather than wait and try to sell on ebay etc.

what sort of part of town are you in?for some buyers, that would be a good reason to view.

people will be able to see its a renovation job. you wont be able to hide it.

get an estate agent round to value too.

You can definitely sell, as is, if the price is right. Some people really like a project and look out for them specifically, but you have to be realistic about what you can get for it. Has the market risen where you are enough to cushion you a little bit since you bought? You may have to accept that some of your equity may be eaten in to by the state of the property.

If I was you, I would get a few estate agents round, gauge their opinions and then decide where you want to take it from there.

From how you describe your health though, I would be inclined to take a financial hit just to get out. Good luck.

Would you want to live in the house if the condition was better? Do you like the layout and the location? Is is sound structurally? If yes, would it be possible to do it up, room by room, and see how you feel about it?

The truth is that houses in superb condition do sell with a premium, so in that sense your husband is right.

Project houses are seen, well, as a project, so people expect to pay much less.

I would sell it as it is. Loads of houses are sold in this sort of condition, and loads of people specifically choose a house to do up. Do not feel embarrassed, and do not throw money at little jobs that the next owners will not appreciate, and want to redo themselves.

Get a few estate agents round. I imagine your best options are either -
-Sell it as is. Do nothing but tidying and making rooms look spacious (e.g. by moving things out of the way.)

• Get quotes for anything like damp, re-rendering etc and present those to prospective purchasers
• Fix things like damp etc and leave jobs like decorating, new kitchen, new bathroom etc to the next owners

With regards to spending £x so the house sells for a higher price:

• you've already spent two years living like this, how much longer?
• it's risky to spend anything, the next owner could be a build or developer who'd get the work done cheaper and faster themselves
• maybe if you were two adults, no children, you could live in a doer upper, but this is no way to live with young children
• Cut your losses , the whole family will benefit from anything that makes life easier and more pleasant

If your DH doesn't want to admit the purchase was a mistake or doesn't want to admit that it's too much or he's getting pressure from his dad, that's a separate issue. You'll know anyway, but he'll come up with rubbish excuse after rubbish excuse each time you knock one down.

You are where you are, you didn't know when buying what you know know, the only thing you can change is what to do for the best now. It's not a failing to admit it's time to move on.

I'd sell as is, with as much paperwork as possible to prove what has been done that may not be visible. So many people want to put their own stamp on a house that doer-uppers often go for nearly as much as decorated houses - IF the hidden things are shown to be OK.

If you aren't cut out for a project, ditch it now.

You should get the yard cleaned up. Someone with no DIY skills like your husband can at least get his butt in gear and do that.

I've had a little cry reading some of these. Thank you.

We got the house for a little under 100k. It's in a good area, right on the edge of a really nice area and we have an ofsted 1 primary on our doorstep. There was a horrible council block of flats around the corner when we bought, but this has since been demolished and turned into a really lovely set of flats which are selling like hot cakes.

Since moving in, we've done a new damp course, new guttering, plastered one wall in each room as a result of the damp work. We've taken out the horrible concrete in the back yard, and a horrible fish pond, and a rotted summer house. There were 2 separate boilers - one upstairs for heating and one downstairs for hot water. Despite the vendor saying they'd been serviced, just after DS2 was born (3 months after we finally moved in) one stopped working and they were both condemned. The engineer I called said it was days away from exploding and killing us all. So that's been replaced with a lovely new eco boiler. I've redecorated two of the bedrooms but I'm rubbish so they don't look great - paint everywhere and I just painted over the hideous wallpaper so ideally that all needs redoing.

House prices (according to the local rag last week) have risen 9% in the last 18 months. All I can think is maybe we could literally get a skip, clear up as you say so people can see the space - it's got lovely high ceilings and lots of light, garden faces south etC. But I don't see the point in doing anything else - as you say, I think a builder could snap it up and turn it around very quickly, whereas this could take us years. It could potentially be a really lovely house but we never wanted a project.

How do I get a valuation? Do I just call an estate agent? Will they charge us anything - we spent all our savings when I was on maternity leave (I'm the breadwinner) so there's not much extra cash floating about.

Thanks for all the replies.

Arrange for three local estate agents to come round and give you valuations. Have a look on Rightmove, etc at who is selling the houses which are listed as Sold STC and Under Offer - that will give you a guide as to who is shifting houses in the area.

They won't charge because they are hoping you will put the house on the market with them. Ask them what their marketing strategy would be and what their terms are, i.e. % fees, any tie in periods, etc. You may be able to negotiate on some of these. A good EA who knows the local market should have a network of potential buyers on their database, so developers, potential landlords, first time buyers, etc.

Would you not want to re mortgage to borrow more on your existing house so that you have a lump sum to extend or renovate?

Do you like the area and the current house (if it were perfect)?

Or are you set on moving? Will you get such a good school if you move?

Get EA round - take average valuation, deduct 5-10% to come to final selling price, get your new mortgage agreed in writing - so you are clear what you can borrow - the do the maths (remember to deduct EA fees, stamp duty, legal & moving fees etc) before you start looking....

From your last update, you should be proud of what you've achieved with the house while also raising a young family.

It sounds like you've done the horrible jobs that'd put many people off . If it's cosmetic jobs to be done now, and you've had enough, then I really would leave those choices to the next owners. There will be lots of people who will be delighted with a house that's just had those big jobs done, ready choir them to decorate and put their own stamp on.

Maybe you can set aside a day or a couple of evenings and arrange the estate agents to visit soon. If your husband's not keen, you could say the appointments are to ask each agent their view on whether they have buyers looking for fixer uppers vs show homes, and likely selling timescales and valuations for your home now vs doing more work (and missing the Spring house selling surge .)

Why don't you get those £40k extra on your mortgage and pay for professionals to turn it into a lovely 4 bed home for you?

Are you keen to move? Ok, you didn't want a project, but maybe you could let others do the work and benefit from a nice house in a good area.

I fully understand your wish to run, I had my moments with our current house (and render falling off sounds very similar) but I would never move now.
We still don't have carpet on the stairs, after moving in we found mould in every room due to burst tank in loft when the house was empty. Owners just painted over and sold. We peeled wallpaper off to reveal black walls behind. In other words, nightmare.

Just like you we got the house cheaply (but as it's London it was a few ££ more than yours), house prices have gone up. We would never be able to afford even a wreck on our road now.

Check your reasons for selling. If it's structurally sound and has got potential to extend, is in the right location, I would think twice about moving. New builds have their problems too.

It seems that you have done all the costly boring stuff that doesn't show.
This is the stage where everybody gets disillusioned. Ask the estate agents to price "as is" and in good decorative order. Get the work priced and have a good think about what you want to do. Any move will be costly, a few thousand at the least.
The basics seem fine to me but you need to decide when you have the full information in front of you.
I am surprised at the advice given to "just sell" when it could have big financial implications.

the op sounds like a bright person, so i assumed that they understood -

• solicitors fees of both selling and buying, Stamp Duty LT, estate fees, costs of borrowing more /porting mortgage/arrangement fees and penalties for changing mortgage etc.

• then, higher monthly mortgage and further costs of updating decor or addressing other issues in new house.

OP, take stock, work out the above costs and your income.

our house is still a scruffy looking mess/dated decor/crap carpets but we've spent £15-18 k ish putting new radiators, rewiring/ modern consumer board, re plastering a few areas and replacing kitchen and putting a new boiler in. dropped more money insulating with celotex, cavity walls and loft cladding.
we've also spent 1k ish restoring a wood conservatory and couple of hundred replacing upvc windows which went misty.

Belle by your own admission you
work full time and are the main breadwinner
have two children under school age
suffer anxiety
deal with eating disorder
made a mess of decorating
are living with unfinished work on the house and a garden full of rubble and waste

Marketing your home is stressful whether it's a show palace or a project and then you need to consider the stress of finding and having an offer accepted on a new home, plus as said above, all the legal side and costs.
I can also tell you as the veteran of house moves numbering twentysomething, that there is always work to be done, even on new houses there's snagging and nearly always something unexpected.

So, given that you like the area, that it's improved since you moved in and importantly, is in the catchment area for a really good school, why don't you start by making lists of the things that would make the house work well for you.

Start with tidying up the outside space. Then prioritise other work and get some quotes from local trades.

I totally understand that feeling of wanting to bin everything, draw a line and run off to somewhere that all the problems will have disappeared, but be honest, the working full time, young family and anxieties either won't be fixed or can't be guaranteed to be eased by moving. You need to have a serious think about whether you hate your house that much, or whether it's just the state of it you hate. No one here can tell you the answer to that.
It does sound like you've just reached a plateau having spent money on things you didn't anticipate and which aren't exactly showing pretty results, but you have spent wisely and the fancy things are going to make a difference soon if you get a plan together.

Just wanted to say the op that I understand your position. Doing work on a house with young children and also working full time is a big ask. We moved into what we thought was an ok house but a bit run down but found a multitude of maintenance issues hit us within a few months. E.g. The drains continually blocked and we had a cctv survey (should have done this before buying it??) and the drains were all cracked. We had sewage in the garden and the smell was so bad I couldn't go into the kitchen without wanting to heave (fell pregnant within weeks of moving in). Spent 4k lining them. Had to replace all of render on outside of house, due to bad damp problems. Chimneys, bay roof, dpc, the list went on and on. BUT we are nearly there. It has taken 2.5 years of doing this and now it's nearly done I feel so differently about the place and am glad we didn't move. We still have more to do for the long term eg extension and loft but it is so much nicer now it's done, and you can see that the hard work has benefitted us (e.g creating more equity). But it has been such hard work getting here, cost a bomb and it has become my full time job. I can see that with a full time job it will be harder to do. I wonder if it would be possible to move out for a few months and complete the work in one hit. Otherwise price competitively and do your homework about new house and areas and expect something unexpected in a new house even if it is a new build.

OP, I'm very sympathetic to how you feel - I'm not a competent DIYer either and often feel overwhelmed when our (cheap for a reason) house decides to give me grief.

But, just so I'm clear: it sounds like you've done a lot of remedial work. What actually is left to do? Anything structural? Or is it just decoration and the possibility of an extension?

If so, have you just fallen into that place where the costs of improvement are glaring you in the face while the costs of moving are more hidden? It is nearly always cheaper to improve where you are rather than move, so if the hard work is behind you I would seriously consider that. I would also consider whether (a) you really do need to extend now or whether that could wait, and (b) whether it would be cheaper to just pay someone to come in and do the work for you (put it on your mortgage).

You could set up your own support thread here, and we could help you (a) work out what needs to be done, (b) price and prioritise, and (c) do some online handholding and cheerleading

Just to add that I too work FT and have young children. We moved into a house that was stonkingly ugly and in need of redecoration but otherwise seemed sound. But it wasn't. Everything, but everything had been bodged in there (including hanging all the doors on cupboard hinges - I discovered that one when I put my key in the lock and the door fell off).

It is really stressful, I'm with you on that.

It sounds as though you live in a relatively cheap area. Could you move out for six months and get the work done by professionals? It sounds as though it would be lovely when you'd finished.

For the sake of sanity, I'd sell the house as is & buy the new build. It's not worth the hassle unless you are going to lose something like the good school or inability to borrow etc. Life is for living, not for house projects you never wished for & hate doing like me